Com. v. LaCava

• Decision Date: 19 September 1995
• Citation: 666 A.2d 221,542 Pa. 160
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Michael LaCAVA, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 221

666 A.2d 221

542 Pa. 160

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Michael LaCAVA, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Oct. 17, 1994.

Decided Sept. 19, 1995.

[542 Pa. 170] George Henry Newman, Philadelphia, for M. LaCava.

Catherine Marshall, Ronald Eisenberg, Hugh J. Burns, Philadelphia, for Commonwealth.

Robert A. Graci, Harrisburg, for Attorney General's Office.

Before NIX, C.J., and FLAHERTY, ZAPPALA, PAPADAKOS, CAPPY, CASTILLE and MONTEMURO, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

CASTILLE, Justice.

This is an automatic direct appeal ¹ from the judgments of sentence of death and concurrent and consecutive terms of imprisonment imposed upon appellant, Michael LaCava, by the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, Criminal Division. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm appellant's convictions but vacate the sentence of death and remand the matter back to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing on appellant's murder conviction.

Following a ten day jury trial in 1991 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas before the Honorable Eugene H. Clarke, Jr., appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder, ² possession of an instrument of crime, ³ aggravated assault, ⁴ simple assault, ⁵ and criminal conspiracy. ⁶ A death penalty hearing was held on June 28, 1991, and the following day the jury found two mitigating circumstances and one aggravating circumstance. The aggravating circumstance was that appellant killed a police officer acting in the line of duty. After weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the jury set the penalty at death. On November 5, 1992, post-verdict motions were argued and denied, and the court imposed an aggregate consecutive sentence of 7 years and 3 1/2 months to 18 years and 7 months on the remaining non-capital charges. A timely notice of appeal was filed and on June 15, 1993, this Court permitted trial counsel to withdraw. On November 8, 1993, present counsel was appointed from whom this Court heard oral argument on October 17, 1994 on appellant's direct appeal.

Sufficiency of the Evidence Supporting the Conviction

In this death penalty case we must first determine whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction for first-degree murder. Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 26 n. 3, 454 A.2d 937, 942 n. 3 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). This determination is made even in cases in which the death sentence is vacated and the case is remanded for resentencing. See Commonwealth v. Frederick, 508 Pa. 527, 498 A.2d 1322 (1985). In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, an appellate court must determine whether the evidence was sufficient to enable the factfinder to find every element of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt, viewing all the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the verdict winner. Commonwealth v. Thomas, 527 Pa. 511, 513-514, 594 A.2d 300, 301 (1991) (citation omitted). To prove murder of the first degree, the Commonwealth must show that a human being was unlawfully killed, that the person accused did the killing, and that the killing was done in an intentional, deliberate and premeditated manner. Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 528 Pa. 546, 551, 599 A.2d 624, 626 (1991) (citation omitted). The specific intent to kill needed to support a first-degree murder conviction can be proven by use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the victim's body. Commonwealth v. Rivers, 537 Pa. 394, 399, 644 A.2d 710, 712 (1994).

Here, the evidence at trial established that appellant and his brother assaulted one Jose Rodriguez with a broken beer bottle to the back of the neck, requiring multiple stitches, and, although never actually hitting Mr. Rodriguez, with four or five shots from a .38 caliber revolver. Later that day, appellant and Rodriguez argued once again in front of Rodriguez' home. When Rodriguez' sister, Diane Hernandez, attempted to block appellant's path and prevent him from entering the house, appellant kicked her in the stomach and knocked her to the ground. The police were called and soon arrived. Although they attempted to arrest appellant, he was able to elude them by jumping out of a second story window and fleeing the area. Shortly thereafter, off-duty Police Officer Jack Montijo confronted appellant on the street where appellant had taken temporary refuge from his flight from the police. ⁷ As Officer Montijo approached appellant and ordered him to hand over his gun and surrender, appellant fired at the officer at close range with a .38 caliber revolver. Officer Montijo returned appellant's fire with a .25 caliber Baretta automatic but was unable to prevent appellant from shooting at him again, this time fatally wounding him in the forehead. Appellant fled the area but was finally arrested the next day hiding in a home in another section of the city. These facts clearly established beyond a reasonable doubt appellant's guilt not only for first-degree murder but also for the other charges as well. Viewed in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the verdict winner, the evidence was sufficient to sustain appellant's conviction. See Commonwealth v. Hamm, 474 Pa. 487, 491-494, 378 A.2d 1219, 1221-1222 (1977) (evidence that almost three years before the killings, the police seized four weapons (including the eventual murder weapon) from defendant's home and that one of the deceased officers had filed criminal charges against defendant on several occasions, prompting defendant to believe that officer was "harassing" him, was sufficient to support first-degree murder conviction for the slaying of two police officers).

