Com. v. DeMarco

• Decision Date: 23 October 2002
• Citation: 570 Pa. 263,809 A.2d 256
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Richard DEMARCO, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

809 A.2d 256

570 Pa. 263

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Richard DEMARCO, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted May 14, 2002.

Decided October 23, 2002.

Brian R. Germano, Stroudsburg, for Richard DeMarco.

Bernard Ashley Anderson, Mark Peter Pazuhanich, Stroudsburg, for Com.

Before ZAPPALA, C.J., CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Justice NIGRO.

We granted allowance of appeal in the instant case to review whether the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County committed reversible error during the trial of Appellant Richard DeMarco by refusing to charge the jury on the defense of duress. For the reasons that follow, we find that the trial court did err, and therefore, vacate Appellant's judgment of sentence and remand the case to the trial court for a new trial.

On February 16, 1998, Frank Larwa called the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department to report that Salvatore Zarcone was at his home in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania, and had damaged his two cars. Shortly after Larwa's phone call, Officer Martin Reynolds arrived at Larwa's home and observed that two cars in the driveway next to the home were damaged. Officer Reynolds spoke with Larwa and Appellant, who were the only people present in the home.¹ Larwa told Officer Reynolds that Zarcone had appeared at his home and when he refused to open the door to allow Zarcone inside, Zarcone threatened to injure him and vandalized his two cars. Appellant corroborated Larwa's statements. Officer Reynolds asked Larwa and Appellant to each make a written statement regarding their allegations and gave them forms on which to make those statements.

Officer Reynolds had to leave the home before Larwa and Appellant wrote their statements but he returned later that day to pick up the completed statements. Both Larwa's and Appellant's signed written statements substantiated what they had orally told Officer Reynolds earlier that day. Based on Larwa's and Appellant's allegations, Officer Reynolds filed a charge of terroristic threats against Zarcone. On April 9, 1998, a preliminary hearing was held concerning that charge. Appellant testified during the preliminary hearing in a manner consistent with his previous statements to Officer Reynolds. Based on the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, the trial court determined that there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

On November 10, 1998, a trial was held on the terroristic threats charge against Zarcone. During the trial, Zarcone called Appellant to testify regarding the statements he made to Officer Reynolds and the testimony he gave during the preliminary hearing. Instead of confirming his prior statements and testimony, however, Appellant testified that his statements and testimony were not true accounts of what happened on February 16. According to Appellant's testimony at trial, Zarcone was not at Larwa's house on February 16 and, in fact, Larwa had vandalized his cars himself. Appellant also testified that Larwa had coerced him into telling the false story both to Officer Reynolds and at the preliminary hearing. The jury subsequently acquitted Zarcone of the terroristic threats charge.

Based on the inconsistencies between his earlier statements and his testimony at Zarcone's trial, Appellant was charged with two counts of perjury, 18 Pa.C.S. § 4902, two counts of false swearing, 18 Pa.C.S. § 4903(a)(1),² one count of unsworn falsification to authorities, 18 Pa. C.S. § 4904(a)(1), and one count of false reports to law enforcement, 18 Pa.C.S. § 4906(b)(1).³ Prior to trial, Appellant obtained a report from a medical expert in which the expert found that Appellant was coerced by Larwa into telling the false story to Officer Reynolds and at the preliminary hearing. Based on its receipt of the report, which Appellant planned to admit into evidence at his trial, on September 13, 1999, the day before Appellant's trial, the Commonwealth filed a motion in limine requesting that the trial court preclude Appellant from presenting any evidence regarding the duress defense provided for in 18 Pa.C.S. § 309. According to Section 309, the duress defense applies in the following circumstances:

(a) General Rule.—It is a defense that the actor engaged in the conduct charged to constitute an offense because he was coerced to do so by the use of, or a threat to use, unlawful force against his person or the person of another, which a person of reasonable firmness in his situation would have been unable to resist.

(b) Exception.—The defense provided by subsection (a) of this section is unavailable if the actor recklessly placed himself in a situation in which it was probable that he would be subjected to duress. The defense is also unavailable if he was negligent in placing himself in such a situation, whenever negligence suffices to establish culpability for the offense charged.

