Com. v. Lassen
| Decision Date | 16 May 1995 |
| Citation | 442 Pa.Super. 298,659 A.2d 999 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, v. Robert E. LASSEN, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Robert E. Lassen, appellant, pro se.
Robert A. Sambroak, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Erie, for Com., appellee.
Before KELLY, JOHNSON, and HESTER, JJ.
Pro se appellant, Robert E. Lassen, appeals the September 30, 1994 order denying him relief under the provisions of the PCRA. Appellant contends that his trial counsel was ineffective in numerous respects. We affirm.
Appellant was charged in two separate criminal actions. The first action involves an incident that occurred late in the night of October 24, 1991, and early in the morning of October 25, 1991. Appellant assaulted Jerilee Everson, held a steak knife to her neck, threatened to kill her and their son, and tied her up with an extension cord. After charges were brought for this incident, appellant sent two letters to Ms. Everson, in which he tried to convince her not to testify against him, offered her financial support if she did not testify, and threatened her with loss of custody of the child if she did. These letters resulted in a second set of criminal charges involving intimidation of a witness.
At the consolidated trial on all charges, Ms. Everson testified as follows. Appellant became her boyfriend in November, 1989, and he is the father of their son, Corey, who was twenty months old. On October 24, 1991, between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., appellant came to her home. Appellant wanted her and the baby to come with him to a bar, but she refused. Appellant left and returned between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. that day. The two argued, and appellant left again with a friend. Ms. Everson also left the home with a friend, drank at a local bar, returned around 10:30 p.m., and put Corey to bed.
Appellant returned at 11:00 p.m. and told Ms. Everson that he had made some long distance telephone calls on her phone. She became angry, unplugged the telephone, took it to her bedroom, and then returned to the kitchen. Appellant followed her into the kitchen, and as he came around a corner, he struck her in the face with his closed fist. Ms. Everson was unconscious temporarily. When she regained consciousness, she was in her bedroom, and appellant was tying a heavy-duty extension cord around her hands. Her feet already were bound with the cord, and appellant finished by tying her hands and feet together behind her back. Appellant then stated that "he had to do [her] in." Notes of Testimony, 3/19/92, at 33.
Appellant left the room temporarily and when he returned, he pulled the victim's head back by the hair and asked her, "Do [you] want to die now or do [you] want to die later?" Id. at 35. Appellant then placed a steak knife to her throat and "scratched it." Id. Next, he picked her up by the back of the neck and told her that "if he couldn't have [her], nobody could." Id. at 36. He placed her on the bed, turned off the light, and left the room.
Corey began to cry. Ms. Everson asked appellant to take care of him. Appellant said that he "would [do] even better than that." Id. He brought the child into the bedroom, threw him on the bed, and said, "You better love him and kiss him while you can because it's the last time you are going to see him." Id. at 37. He then accused Ms. Everson of being an unfit mother.
The victim pleaded with appellant to return Corey to his bed, and appellant eventually complied. While appellant was gone, Ms. Everson managed to "waddle" into the kitchen, knock the telephone off the hook, and telephone the police, using the knife and a hand which she had managed to free from the cord. Id. at 38.
Appellant discovered the victim, and she showed him that she had the knives and told him that she was not going to hurt him. Appellant untied her and placed her in the living room. Police arrived and arrested appellant.
After appellant was arrested, Ms. Everson received two letters, one postmarked November 13, 1991, and the other postmarked November 15, 1991. Both were received just prior to the preliminary hearing. While the letters were admitted into evidence, appellant has not included them in the record. Ms. Everson, however, did read portions of them at trial. It was stipulated that appellant wrote the letters, in which he stated to Ms. Everson:
....
"Only more harm will come of this if you don't drop the whole matter. At this point there is no need for either of us to suffer anymore over this. There is more for you to gain by my freedom than by being locked up, at least you'll get your child support and maybe some day Corey will be a part of his father's life. You can't see anything bad about that. I'll end this here. If I wind up getting out after Monday, I'll need to call you so expect it. If not, I'll see you in court. Please do the right thing, Jeri....
.... ...
....
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The November 15, 1991 letter read in part:
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The trial evidence continued with the testimony of North East Borough Police Officers James Jobczynski and James Yanosko, who responded to Ms. Everson's call at approximately 1:30 a.m. on October 25, 1991. Officer Jobczynski testified that Ms. Everson answered the door and that her eye was swollen and there was dry blood on her nose and shirt. She was "crying, she was visibly shaken, [and] she seemed somewhat relieved" when they arrived. Id. at 94. Officer Jobczynski found the orange extension cord in the bedroom but no knife was taken since there were several in the kitchen, and the victim could not identify which one appellant had used.
Officer Yanosko testified that when he first arrived at the scene of the crime, his partner went to interview the victim and he stayed with appellant who appeared relaxed and acted as if there had been no disturbance. The officer asked appellant if there had been a problem and what had occurred. Officer Yanosko testified that "[appellant] said, 'Nothing.' " Id. at 105. After Officer Jobczynski took Ms. Everson's statement, Officer Yanosko placed appellant under arrest, read him his Miranda warnings, and again asked him what had transpired. The officer testified that appellant again responded, " 'Nothing.' " N.T. 3/19/92, at 107. The officer then asked how the victim had become injured. Appellant informed the officer that Ms. Everson "come home drunk and fell on the stairs." Id. at 107.
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