Com. v. Diggs

• Decision Date: 17 June 2008
• Docket Number: No. 444 CAP.,444 CAP.
• Citation: 949 A.2d 873
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Junious G. DIGGS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

949 A.2d 873

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Junious G. DIGGS, Appellant.

No. 444 CAP.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued October 15, 2007.

Decided June 17, 2008.

David Scott Rudenstein, Esq., for Junious G. Diggs.

Amy Zapp, Esq., Hugh J. Burns, Jr., Esq., Anthony Pomeranz, Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER, BALDWIN and FITZGERALD, JJ.

OPINION

Justice SAYLOR.

This is a direct appeal from a sentence of death imposed by the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, following Appellant Junious G. Diggs' conviction of the first-degree murder of Johnetta Bryant and related charges.

Background

On March 16, 2002, thirteen-year-old Kaneesha Cooper ("Kaneesha") was sitting on her front porch on Beaumont Street in Philadelphia while her mother Johnetta Bryant (the victim) and Kaneesha's two brothers were inside. Kaneesha was playing with her friend Marquis, and her brothers were upstairs watching television; the victim was in the first-floor dining room. At approximately 7:00 p.m., Appellant, a neighbor known to Kaneesha as "Binky," arrived and asked if Kaneesha's mother was home. Kaneesha — who was aware that Appellant had recently argued with her mother — indicated that she would get her mother from inside and bring her out, but that Appellant should not go inside because her mother might be getting dressed. Appellant did not wait, however, and entered the home directly behind Kaneesha, pushing the latter out of the way to approach the victim. When Appellant saw the victim, the two started arguing. Kaneesha picked up the phone to call the police because her mother had told her that Appellant was not allowed in the house. While trying to place the call, Kaneesha heard her mother say, "Get out of my house," to which Appellant replied, "Okay, you going to call the cops, try to get me locked up[?]" He then produced a gun and shot the victim a total of ten times, killing her. Kaneesha ran to her friend's home nearby and summoned the police.

When the police arrived, Kaneesha's twin brother Klinton told them that he heard gunshots while upstairs with his younger brother. Kaneesha, who was now back at her home, told police that "Binky" shot her mother. Kaneesha and her siblings were transported to the police station, where she gave a statement and identified Appellant from a photo array. Meanwhile, Appellant fled the Commonwealth and was ultimately apprehended two months later upon his return to Philadelphia.

An autopsy revealed that the victim was shot twice in the groin, once in the upper arm consistent with a defensive wound, once in the face, and six times in the back of the head. The medical examiner testified that some of the wounds were consistent with an individual standing over the victim and shooting downward. In this regard, a Crime Scene Unit officer who inspected the scene also observed that at least four shots were fired at close range in a deliberate downward motion, penetrating an area of the carpet that was saturated with blood. Three of these rounds landed in the basement, and one became embedded in the dining room floor. No empty shell casings were recovered from the basement.

On March 5, 2004, a jury found Appellant guilty of first-degree murder, burglary, criminal trespass, and possessing an instrument of crime. At the conclusion of the penalty phase, the jurors found one aggravating circumstance — that the killing was committed in perpetration of the felony of burglary, see 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(6) — as well as the "catchall" mitigator, see id., § 9711(e)(8). Having unanimously concluded that the former outweighed the latter, the jury set the penalty at death. See N.T. March 9, 2004, at 44; 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(c)(1)(iv). The court formally imposed the death penalty and additionally sentenced Appellant to an aggregate term of seven-and-a-half to fifteen years' imprisonment for burglary and possessing an instrument of crime. The court did not impose a separate sentence for criminal trespass, as it considered the offense to merge with burglary for sentencing purposes.

