Com. v. Green

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Writing for the Court: Before NIX; PAPADAKOS; NIX, C.J., and ZAPPALA
• Citation: 525 Pa. 424,581 A.2d 544
• Decision Date: 19 September 1990
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. William GREEN, Appellant.

Page 544

581 A.2d 544 525 Pa. 424 COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee,
v.
William GREEN, Appellant. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued Oct. 23, 1989.
Decided Sept. 19, 1990.

Page 546

[525 Pa. 429] Bruce A. Franzel, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Gaele McLaughlin Barthold, Deputy Dist. Atty., Ronald Eisenberg, Chief, Appeals Div., Alan Sacks, Robert A. Graci, Chief, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

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

OPINION OF THE COURT

PAPADAKOS, Justice.

On November 12, 1982, Appellant, William Green, was found guilty by a Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court jury of murder in the first degree for the killing of Angelo D'Antonio. Appellant was also convicted of robbery, criminal conspiracy and possession of an instrument of crime. As a consequence of the first degree murder conviction, a sentencing hearing was held as required by 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(a)(1) ¹ and the jury determined that Appellant be [525 Pa. 430] sentenced to death. This case is now before us on automatic appeal pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h)(1). ² The facts of the case, viewed in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the verdict winner at the trial court level, are as follows:

At a little after noon on January 11, 1982, a robbery occurred at Pat's Bar located at Passyunk and Christian Streets in Philadelphia. Mr. D'Antonio, the owner of Pat's Bar, was shot and killed during the course of the robbery. At trial, two patrons of the bar testified that they were both present in the bar shortly after noon on January 11 when two males in stocking masks entered. An initial shot was fired. One of the masked men then jumped over the bar with gun in hand, at which time Mr. D'Antonio moved towards him and grabbed him with two hands on both shoulders, this having the effect of turning both men around. As they turned, the gunman shot Mr. D'Antonio in the stomach and killed him. He then directed everyone in the bar to lay on the floor at which time he went to a cash register and attempted to open it. The second masked man, who was observed in the doorway with a gun, went to the rear of the bar and then went to a register where he took something out. Pat's Bar apparently had two cash registers. Neither eyewitness could identify

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either of the assailants because both were wearing stocking masks during the incident. Both witnesses testified, however, that the gun used to kill Mr. D'Antonio appeared to be a .32 caliber, a fact later confirmed by a ballistics expert.

The only other eyewitness presented by the Commonwealth to testify as to the events in Pat's Bar that led to the [525 Pa. 431] killing of Mr. D'Antonio was one Ronald Garner. Garner agreed to testify against Appellant pursuant to a plea bargain with the Commonwealth. He had been charged with murder, robbery, conspiracy and possession of instruments of crime in connection with the killing of Mr. D'Antonio at Pat's Bar. In exchange for testifying against Appellant, he was allowed to plead guilty to third degree murder, robbery and conspiracy and was promised that his sentence would not exceed a term of 20 to 40 years. ³ Garner testified that on January 10, 1982, Appellant, one Florence Stanley and Garner himself met and agreed to commit the robbery in question. Garner testified that the idea for the robbery was Appellant's, and that Appellant supplied two guns and stockings to be used as face masks. Garner testified that on January 11, 1982, he, along with Appellant and Florence Stanley, went to Pat's Bar to rob it and that Appellant entered the bar first, and fired a shot into the air, and that it was Appellant who had jumped over the bar while he, Garner, waited at the entrance. Garner then stated that he himself subsequently came into Pat's Bar, at Appellant's direction. By this time, Mr. D'Antonio had been shot. He stated that he then stood on a stool, jumped over the bar and removed money from a cash register. ⁴

Also introduced at trial were two confessions given by Appellant to Philadelphia Homicide Detectives shortly after his apprehension. Both statements had been the subject of a Motion to Suppress which had been heard and denied by Judge Latrone prior to the trial itself. The evidence presented at the suppression hearing established that on April 9, 1982, Philadelphia police obtained a warrant for Appellant's arrest signed by a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge, the Honorable Edward Mekel, and based on a written [525 Pa. 432] affidavit of probable cause. ⁵ On April 16, 1982, pursuant to information received by a Philadelphia homicide detective from a confidential informant, Philadelphia police and Camden, New Jersey, police went to a residence at 501 Newton Avenue in Camden, New Jersey, to look for Appellant. Shortly before 5:00 p.m., the police knocked on the door at that residence and initially received no response, although they observed Appellant's girlfriend looking out of a window. After waiting at the scene for approximately ten minutes, the door opened from the inside and Appellant appeared in the doorway. Mr. Green raised his hands and said words to the effect that "there will be no trouble, I'm willing to go with you."

