Com. v. Mitchell
| Decision Date | 19 July 2006 |
| Citation | 902 A.2d 430 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Wayne Cordell MITCHELL, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
J. Richard Narvin, Esq., Pittsburgh, for Wayne Cordell Mitchell.
Michael Wayne Streily, Esq., Edward J. Borkowski, Esq., Rebecca Denean Spangler, Esq., Karen T. Edwards, Esq., Amy Zapp, Esq., Pittsburgh, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN and BAER, JJ.
This is a direct appeal from the judgment of sentence of death1 imposed following the conviction of Wayne Cordell Mitchell (Appellant) for first-degree murder2 arising out of the strangulation and stabbing death of his estranged wife, Robin Little (Robin), on September 10, 1997. Appellant also challenges the judgments of sentence imposed following his guilty plea to the rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI), and unlawful restraint,3 which occurred at the same time as Robin's murder. Finally, Appellant challenges his conviction for the rape, unlawful restraint, and simple assault4 of Robin on September 1, 1997, before she was again raped and murdered. We affirm in all respects.
The evidence presented at trial revealed the following. Appellant and Robin Little met and began dating, while the two were students at Schenley High School in Pittsburgh. Entries from Robin's diary, which were admitted at trial over Appellant's objections, chronicled their volatile relationship and Appellant's violent behavior toward her. Appellant and Robin often argued and, in September 1996, Appellant threatened to kill her, if she ever left him. The couple's son Malik was born in January 1997, and the two were married in April 1997, when Robin was eighteen and Appellant was nineteen. Notwithstanding the marriage, Robin continued to live apart from Appellant with her mother, Debra King, on Hamilton Avenue in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh, until Appellant came to stay with them in the late spring of 1997. Mrs. King testified that she often heard Robin arguing with Appellant on the phone about his drinking, smoking, and failure to get a job, as well as the lack of time he spent with the baby and her.
Mrs. King testified that in June 1997, she came home to discover holes in the wall of her living room. Robin told her that Appellant and she had gotten into a fight and that he had punched the wall. Fearing further violence, Robin ended the relationship in July 1997, telling Appellant to leave. That same month, Robin took Malik and moved to her brother's home in Lancaster. During that time, Robin told her sister-in-law, Timberlin King, that she feared Appellant, and believed that one day he would kill her. Because she was homesick, however, Robin returned to Pittsburgh in August 1997, and moved back into her mother's Hamilton Avenue home.
On September 1, 1997, Appellant was working at the People's Natural Gas Company (People's) near Robin's home when he telephoned her. During their conversation, Robin asked to use Appellant's bus pass. He told her that she could use it, but had to come to People's to get it. After her arrival at People's, the two began discussing a man named Brian, whom Robin was seeing. Robin told Appellant that she and Brian had engaged in sexual relations. Appellant became angry and dragged Robin into a supervisor's office and raped her. As Robin screamed and begged him to stop, he threatened that if she continued screaming or told anyone about the rape, he would "snap her neck." N.T. Trial at 373. Appellant finally let Robin go and returned to work. Later that evening, Mrs. King drove Robin to the Pittsburgh Zone 5 Police Station where she reported the attack. Mrs. King then took Robin to Magee Women's Hospital for an examination. Hospital personnel prepared a rape kit, and when Robin returned home, her mother took pictures of the bruises on her arms and thighs.
While Robin was at the hospital, the police went to Appellant's address and arrested him. After waiving his Miranda rights,5 Appellant agreed to have his statement taped and admitted to Wilkinsburg Police Detective Doug Yuhouse that he had raped Robin.6 Detective Yuhouse noted that Appellant was cooperative and did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol when he made his taped confession. Appellant was charged with rape, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, and simple assault for the September 1 attack on his estranged wife. He was arraigned and remained in jail pending a preliminary hearing, which was scheduled for September 9, 1997.
On September 4, 1997, while Appellant was still in jail awaiting his preliminary hearing, Robin filed for a Protection from Abuse (PFA) order.7 The court granted her petition entering a ten-day temporary order directing that Appellant have no contact with Robin pending a full hearing on the matter, which was scheduled for September 10, 1997.
