Com. v. Carter

• Decision Date: 16 April 1991
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Craig S. CARTER, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 1133

589 A.2d 1133

403 Pa.Super. 615

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Craig S. CARTER, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted Jan. 22, 1991.

Filed April 16, 1991.

Shelley Stark, Public Defender, Pittsburgh, for appellant.

Claire C. Capristo, Asst. Dist. Atty., Pittsburgh, for Com., appellee.

Before ROWLEY, President Judge, and DEL SOLE and HOFFMAN, JJ.

DEL SOLE, Judge:

Appellant, Craig S. Carter was found guilty after jury trial of possession of a controlled substance namely heroin, and possession with an intent to deliver. The record reveals that Officers Provident and Wilson of the Narcotics Division of Pittsburgh Police were conducting a surveillance of Appellant as he stood outside Moe's Bar in the Hazelwood/Glenwood section of Pittsburgh. They observed Appellant as he approached three different stopped automobiles outside of this bar which is in an area known for narcotics trafficking.

The Officers testified that Appellant walked up to the cars, engaged the occupants in a brief conversation, and then the cars drove away. Appellant was then observed removing an object from a black container in a vacant lot and returning to the street. Appellant then approached the same automobiles, which had returned to the area, and exchanged something with the occupants. Further, Appellant was observed entering the bar after approaching the stopped automobiles. Each detective observed Appellant engaging in this conduct with the occupants of three or four automobiles before he was arrested by the police. Detective Wilson subsequently retrieved the black container--a film cannister--from the vacant lot, and it was found to contain twelve yellow balloon packets of heroin.

Appellant raises two related issues for our review. Initially he claims that the lower court erred in qualifying the two officers as experts and allowing them to testify on ultimate issues. Next, he argues that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to preserve for appellate review his objections to testimony from the two officers on the number of prior arrests by these officers which resulted in convictions. This testimony, which was admitted in the course of qualifying the officers as experts, it is argued, prejudiced Appellant.

Here, the Officers were offered as experts in order to elicit testimony on the street value of drugs, the habits of users, the quantity that would be purchased or possessed at one time, the usual dosage, signs of abuse, and whether the pattern of activity observed by the police officers was consistent with the usual pattern of narcotics transactions. Defense objections to their qualification was overruled, but the court held that their testimony would be somewhat limited. (N.T. 30, February 14-15, 1990), The court never specified the exact limitations of the testimony, instead the trial judge stated, "Some of them, [questions], I'll allow, but I'll have to hear each question as asked. We'll do it on a question-by-question basis. But generally I will deem him an expert." (N.T. 32. February 14-15, 1990). At no time did the court rule that any of the subjects raised in direct examination of the Officers was inappropriate for expert testimony.

The Officers in this case conducted the surveillance of the bar, found the narcotics, and arrested Appellant. They described Appellant's transactions with the stopped cars, and discussed the contents of the container filled with balloons of heroin. Officer Provident was then asked, based on his training and experience, if he had an opinion concerning what activity was transpiring. He answered that in his opinion he believed Appellant was "dealing narcotics." (N.T. 40-41, February 14-15, 1990).

We hold that this opinion was cumulative and prejudicial. The facts presented were easily assessed by an ordinary layperson, and in making the necessary inferences from these facts, the assistance of one claiming to possess special knowledge upon the subject was not required. Expert opinion evidence at this juncture encouraged the jurors to shift their focus from determining the credibility of the Officers' eye-witness testimony, and allowed them, instead, to defer to the Officers' expertise as narcotics detectives. See Commonwealth v. Davis, 518 Pa. 77, 541 A.2d 315 (1988). Our supreme court has condemned such testimony as "an invitation for the trier of fact to abdicate its responsibility to ascertain the facts relying upon the questionable premise that the expert is in a better position to make such a judgment." Commonwealth v. Seese, 512 Pa. 439, 443-444, 517 A.2d 920 (1986).

It has long been established that expert opinion testimony is proper only where formation of an opinion on a subject requires knowledge, information, or skill beyond what is possessed by the ordinary juror. Commonwealth v. Seese, 512 Pa. 439, 517 A.2d 920 (1986). "Phenomena and situations which are matters of common knowledge, may not be made the subject for expert testimony." Id. at 442, 517 A.2d 920, citing, Collins v. Zediker, 421 Pa. 52, 53-56, 218 A.2d 776, 777-778 (1966). "Expert testimony is inadmissible when the matter can be described to the jury and the condition evaluated by them without the assistance of one claiming to possess special knowledge upon the subject." Id., citing, Burton v. Horn and Hardart...