Com. v. Lewis

• Decision Date: 22 December 1989
• Citation: 567 A.2d 1376,523 Pa. 466
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Reginald S. LEWIS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 1376

567 A.2d 1376

523 Pa. 466

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Reginald S. LEWIS, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued April 12, 1989.

Decided Dec. 22, 1989.

[523 Pa. 470] Donald Michael Padova, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Gaele McLaughlin Barthold, Deputy Dist. Atty., Ronald Eisenberg, Chief, Appeals Div., Donna Zucker, Asst. Dist. Atty., Robert A. Graci, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

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

OPINION

NIX, Chief Justice.

In this appeal, the Court is required to review a sentence of death imposed on the appellant, Reginald S. Lewis, after a jury found him guilty of the first degree murder of Christopher Ellis in the Oxford Bar on November 21, 1982. ¹ The appellant raises fourteen counts of error for consideration. After a thorough review of the record in this case, it appears that none of the appellant's claims are meritorious or would require this court to vacate the present sentence. Therefore, the judgment of sentence entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County must be affirmed.

As in all capital cases this Court is first required to review the sufficiency of the evidence to determine whether there was the necessary evidence to support the conviction, regardless of whether the appellant has challenged the conviction on that ground. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h); Commonwealth v. Aulisio, 514 Pa. 84, 522 A.2d 1075 (1987); Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 454 A.2d 937 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). The test for establishing the sufficiency of the evidence has been defined as follows:

Where a defendant challenges his conviction on appeal, the test of sufficiency of evidence is whether, viewing all the evidence admitted at trial, together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the trier of fact could have found that each element of the offenses charged was supported by evidence and inferences sufficient in law to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Commonwealth v. Jackson, 506 Pa. 469, 473, 485 A.2d 1102, 1103 (1984); see also, Commonwealth v. Macolino, 503 Pa. 201, 469 A.2d 132 (1983). The evidence produced by the Commonwealth in this case unquestionably meets the prescribed standard and would support the conviction for first degree murder.

At approximately 6:30 on November 21, 1982, Christopher Ellis was brutally stabbed nine times by a man wielding a butcher knife in the Oxford Bar located on Oxford and Sixth Streets in Philadelphia. The stabbing was observed by all of the patrons of the bar, including the group that accompanied Mr. Ellis to the bar to celebrate one of the members' birthday. The police showed each of the witnesses a photo-array of eight pictures, and each identified the appellant's picture as the one who had committed the murder. Subsequently, when the police arrested the appellant for shoplifting in Strawbridge and Clothier department store, he had assumed the name of Booker T. Beatty, Jr. While still in police custody on that charge, the appellant was arrested pursuant to an outstanding warrant and charged with the murder of Christopher Ellis.

At trial, the prosecution produced six eye-witnesses ² who identified the appellant as the one they had seen commit the murder. Each witness had been familiar with the appellant, as a person who "hung around" the neighborhood. They all knew him by his first name only, "Reggie" or Reginald. There was also testimony that frequently the appellant was seen wearing clear lens, "schoolboy" glasses prior to the incident, similar to the glasses dropped by the assailant at the scene of the murder. Hattie English testified that the appellant and the victim were arguing over a five dollar debt the victim allegedly owed the appellant immediately prior to the stabbing.

The bartender, Harold Whealton, testified that the assailant was a previous customer at the bar and had a girl friend named Stephanie, who was pregnant at the time and lived on the 1600 block of Marshall Street. The Commonwealth produced the appellant's fiancee, Stephanie McCorey, who testified she was pregnant at the time of the incident and had previously resided at 1610 N. Marshall Street. Mr. Whealton also testified the appellant approached him the next day and told him not to mention the appellant's name with regard to the incident. In defense of this charge, the appellant maintained he was in San Diego visiting his brother at the time of the incident and therefore had an alibi. In support of this claimed alibi defense, appellant produced his brother and other family members to corroborate the story.

In order to establish murder in the first degree, the Commonwealth must prove that the actor specifically intended to kill which, in turn, is shown by proving premeditation and deliberation. Commonwealth v. Garcia, 505 Pa. 304, 310, 479 A.2d 473, 476 (1984). It is clear from the facts as presented at trial that the Commonwealth produced sufficient evidence to support a conviction for first degree murder. Here, there were numerous eye-witnesses identifying the appellant as the murderer. There was also circumstantial evidence which connected appellant to the crime: the glasses left at the scene and the appellant's pregnant fiancee was named Stephanie.