Upset over what was happening, Appellant called Sheila Britton, the former director of a college-counseling program at Schenley High School, where both he and Robin attended. Appellant first met Ms. Britton through school, and remained in contact with her even after Appellant transferred out of Schenley and Ms. Britton was no longer employed by the Pittsburgh School Board. After graduation, Appellant had several conversations with Ms. Britton, and she was aware of the couple's problems. In fact, Appellant called Ms. Britton from jail after he was arrested for raping Robin on September 1, 1997. Robin also called Ms. Britton prior to the preliminary hearing to ask for advice on whether she should drop the charges. Robin told Ms. Britton that she was afraid Appellant would retaliate if she pursued a PFA order against him. At the trial of this case, the court allowed Ms. Britton's testimony concerning her conversations with both Robin and Appellant over the defense's objection that they were privileged communications.
Appellant remained in jail on the rape charges until his scheduled preliminary hearing on September 9, 1997. At that hearing, Appellant waived the charges to court in exchange for a nominal bond, with a condition that he seek immediate in-patient treatment for alcohol abuse at St. Francis Hospital.8 Robin and her mother were present at the preliminary hearing and thus aware of this arrangement. Robin agreed believing that Appellant's hospitalization would protect her from him. At trial, the defense claimed that Appellant reported to St. Francis as required, but was immediately released; whereas the Commonwealth claimed that he never reported to the hospital. Regardless, Appellant was never admitted to the hospital for treatment on September 9, 1997 as required by the agreement. Instead, he went home and began calling Robin.
During the afternoon of September 9, 1997, Robin reported to her mother that Appellant was out of jail, that he was never admitted to the hospital for alcohol treatment, and that he had called her several times. Appellant continued to call until he convinced Robin to allow him to come to her home. After his arrival at 4:15 p.m., the conversation quickly turned to Brian, the man Robin was seeing. Appellant became angry when Robin indicated that Brian was better than Appellant. The couple argued until Appellant left the home shortly after 6:00 p.m Appellant later confessed to Detective Dennis Logan that he went out that evening with friends and had "a couple of drinks." N.T. Trial at 377. At some point during the evening, he called Robin and continued to argue with her over the phone. When he returned home at 1:00 a.m. on September 10, 1997, Appellant called Robin, apologized, and convinced her to let him come to her home again, so that they could talk about their son.
Appellant called Ms. Britton at approximately 1:00 a.m. and angrily told her several times that he was going to Robin's house to kill her. He said Robin had "disrespected" him and he repeated his threat several more times even though Ms. Britton told him that going after Robin would not resolve anything. N.T. Trial at 326. Appellant replied that he was going to dress in black, go to Robin's home, and "do what he had to do." N.T. Trial at 326-27. Ms. Britton told Appellant just to go to bed. When he abruptly ended the conversation and hung up, she tried to call back, but Appellant's mother answered. When Ms. Britton explained why she was calling Appellant, his mother dismissed her concerns and told her that she did not have time to worry about it, so Ms. Britton gave up. Ms. Britton could not call Robin because she did not have her number. At trial, Ms. Britton testified that during her conversation with Appellant, he did not slur any of his words and he spoke in coherent sentences.
Appellant later told Detective Logan that instead of going to bed, he walked to Robin's home. When he arrived at 1:30 a.m., Robin was sitting on the porch with a man who quickly left after Appellant said, "Who the f—k is this?" N.T. Trial at 380. Appellant argued again with Robin about her seeing anyone else. He punched Robin in the face and stomach, causing her to fall against the door. When she tried to run, Appellant grabbed her and said he would stop hitting her if she walked with him. When she resisted, Appellant dragged her toward an empty lot near her home and continued to punch her as she tried to break free. At that point, Robin screamed for help, yelling, "He's going to kill me." N.T. Trial at 383. Appellant put a hand over Robin's mouth and continued to drag her.
As they passed a house, Appellant saw a knife lying on a porch. At first, he walked past the house, but then stopped and punched Robin several more times, temporarily disabling her while he returned to the porch to get the knife. When Robin attempted to pull...
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