Severance of Criminal Charges

Turning to the issues raised by appellant, appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying a defense motion to sever appellant's assault charge from his murder charge. Appellant argues that the trial court's denial of his severance motion impermissibly allowed the Commonwealth to proceed against appellant for the murder of Officer Montijo in the same trial that it prosecuted appellant for his assaults against Jose Rodriguez and Diane Hernandez. Appellant argues that the admission of the facts and circumstances of the earlier assaults was unnecessary for the Commonwealth to prove any issue related to the killing of Officer Montijo. Appellant claims that the admission of evidence relating to these prior bad acts painted him as a person of bad character with a propensity toward violence and that such evidence was so prejudicial he was deprived of a fair trial.

Whether to sever related charges is a matter of discretion for the trial court and may be reversed only upon a showing of a manifest abuse of that discretion or undue prejudice and clear injustice to the defendant. Commonwealth v. Newman, 528 Pa. 393, 398, 598 A.2d 275, 277 (1991) (citation omitted). It is proper to try related offenses in a single trial if the facts establishing them would have been admissible on other grounds even if the charges were not consolidated. Id. Here, the evidence of the prior assaults would have been admissible to establish appellant's motive in committing the murder and to show the history and natural development of the facts. See Commonwealth v. Carter, 537 Pa. 233, 256, 643 A.2d 61, 72 (1994) (evidence of a distinct crime is admissible to establish an accused's motive in committing the principal crime or to show the history and natural development of the facts). Accordingly, appellant's motion to sever was properly denied. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Clayton, 516 Pa. 263, 277, 532 A.2d 385, 392 (1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 929 (1988) (there was sufficient similarity between two murders to allow admission of either at trial of other for purpose of showing common scheme and hence motion to sever charges was properly denied); Commonwealth v. DeHart, 512 Pa. 235, 245, 516 A.2d 656, 661 (1986) (consolidation of trial of defendant's escape charge with charges of homicide, robbery and burglary was proper).

Admissibility of Photographs

The third issue raised by appellant is whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence at trial (over defense counsel's objection) certain photographs taken inside Room 161 of the Roosevelt Inn, a hotel room in which appellant resided approximately one month prior to the murder at issue. Appellant argues that the introduction of pictures of his hotel room depicting graffiti stating "Fuck the Police" was erroneously admitted because the Commonwealth failed to establish any nexus between the graffiti and Officer Montijo's death. Appellant argues that since no such nexus was established the evidence had no probative value, or, in the alternative, that the photographs still should have been excluded because the prejudice caused by the introduction of those photographs far outweighed their probative value. At the outset, the admissibility of evidence is a matter addressed solely to the discretion of the trial court and may be reversed only upon a showing that the court abused its discretion. Commonwealth v. Claypool, 508 Pa. 198, 203-204, 495 A.2d 176, 178 (1985) (citation omitted). Evidence is considered relevant if it logically tends to establish a material fact in the case, tends to make the fact at issue more or less probable, or supports a reasonable inference or presumption regarding the existence of a material fact. Commonwealth v. Spiewak, 533 Pa. 1, 8, 617 A.2d 696, 699 (1992) (citation omitted).

Here, less than one month before Officer Montijo's murder, the police were called to the Roosevelt Inn in Philadelphia to respond to a reported fight in the hallway. The fight allegedly occurred just outside of room 161, which was registered to appellant and occupied by appellant and a young woman. The wall of appellant's room was covered in graffiti and included the words "Fairhill Street Gang" (referring to the street on which ...