After an automatic appeal was lodged with this Court, trial counsel withdrew and appellate counsel was appointed. This Court then remanded the record for preparation of an opinion. The trial court filed its opinion and supplemental opinion on September 7, 2006, and October 10, 2006, respectively.¹

Sufficiency and Weight of the Evidence

Appellant first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the first-degree murder conviction. To obtain a conviction for first-degree murder, the Commonwealth must demonstrate that: a human being was unlawfully killed; the defendant was the killer; and the defendant acted with malice and a specific intent to kill. See 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2501, 2502(a); Commonwealth v. Moore, 594 Pa. 619, 628, 937 A.2d 1062, 1067 (2007) (citing Commonwealth v. Collins, 550 Pa. 46, 50, 703 A.2d 418, 420 (1997)). In determining whether there was sufficient evidentiary support for a jury's finding to this effect, the reviewing court inquires whether the proofs, considered in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, are sufficient to enable a reasonable jury to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Crews, 436 Pa. 346, 348, 260 A.2d 771, 771-72 (1970). The court bears in mind that: the Commonwealth may sustain its burden by means of wholly circumstantial evidence; the entire trial record should be evaluated and all evidence received considered, whether or not the trial court's rulings thereon were correct; and the trier of fact, while passing upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence, is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence. See Commonwealth v. Cousar, 593 Pa. 204, 217, 928 A.2d 1025, 1032-33 (2007); Commonwealth v. Harper, 485 Pa. 572, 576-77, 403 A.2d 536, 538-39 (1979).

Appellant admits that, because he shot the victim multiple times at close range, the jury was permitted to infer that he acted with malice, and therefore, that he committed murder. He thus focuses his argument on the question of whether he acted with a specific intent to kill Ms. Bryant. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Taylor, 583 Pa. 170, 186, 876 A.2d 916, 926 (2005) (observing that, apart from felony murder, any murder committed without specific intent constitutes third-degree murder).² In this respect, although he concedes that forming a specific intent to kill "can take but a moment," Appellant maintains that the evidence was insufficient to support that conclusion, as it seemed rather to indicate that he entered the house calmly and then acted upon a sudden provocation when confronted with "hollering" by the victim.

Although Appellant also references other factors that might be consistent with a finding that he did not harbor a specific intent to kill, the overarching difficulty with his argument is that he interprets the evidence in a manner most favorable to himself. Viewing the proofs favorably to the prosecution, it is relevant that Appellant had recently argued with the victim, arrived at the her house with a gun, ignored her daughter's directive to stay outside (and indeed pushed the daughter aside to enter the residence), responded in an angry manner to the victim's command to leave the premises, and then shot the victim a total of ten times, including twice in the groin, once in the face, and six times in the back of the head. Of particular importance is the testimony provided by the ballistics expert and the medical examiner indicating that Appellant stood over the victim, firing downward at the back of her head while she lay face-down on the floor. As a specific intent to kill may be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body, see Commonwealth v. DeJesus, 580 Pa. 303, 308, 860 A.2d 102, 106 (2004), we conclude that the jury was justified in finding Appellant guilty of first-degree murder.

Appellant also questions whether the evidence was sufficient to support his burglary conviction. An individual commits burglary "if he enters a building or occupied structure, or separately secured or occupied portion thereof, with intent to commit a crime therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or the actor is licensed or privileged to enter." 18 Pa.C.S. § 3502(a). The only question Appellant raises is whether the evidence showed that he was not privileged to enter. He maintains that he was known to, and liked by, the family; highlights testimony to the effect that Kaneesha had ushered him into the home, see N.T. March 3, 2004, at 79 (reflecting Marquis' testimony that Appellant asked Kaneesha "if her mother was in, she said yes, and she escorted him in"); and discounts Kaneesha's contrary testimony as coming from an "interested witness." He also argues that the record does not reflect that Kaneesha ever told Appellant he was not permitted to enter.

Appellant states, correctly, that he had known the family for a number of years — indeed, there was testimony that he was a neighbor whom Kaneesha had seen approximately every other day of her life. Notably, however, there was also evidence indicating that, in all those years, Appellant had only been inside the victim's home on one occasion, see N.T. March 3, 2004 at 34 (testimony of Kaneesha Cooper); that the victim had told her family members that Appellant was not permitted inside, see id. at 30; that Appellant had to "shove" Kaneesha out of the way in order to enter, see id.; and that the victim immediately ordered Appellant to leave the house as soon as she saw him, see id. at 43-44 (testimony of Kaneesha Cooper, recounting that her mother "jumped up when she saw me come in and [Appellant] was right behind me. First thing my mother said was get out."). Furthermore, regardless of how the situation may have appeared to Marquis, the jurors...