The two Philadelphia homicide detectives who were presented by the Commonwealth at the Motion to Suppress, Sgt. Daniel Rosenstein and Detective Frank Digel, testified that as Mr. Green stepped into the front doorway he was taken into custody and taken back into the house inside the living room. The Philadelphia detectives testified that after being in the living room for approximately two to three minutes with Appellant standing in front of the sofa, his girlfriend pointed to a plastic bag on the floor near Mr. Green and stated, "If you are going to take him, then you might as well take this bag, because his clothes are in there. It belongs to him." Detective Digel picked up the bag and felt and retrieved a gun from amongst the clothing in the bag. Detective Rosenstein testified at the suppression hearing that as Appellant observed the gun removed from the bag he spontaneously stated, "That's not the gun you want."

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At the Motion to Suppress, Appellant's defense counsel called Camden Police Officers Charles Woodward and Joseph Rubino, two uniformed officers who had effectuated this arrest in New Jersey at 5:05 p.m. Officer Woodward testified that he and his partner (Rubino) responded to a radio call to meet Philadelphia detectives at the 501 Newton [525 Pa. 433] Avenue address in Camden. After their arrival at that location, Appellant came to the front door from inside the house, at which time Officer Woodward and Camden Detective Ivan Holmes immediately apprehended him on the outside of the building on the left hand side of the doorway. Detective Holmes and Officer Woodward then handcuffed Mr. Green outside of the residence and placed him in the rear of Officer Woodward's patrol vehicle. Officer Woodward testified that from the time the door first opened and Mr. Green was handcuffed outside the building and placed in the patrol car, Mr. Green never left Officer Woodward's presence and neither Officer Woodward nor Mr. Green ever went back into the residence at 501 Newton Avenue. He testified that the Philadelphia detectives entered the house only after Mr. Green was outside and in his custody and that during the entire time the detectives were inside the house Mr. Green was with Officer Woodward in his patrol car. Officer Woodward's testimony concerning the immediate arrest of Appellant was corroborated by Police Officer Rubino and, of course, contradicts that of the Philadelphia detectives with respect to the finding of the gun.

Appellant was then transported to Camden Police Department Headquarters by Officers Woodward and Rubino at which time he was placed in an interrogation room, where he was informed of the charges against him and advised of his right to oppose his return to Pennsylvania. Appellant thrice indicated his desire to return voluntarily to Pennsylvania without formal extradition proceedings as soon as possible. The New Jersey police attempted to locate a New Jersey judge to schedule an immediate extradition hearing. Detective Rosenstein spoke to a New Jersey Superior Court judge, the Honorable Judy Yaskin, over the telephone and advised her of Appellant's name, the charges against him, the details of the case, and the fact that the Appellant wished to waive extradition and return to Pennsylvania. Detective Rosenstein testified that Judge Yaskin instructed him over the telephone to advise Appellant of his rights concerning extradition and instructed the detective to draw [525 Pa. 434] up a form which explained Appellant's rights and on which Appellant could indicate by his answers that he understood those rights. Before Appellant was further advised of his right to fight extradition, and before the form was drawn up, Appellant was given his Miranda warnings. Appellant then executed what the Suppression Court found to be a voluntary, knowing and intelligent waiver of his rights under Miranda. Appellant was then questioned for a period of one hour and thirty-five minutes (concluding at 8:00 p.m.) by the Philadelphia detectives regarding the killing of Mr. D'Antonio. Appellant's statement was reduced to ten pages of writing and signed by Appellant on each page. In this statement, Appellant admitted his participation in the robbery at Pat's Bar, but stated that it was Ronald Garner who had jumped over the bar and shot Mr. D'Antonio during the robbery. Appellant was thereafter advised both orally and in writing of his extradition rights and he executed the form prepared by Detective Rosenstein at the direction of Judge Yaskin waiving those rights. Without ever having physically appeared before, or having spoken with a New Jersey judge, Mr. Green was returned to Pennsylvania in the custody of the Philadelphia detectives.

After being returned...