The Commonwealth, as verdict winner, is afforded the inference that the specific intent required for first degree murder can be proven by the conduct of the perpetrator, including the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body. Commonwealth v. Pronkoskie, 498 Pa. 245, 445 A.2d 1203 (1982); Commonwealth v. O'Searo, 466 Pa. 224, 352 A.2d 30 (1976). In this case the victim was stabbed in the chest nine times with a deadly weapon. The cause of death was determined to be a stab wound to the heart. Further, the testimony concerning the argument between the appellant and the victim supports this inference of specific intent.

The Commonwealth is also afforded an inference regarding the appellant's consciousness of guilt through the use of an alias upon arrest. Commonwealth v. Whack, 482 Pa. 137, 393 A.2d 417 (1978); Commonwealth v. Coyle, 415 Pa. 379, 203 A.2d 782 (1964). Here, when the police arrested him, the appellant identified himself as Booker T. Beatty, Jr. Therefore, the Commonwealth clearly provided enough evidence to support the conviction issued by the jury with the direct evidence, the circumstantial evidence and the permissive inferences. While the appellant maintained that he was not in Philadelphia at the time, a jury's refusal to believe his alibi witnesses would not be unreasonable. It appears that the jury did so refuse and it entered a verdict of guilty. Because of the overwhelming evidence to support the verdict, this Court is constrained to find there was sufficient evidence to support the verdict.

We next turn to a consideration of appellant's various claims of error by the trial court.

First, this appellant raises several claims as to the jury selection process. The appellant argues that the trial judge improperly excluded venirepersons for cause without sufficient basis under Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). However, the decision whether to disqualify a juror is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed in the absence of a palpable abuse of discretion. Commonwealth v. Hardcastle, 519 Pa. 236, 256, 546 A.2d 1101, 1110 (1988); Commonwealth v. Colson, 507 Pa. 440, 490 A.2d 811 (1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1140, 106 S.Ct. 2245, 90 L.Ed.2d 692 (1986). Specifically, the appellant questions the exclusion for cause of four venirepersons; Elizabeth Gowens, Philomena Banks, Dorothy Jaworski and Anna Snead, based upon their opposition to the death penalty. The United States Supreme Court, in Witherspoon, required jurors to state clearly their opposition to the death penalty and that such opposition would interfere with their ability to vote for such a penalty before they could be struck from the jury for cause. 391 U.S. at 522, 88 S.Ct. at 1776. The appellant argues that these venirepersons were not of a "fixed opinion" as to the imposition of the death penalty and were therefore improperly excluded. These claims lack merit for at least three reasons.

Initially, it should be noted that the standard set forth in Witherspoon to be applied when excluding jurors for cause is no longer the appropriate criteria in this Commonwealth. As this Court recognized in Commonwealth v. Peterkin, 511 Pa. 299, 513 A.2d 373 (1986), cert. denied 479 U.S. 1070, 107 S.Ct. 962, 93 L.Ed.2d 1010 (1987), the United States Supreme Court chose the test set forth in Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980), as preferable to the original standards of Witherspoon. Peterkin at 311, 513 A.2d at 378. The standard set forth in Adams v. Texas provides that a juror should be struck for cause when the juror's views toward the death penalty would substantially impair or prevent the juror from performing his duties. 448 U.S. at 45, 100 S.Ct. at 2526.

In this case, the appellant argues that the responses of the four potential jurors regarding the death penalty were ambiguous or were insufficient to justify exclusion under the Witherspoon standard. Elizabeth Gowens replied that she "would have great difficulty" voting for the death penalty under any circumstances. Philomena Banks stated, "[B]ecause of my religion, I might not be able to vote for that [death penalty]." Dorothy Jaworski and Anna Snead both stated that they had a "fixed opinion" against the death penalty and capital punishment. Although the appellant would require a more in-depth inquiry into the "fixed opinion" of the venirepersons, it appears from their responses to the death qualification questions that exclusion under Adams v. Texas would be justified. Therefore,...