Com. v. May

• Decision Date: 23 November 2005
• Citation: 887 A.2d 750
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Landon D. MAY, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 750

887 A.2d 750

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Landon D. MAY, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 13, 2004.

Decided November 23, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Christopher P. Lyden, for Landon Daniel May, appellant.

Donald R. Totaro, Amy Zapp, Harrisburg, for the Com., appellee.

BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN and BAER, JJ.

OPINION

Justice CASTILLE.

This is a direct appeal from two sentences of death imposed by the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas. On November 27, 2002, following a capital jury trial, appellant was convicted of two counts of first degree murder,¹ two counts of burglary,² two counts of conspiracy,³ and one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.⁴ The convictions arose from the burglary of the residence of Lloyd and Beverly Good, and the subsequent murders of Terry and Lucy Smith.

At the penalty phase, with regard to the murder of Terry Smith, the jury found three aggravating circumstances: the killing was committed during the perpetration of a felony (burglary),⁵ appellant had been convicted of another murder at the time of the current offense (multiple murders),⁶ and the offense was committed by means of torture.⁷ The jury also found two mitigating circumstances: appellant had no significant history of prior criminal convictions,⁸ and "any other evidence of mitigation concerning the character and record of the defendant and the circumstances of the defendant's offense" (the "catchall" mitigator).⁹ With regard to the murder of Lucy Smith, the jury found two aggravating circumstances: the killing was committed during the course of a felony (burglary and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse), and appellant was convicted of another murder at the time of the current offense (multiple murders). The jury also found the same two mitigating circumstances it had found in relation to Terry Smith's murder: i.e., no significant history of prior criminal convictions, and the catchall mitigator.

The jury determined that, for each of appellant's murders, the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances, and accordingly, it returned two sentences of death against appellant. On January 9, 2003, the trial court formally imposed the two death sentences as well as an aggregate term of 60 to 120 years of imprisonment on the related charges. No post-sentence motions were filed.

Appellant filed notice of direct appeal to this Court on January 15, 2003. Appellant filed a statement of matters complained of on appeal, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b), to which the Commonwealth responded. On July 17, 2003, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a), the trial court filed an opinion addressing the claims raised by appellant on appeal. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the verdict and the sentences of death.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

We begin, as we do in all death penalty direct appeals, by independently reviewing the evidence to ensure that it is sufficient to support the first-degree murder convictions.¹⁰ Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 454 A.2d 937, 942 n. 3 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). We do so notwithstanding that appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Freeman, 573 Pa. 532, 827 A.2d 385, 402 (2003). When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court must determine whether the evidence at trial, and all reasonable inferences derived therefrom, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, are sufficient to establish all elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Bridges, 563 Pa. 1, 757 A.2d 859, 864 (2000). A person is guilty of first-degree murder where the Commonwealth proves that: (1) a human being was unlawfully killed; (2) the person accused is responsible for the killing; and (3) the accused acted with specific intent to kill. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(d); Commonwealth v. Spotz, 563 Pa. 269, 759 A.2d 1280, 1283 (2000). An intentional killing is a "[k]illing by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing." 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(d). The Commonwealth may establish that a defendant intentionally killed another solely by circumstantial evidence, and the fact finder may infer that the defendant intended to kill a victim based on the defendant's use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim's body. Commonwealth v. Rivera, 565 Pa. 289, 773 A.2d 131, 135 (2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 955, 122 S.Ct. 1360, 152 L.Ed.2d 355 (2002).

The evidence adduced at trial established the following facts. On Saturday, September 1, 2001, appellant, along with Steven Estes, Raymond Navarro Perez, and Michael Bourgeois, drove to the home of Lloyd and Beverly Good in Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, intending to commit a burglary while the Good family was absent on vacation. In furtherance of the agreement, the perpetrators gained entrance through a side garage door and ransacked the home. They stole a 1996 green Chevrolet Suburban and a 1996 silver Saturn sedan, both of which had been parked in the garage. They also stole a number of weapons: a .22 caliber revolver, a .32-20 caliber revolver, a Marlin 12 gauge bolt action shotgun, an Ithaca 12 gauge pump shotgun, a 30-06 Remington rifle, a Browning 300 Winchester Magnum rifle, two boxes of 300 shells, three boxes of 30-06 shells, two blocks of .22 shells, assorted hunting knives, a Jennings "Buckmaster" compound bow, a Jennings "Bear" bow, two 10-pump BB guns, and one one-pump BB gun. Cash and other assorted household and personal items were also stolen, including dishes and a taxidermist mounted fox.

