Com. v. Edwards
| Decision Date | 21 August 2006 |
| Citation | 903 A.2d 1139 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Mark Duane EDWARDS, Jr., Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Susan Elizabeth Ritz, for Mark Duane Edwards, Jr.
Nancy D. Vernon, Amy Zapp, Harrisburg, for Com.
BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., CASTILLE, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER and BALDWIN, JJ.
Appellant appeals from the judgment of sentence imposing a penalty of death for each of three first-degree murder convictions, and lesser sentences for the second-degree murder of an unborn child and other offenses. Because we find no merit to the issues raised by appellant, we affirm the judgment of sentence.
On the morning of April 14, 2002, the North Union Volunteer Fire Department and the Pennsylvania State Police responded to a fire in a double-wide mobile home in North Union Township, Fayette County. Corporal Andre Stevens of the Pennsylvania State Police happened to be in the area, and, when he responded to the scene, he found twelve-year-old Larry Bobish, Jr., suffering from gunshot wounds to his hand and neck. The boy told Corporal Stevens that "Marky" shot him. After the fire was extinguished, officers entered the residence where they found the dead bodies of the child's father, Larry Bobish, Sr., his mother, Joanna Marian Bobish, and his pregnant seventeen-year-old sister, Krystal Leigh Bobish. Larry Jr. was shot through his left hand into his neck, and also suffered a laceration to his neck. He survived, but the bullet that entered his neck remained lodged near his spinal column.
At appellant's trial, Larry Jr. testified that approximately a year before the murders, his mother and sister started using a controlled substance known as "wet" and that his father, who was on disability, sold "wet."1 Larry Jr. testified that, at approximately 6 a.m. on April 14, 2002, he was sleeping on the living room couch when he was awakened by his father answering the door. Joanna Bobish was asleep in her bedroom and Krystal was sleeping in Larry Jr.'s bedroom. Larry Jr. saw appellant, who was a friend of Krystal, enter the house. After Larry Sr. and appellant went into the kitchen, Larry Jr. heard two gunshots and the sound of a body falling to the ground. Appellant then ran into the living room carrying a black automatic handgun and shot Larry Jr. Next, appellant ran into Joanna's bedroom, and Larry Jr. heard another gunshot. At that point, Krystal came out of the bedroom in which she had been sleeping and told appellant to stop. Appellant approached Krystal and shot her. Krystal fell to the ground, at which point appellant swore at her and kicked her.
Larry Jr. got up and approached appellant, who started striking him while the boy begged appellant to stop. Appellant then cut Larry Jr. on the neck, shoulder and back. Larry Jr. fell to the ground and heard appellant running through the kitchen and down the stairs into the basement. At some point, the boy awoke and realized that the home was on fire. He ran outside and lay in the driveway, screaming for help.
Corporal Stevens testified that he was off-duty delivering newspapers in the Bobishes' neighborhood with his three sons when he observed that the roof of the Bobish home was on fire. Corporal Stevens approached the Bobish residence with one of his sons where he encountered the Bobishes' neighbor and saw Larry Jr. lying on the driveway covered in blood from his head to his waist. Corporal Stevens asked Larry Jr. if there was anyone in the house, and Larry responded that his parents and sister were inside. Corporal Stevens attempted to enter the home but was unable to do so due to the fire. An ambulance arrived, and one of the attendants began tending to Larry Jr., who told the attendant that "Marky" had assaulted him. On April 18, 2002, four days after the murder, Larry Jr. identified appellant by name as the person who committed the murders, and he picked appellant's photograph out of a photo line-up presented to him at the hospital by Corporal Stevens.
Aaron Coleman, Chief of the North Union Volunteer Fire Department, testified that he arrived at the scene at approximately 7 a.m., at which time the Bobish residence was fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished in approximately fifteen minutes, and Chief Coleman was then able to enter the home where he found three bodies, one in the living room, one in the kitchen, and one in the bedroom area. State Trooper William Large was present at the scene and later testified as an expert in fire investigation. Trooper Large stated that two separate fires were set inside the Bobish home, one in the living room and one in the bedroom area. He concluded that the fires were intentionally set and, therefore, classified the fire as arson.
