Com. v. Edwards

• Decision Date: 26 April 1989
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. George EDWARDS, Jr., Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 818

555 A.2d 818

521 Pa. 134

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. George EDWARDS, Jr., Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Oct. 25, 1988.

Decided March 6, 1989.

Reargument Denied April 26, 1989.

[521 Pa. 137] Vito P. Geroulo, Scranton, for appellant.

Ernest Preate, Jr., Dist. Atty., Robert A. Graci, Chief, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before NIX, C.J., and LARSEN, FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT, ZAPPALA, PAPADAKOS and STOUT, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

LARSEN, Justice.

On March 20, 1985, the appellant, George Edwards, Jr., was found guilty by a jury in Lackawanna County of Murder of the First Degree and Rape. Following the guilty verdict, a separate sentencing hearing was held pursuant to the Sentencing Code, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711 and the jury unanimously returned a sentence of death. Post trial motions filed by the appellant were denied by the trial court. The case is now before us on automatic appeal pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(h).

I.

In appellant's first argument he raises the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence. He contends that the evidence was insufficient to support a verdict of first degree murder.

The evidence produced at trial established the following: On June 9, 1984, a hot, summer-like, late spring day, the appellant and the victim, Debbie Prislupsky, were together at Rosencrans Landing at Lake Henry, a vacation and recreation area in Lackawanna County where seasonal residents maintain campers and trailers as summer homes. During the early afternoon, the appellant and the victim were observed relaxing at lakeside listening to the radio and alternately swimming and sitting in the sun. Later that afternoon the appellant and the victim left the immediate lakefront area and walked approximately two miles over rural roads to a country tavern known as Phillips Manor. They arrived there sometime between 4:45 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. There was no evidence that either had anything to drink prior to going to Phillips Manor.¹ Both were sober when they arrived.

When the appellant and the victim entered the tavern they went to the bar and ordered drinks. The appellant ordered a shot of whiskey and a beer; the victim ordered a rum and coke. The pair struck up a conversation with other patrons at the bar. Later, the victim started into a game of shuffleboard with some of those other patrons. Sometime later the appellant ordered five quarts of beer to take out. The bartender filled the order, putting the bottles in a paper bag. The bag of beer sat on the bar while the appellant continued conversing with others and the victim continued to play the shuffleboard game. After the appellant and the victim had been in the tavern for an hour or so they became loud and boisterous, using profanities and vulgarities in their conversations. The bartender, judging that the victim had become intoxicated, refused to serve her any more alcoholic drinks. He did continue to serve the appellant who began to order double shots of whiskey. Although the double shots were ordered by and served to the appellant, the victim drank most of them.² The victim, who was now intoxicated, took the bag of beer from the bar and went outside. A short time later the appellant learned that the victim, either intentionally or accidentally, dropped the bag in the parking lot breaking all of the bottles of beer. This angered the appellant and he stated "I'm going to f___in' kill her." "All f___in' broads need to be put in their place." (N.T. 3/14/85, p. 12.) The appellant then ordered five more quarts of beer which were placed in another paper bag. The appellant kept this bag beside him at the bar. The victim re-entered the tavern and returned to the bar near the appellant. She and the appellant continued their loud and boisterous conduct, annoying and causing some concern to the others in the tavern. After an unpleasant exchange of words with another tavern patron, the appellant picked up the bag from the bar and he and the victim began to leave. On their way out the appellant banged the victim into the door and door jamb as they proceeded to the outside. Once in the parking lot the victim fell to the ground a couple of times and while she was down the appellant kicked her in her side and rib cage. He pulled her up by the arm and dragged her a distance in the lot. The victim was then knocked to the ground once again, this time she fell with such force that she banged the back of her head on the ground. The appellant pulled her up only to have her go crashing to the ground once again. This time the bandanna she was wearing came off her head and the appellant picked it up and tied it around his head. The appellant picked her up once more and she was staggering as she and the appellant proceeded into the woods. It was sometime between 6:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. that the appellant and the victim had left the tavern and disappeared into the woods. Shortly thereafter, fearing that they might return, the bartender called the police. He asked that a police officer stop by the tavern because he feared that the appellant would return and cause trouble.³