The burglary was discovered by the Good family upon returning on Monday, September 3, 2001, at approximately 8:00 a.m. and was reported to police. That same day, the Lancaster City Police recovered the Chevrolet Suburban, which was being driven by Estes. The next day, the Saturn was found abandoned on U.S. Route 222 in Manheim Township, Lancaster County. Also on that day, the Good residence was processed for latent fingerprints. Several prints were lifted, one of which matched fingerprints on file for Bourgeois. On September 5, 2001, police made unsuccessful efforts to locate Bourgeois at the residence of his mother, Lucy Smith, and her husband, Terry Smith, in Ephrata. That evening the Smiths went to 109 South 11th Street, Akron, which was leased to Drenea Rodriguez, to visit Bourgeois, who had moved out of the Smith home approximately two months earlier to live with Rodriguez, with whom he was romantically involved. During their visit, the Smiths informed Bourgeois that the State Police were seeking his whereabouts.

On September 6, 2001, at approximately 10:00 a.m., the Ephrata Borough Police Department received a telephone call from Diane Lamm, an employee of Terry Smith. Ms. Lamm advised the police that Terry Smith had not come to work during the morning hours that day, that she had not heard from him and that he usually reported to work in a reliable and consistent manner. Ms. Lamm reported that Lucy Smith was also not at work as an elementary school principal, which was unusual. Detective David Shupp and Officer Douglas Heilman responded to the Smith residence at approximately 10:30 a.m. and attempted to gain the attention of residents inside by knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell. They found the front door locked, but discovered that the rear sliding door was unlocked. Detective Shupp then checked in with his office and learned that Bourgeois was the son of Lucy Smith, that his fingerprint had been discovered at the scene of the Good burglary, and that firearms had been stolen from the house. Detective Shupp then requested additional assistance and was joined by Detective Ballinger and Sergeant Kurtz of the Ephrata Borough Police Department, and Officer Diane Houston from the Ephrata Township Police Department.

At approximately 10:55 a.m., the officers entered the residence through the unlocked sliding door and did a quick sweep of the first floor, finding nothing unusual. Officer Heilman and Detective Shupp went upstairs and entered the master bedroom where it was obvious that a struggle had taken place. They observed blood spatters on the mattress and wall and what appeared to be a body wrapped in a comforter on the floor in a pool of blood. This body was later identified as Lucy Smith. She had been severely assaulted on the left side of her head and shot in the head. Sergeant Kurtz located another body wrapped in bedding in a front bedroom, which was later identified as Terry Smith. This bedroom also showed signs of a struggle and Terry Smith had been stabbed repeatedly and shot multiple times in the head.

In the late morning hours of September 6, 2001, Corporal Raymond Guth of the Pennsylvania State Police and Detective Shupp went to the Rodriguez residence to interview Bourgeois regarding the Good burglary. Bourgeois admitted that he and Perez had committed the burglary. Bourgeois also stated that Perez had told him that the items taken from the Good residence were stored at Perez's residence on Plum Street in Lancaster City. Bourgeois was subsequently arrested on the burglary charge. Detective Brad Ortenzi of the Ephrata Police Department and Detective Sergeant Edward Tobin of the Warwick Township Police Department remained at Rodriguez's residence to interview her. During that discussion, which took place on the front porch, appellant May came downstairs and Rodriguez introduced him to the detectives. Appellant agreed to talk to the detectives after they finished their conversation with Rodriguez. At about 3:30 p.m., the detectives began asking appellant about the whereabouts of Bourgeois over the days leading up to September 6, 2001. Upon request by Rodriguez, the detectives left the front porch and they asked appellant if ...