Appellant's friend, Brooke Porter, testified that, on the afternoon of April 13, 2002, appellant spent a few hours with her. Appellant came to Porter's house, where they engaged in sexual intercourse. Then, as they were getting ready to leave Porter's house, Porter testified, appellant "just started talking crazy" because Larry Sr. had been paging him. Appellant told Porter that he had stolen "water" from Larry Sr. and stated that if he was going to go to jail for robbery, he wanted to go to jail for life. He described for Porter a plan to go to the Bobish residence, knock on the door, tell Larry Sr. he had the money and then kill him.
Recardo Williams testified that on Saturday, April 13, 2002, at approximately 10 p.m., he was in a home in Uniontown with four or five other people, one of whom was appellant. Williams, who was thirteen years old in 2002, testified that he knew appellant and overheard a conversation in which appellant stated that he was going to shoot a family and then stab them. According to Williams, appellant intended to shoot the family and then "cut somebody if he had no more bullets." Id. at 184-86, 192.
Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., the Coroner of Allegheny County, reviewed the autopsies of the three victims, performed at the request of the Fayette County Coroner, and prepared the final autopsy reports. Dr. Wecht concluded that Larry Sr.'s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest with perforations of both lungs and heart, resulting in bleeding into both the right and left thoracic cavities and pericardial sac. There was no evidence that Larry Sr. was alive at the time of the fire. Dr. Wecht found that Joanna's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck with damage to the critical nerves and blood vessels supplying the heart and the lungs. Joanna's examination revealed no evidence that she was alive at the time of the fire. Dr. Wecht testified that Krystal's cause of death was a transection of her spinal column, which resulted from a gunshot wound with its point of entry in her cheek. Krystal had also expired by the time the fire was set. Krystal's autopsy also revealed a twenty-eight-week-old viable male fetus in utero, which died because of a lack of oxygen after the death of his mother. Dr. Wecht testified that the manner of death for all three victims and the unborn child was homicide.
State Trooper John F. Marshall testified that appellant was apprehended on April 18, 2002, and transported to the state police barracks, where Trooper Marshall met him. The trooper read appellant the Miranda2 warnings, appellant waived his rights, and appellant began to make a statement. Trooper Marshall interrupted to ask if appellant wanted an attorney, and when appellant responded that he did, the interview was terminated, and the trooper left the interview room. A short time later, Trooper Marshall returned to the interview room and again read the Miranda waiver form to appellant, who again signed the document. Appellant then indicated that he wanted to give a statement "to make peace with God." Trooper Marshall asked again if appellant wished to waive his right to an attorney, and appellant stated that he wanted to speak to the trooper without an attorney.
Appellant told Trooper Marshall that, on April 12, 2002, he went with Jeff Johnson and a girl named Gina to the Bobish residence to buy "wet." After smoking all of the drugs, they returned to the Bobish house and stole six bottles of "wet" from Larry Sr. at gunpoint. After the robbery, Bobish began paging appellant and, when appellant called the residence, he was told that the Bobish family was planning to call the police if appellant did not pay for the drugs. The next day, appellant went to the home of his friend, Brooke Porter, and informed her that he was going to rob Larry Sr. again and kill him. At approximately 5 a.m. on April 14, appellant woke up, smoked two bottles of the drugs, and walked to the Bobish house. Larry Sr. let him in the front door and asked him for the money owed, whereupon appellant shot Larry Sr. and then Krystal. Appellant stated that he did not remember shooting Joanna or Larry Jr. Appellant then set fire to the house, first by igniting a blanket in Joanna's bedroom.
Appellant was tried before a jury in May of 2004. Appellant testified in his own behalf, and claimed that he awoke on Sunday, April 14, 2002, at approximately 6 a.m. at Nancy McGruder's house and then walked to his grandmother's house where his aunt let him in. He went into the living room, where he fell asleep until his aunt woke him with food. Appellant denied that he went to the Bobish residence on Sunday morning, denied that he saw any member of the Bobish family and denied that he shot or stabbed any member of the family. Appellant further claimed that the confession which Trooper Marshall read into the record was false.
The jury found appellant guilty of three counts of first degree murder,3 and single counts of second degree murder (respecting Krystal's unborn child),4 criminal attempt to commit homicide (respecting Larry Jr.),5 arson6 and burglary.7...
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