P.L. 1482, No. 334, § 1, Dec. 6, 1972 (effective June 6, 1973), codified as amended, 18 Pa.C.S. § 309 (2002). Alternatively, the Commonwealth argued that if the trial court allowed Appellant to present evidence of the duress defense, the trial court should exclude evidence from any medical experts regarding Appellant's mental condition.

On the morning of the first day of Appellant's trial, the trial court held a pretrial conference on the Commonwealth's motion in limine. The trial court ruled that Appellant could present evidence of the duress defense but that Appellant could not present any evidence from medical experts regarding his mental condition because, according to the trial court, such evidence would improperly bolster Appellant's credibility. Consequently, on the first day of his trial, Appellant argued that although he had made false statements to Officer Reynolds and at the preliminary hearing, Larwa had coerced him into making those statements. In support of his argument, Appellant presented evidence of his own testimony during Zarcone's trial in which he stated that Larwa had forced him to tell the false story by shooting him with a B.B. Gun and choking him, as well as Larwa's testimony at Zarcone's trial in which Larwa stated, "[Appellant's] brain doesn't work like yours and mine." N.T., 9/14/99, at 45.

In addition, Appellant presented evidence from his mother, Charmaine Mesa. Mesa testified that Appellant's father hit Appellant in the head when he was just nine months old and, as a result, Appellant underwent several operations, and ultimately, had a metal plate placed in his head. According to Mesa, Appellant continues to suffer from severe headaches and seizures. Mesa also testified that Appellant's school informed her that Appellant is borderline mentally retarded and will not be able to intellectually develop above approximately a third-grade level. Furthermore, Mesa testified that both Appellant and his wife, Tracey Zook, notified her that Larwa was threatening Appellant. Mesa explained that she notified her local police in Philadelphia about the threats, but was told by the police that they could not help Appellant because he was outside of their jurisdiction.

Zook also testified at Appellant's trial. She confirmed that Appellant receives social security checks because he is mentally disabled. Zook further testified that she was living at Larwa's home with Appellant when Larwa coerced Appellant into falsely accusing Zarcone. According to Zook, she heard Larwa telling Appellant what he should say in court and threatening to either kill Appellant or take away his social security checks if he did not testify as rehearsed.

At the end of the first day of trial, the Commonwealth made a motion requesting that the trial court exclude any additional evidence regarding the duress defense and refrain from instructing the jury about that defense. The next morning, before the start of the second day of the trial, the trial court granted the Commonwealth's motion. In support of its ruling, the trial court initially noted that the duress defense is provided for in 18 Pa.C.S. § 309. Nevertheless, the trial court then determined that based on the Superior Court's decision in Commonwealth v. Berger, 417 Pa.Super. 473, 612 A.2d 1037 (1992), in order to establish the duress defense, the evidence must show that: (1) the defendant was subject to a present and impending threat of death or serious bodily injury; (2) the defendant had a reasonable fear that the threatened harm would be made against him; and (3) the defendant had no reasonable opportunity to escape the threatened harm except by committing the criminal act. Id. at 1041-42.

Based upon its review of the evidence introduced on the first day of trial, the trial court found that the evidence was insufficient to support two of the three necessary elements set forth in Berger, namely, that Appellant was subject to a present and impending threat of death or serious bodily injury, and that he did not have a reasonable opportunity to escape the threatened harm except by committing the criminal offenses.⁴ Therefore, the trial court concluded that the duress defense was not a viable defense in the instant case. Moreover, the trial court determined that because the evidence indicated that by living with Larwa, Appellant recklessly placed himself in a situation where it was likely that he would be subject to duress, even if the evidence supported the duress defense, Appellant was not entitled to avail himself of the defense in light of the exception in 18 Pa.C.S. § 309(b).

Given its ruling on the Commonwealth's motion in limine, the trial court precluded Appellant from offering any additional evidence concerning the duress defense and refused, despite Appellant's requests, to instruct the jury regarding the defense. Indeed, in its charge to the jury, the trial court instructed, "as a matter of law, there is no legal application of duress that would apply in this particular case." N.T., 9/15/99, at 109. Following...