At approximately 7:15 p.m., Jefferson Township police officer Gary Pozza, responding to the call, arrived in the Phillips Manor parking lot. He noticed nothing unusual or out of the ordinary upon his arrival. He went into the tavern and learned that the reason why the police were called was because of the boisterous and menacing conduct of the appellant who had left a short time earlier. Officer Pozza was told by some of the patrons that they believed the appellant and the victim were still in the area. He was informed that they had gone into the woods next to the parking lot. Three patrons of the tavern, Florence Healey, Joyce Davis and Bill Davis went outside with officer Pozza to show him where the appellant and the victim had gone. Florence Healey proceeded into the woods with Joyce Davis lagging behind her. She went in at the same place that the appellant and the victim had entered. A short piece into the woods she observed the appellant with his pants down, kneeling on his hands and knees. She could see his bare back and behind. She could not see the victim. She immediately retreated from the woods and said to the police officers that it appeared that the parties were in there having sex.

Officer Pozza went into the woods and he observed the appellant in a semi-crouched position in a ravine right next to the victim who was partially nude and lying by a stream. The victim's panties were pulled down to her ankles and her top was pulled up so that her breasts were exposed. From his angle of view he could not see her face but he did observe that she had blood on her legs. The appellant had blood on his shirt and about his face, beard and forehead. Officer Pozza was accompanied into the woods by officer Petronchak of the Archbald Borough Police Department. The two officers working together were able to get the appellant to come up out of the ravine. Appellant had some difficulty negotiating the steep slope with an open quart bottle of beer in his hand. When he reached the top, officer Pozza kicked the bottle out of his hand and the appellant was made to lie on the ground. At this point he was cuffed with his arms behind his back. Without anyone asking him a question, the appellant blurted out: "I didn't do anything" and "She's okay." (N.T. March 12, 1985, pp. 18, 19.)

Officer Pozza then went down into the ravine to check on the victim and discovered that she was dead. The victim had been beaten savagely; her face was a flattened mass of blood, wounds, tears, bruises and broken bones. Subsequent examination revealed that there were seven major fractures and numerous tiny fractures of the victim's face. The rest of her body was marked by at least thirty-five human bite wounds. The victim had been bitten on her chest, breasts, stomach, thighs, pelvis, arms and hands. The bite marks were vicious, deep and penetrating. The bites on her breasts were so deep and cruel that the nipple on her right breast was almost completely removed and the nipple on the left breast was severely lacerated. There were other circular marks in the same general areas of her body which were incomplete and thus could not be identified as human bites. Many of the bites showed bruising around them and bleeding indicating they were inflicted while the victim was still alive. Also many of them showed-slippage or blurring at one edge indicating that the victim was moving when the bite was inflicted. The bites on the victim's arms and hands were defensive wounds indicating that she was trying to defend herself from the merciless attack. Additionally, there were tears and bruises on the victim's vagina. The cause of death was traumatic strangulation with significant conditions being facial and skull fractures, and numerous contusions, abrasions and lacerations. The strangulation was accomplished by a metal choker twisted around her neck with such force that the hyoid bone, which lays on top of the voice box, was fractured. There was considerable bruising and bleeding that extended all the way back to her spinal column. Dr. Thomas DiSilvo, the pathologist who performed the autopsy testified that there was no place on the victim's face that was unmarked by injury. The blows to the face were not random blows. They had a pattern to them so as to systematically cover every area of her face. Further, Dr. DiSilvio testified that considerable force is required to break facial bones as the victim's were broken in this case. The bites, like the blows to her face, were not random bites. Except for the defensive wounds, the bites were systematically inflicted in sexual areas of the victim's body.

In reviewing for the sufficiency of the evidence the test is that:

"[w]e view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth and, drawing all reasonable inferences therefrom favorable to the Commonwealth,...