Com. v. Robins

• Decision Date: 18 December 2002
• Citation: 571 Pa. 248,812 A.2d 514
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. John Wayne ROBINS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

812 A.2d 514

571 Pa. 248

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. John Wayne ROBINS, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Re-Submitted January 24, 2002.

Decided December 18, 2002.

Gary B. Zimmerman, Pittsburgh, for John Wayne Robins.

Michael W. Streily, Pittsburgh, Jennifer DiGiovanni, Philadelphia, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Before ZAPPALA, C.J., and CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR and EAKIN, JJ.

OPINION ANNOUNCING JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

Justice CAPPY¹

This Court allowed appeal to consider whether the trial court properly overruled Appellant's Sixth Amendment objection to the admission of non-custodial, extrajudicial statements of a non-testifying accomplice based upon the position that, as declarations against penal interest, the statements were sufficiently reliable to satisfy Confrontation Clause mandates. For the reasons that follow we find that the trial court erred in admitting the hearsay statements of the accomplice over Appellant's Sixth Amendment objections.

The factual and procedural history is as follows: In June of 1995, Coins and Computers, a coin, stamp, and collectibles store in Dormont, Allegheny County, was burglarized, with items valued at nearly $500,000 taken from the store's safe. Upon viewing a news report of the burglary, a citizen advised police that he had witnessed at least two men carrying items to a white van parked in front of the shop during the probable time of the incident. Police then made inquiries at local car rental agencies concerning the use of vehicles matching the van's description. From an interview with an employee of the local Rent-A-Wreck franchise, officers learned that Appellant, John Wayne Robins, had recently rented such a van on two separate occasions. Five days prior to the burglary, Appellant first rented a large white van, but quickly returned it to the rental agency, expressing dissatisfaction because the vehicle had too many windows. Three days later (and two days prior to the burglary), Appellant rented a white van without side windows, returning it on the day after the burglary. On both occasions Appellant presented a valid driver's license and paid with a credit card. Police subsequently obtained a search warrant for Appellant's home, where they discovered various locksmithing tools and manuals, as well as a police scanner, all of which were legally in Appellant's possession. Upon questioning, Appellant denied any involvement in the Coins and Computers burglary, but admitted renting the vans, claiming he had done so as a favor to his friend, Barry Auman, who did not possess a valid driver's license and needed the van to transport personal belongings.

After the search of Appellant's residence, the police investigation into the burglary languished for nearly a year until Joseph Downey, a police informant who claimed that he could identify the perpetrators, contacted the investigators. Downey had been incarcerated in the Allegheny County jail in May of 1996, when Auman, Appellant's self-described friend, was arrested for driving under the influence and confined in the same cellblock. Over the next two weeks, Downey and Auman discussed various criminal ventures in which each had participated. Auman confided to Downey that he was responsible for the Coins and Computers burglary the previous year and related various details of the crime, including the involvement of one or more others and their use of a white Rent-A-Wreck van. While not naming his accomplice or accomplices, Auman apparently disclosed details which would implicate Appellant, including references to a partner who was a locksmith, rented the van, lived in South Side, and had a pool in his backyard.² Auman also said that he remained in possession of stamps valued at nearly $250,000.

In his discussions with police, Downey sought to use the details obtained from Auman to negotiate his own release from prison. The government acceded to Downey's terms in exchange for his participation in a sting operation targeting Auman. Pursuant to this arrangement, Downey informed Auman that an acquaintance, described as a stamp collector, would be willing to purchase the stamps in Auman's possession. Downey offered to arrange a meeting with this potential buyer at such time as he and Auman were no longer incarcerated, and Auman expressed a willingness to pursue this plan.

In June of 1996, both men were released from jail,³ and Downey immediately arranged a meeting at a Pittsburgh hotel between Auman and an undercover Pittsburgh police detective, posing as the collector. Prior to the meeting, Downey was equipped with a hidden microphone, and additional sound equipment was installed in the hotel room. Downey traveled to the hotel with Auman, and, in their conversation, Auman indicated that he had recently injected himself with a narcotic. Inside the hotel room, Downey introduced the detective to Auman under a false name, and Auman soon offered an account of the burglary apparently to demonstrate how he came to be in possession of the stamps. When both Downey and the detective expressed astonishment at the brazenness of the burglary and repeatedly requested details, Auman acquiesced, periodically indicating concern regarding the degree to which he would be incriminating himself by proceeding further with the discussions and transaction.⁴ Although Auman did not mention Appellant by name, he referred to a partner and stated that a friend obtained a white van from Rent A Wreck for use in the burglary. At the conclusion of the meeting, Auman promised to produce the stamps for the detective's inspection before consummating the sale. Subsequently, however, Auman contacted the detective to inform him that he could no longer locate the stamps and that they were not available for sale. Thereafter, police arrested Auman, and, subsequently, Appellant.

Appellant and Auman were scheduled for a joint trial; however, shortly before the trial date, Auman and the Commonwealth entered into a plea agreement, and Auman was convicted and sentenced for burglary and related offenses. The Commonwealth then proceeded with trial against Appellant on the sole charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. The Commonwealth planned to use Auman's statements as evidence against Appellant. Appellant filed an omnibus pre-trial motion, seeking to exclude from evidence, inter alia, both Auman's statements to Downey while incarcerated and the tape-recorded conversation of the hotel meeting.⁵

Appellant contended that the statements were inadmissible hearsay and challenged any assertion by the Commonwealth that they qualified for admission pursuant to the coconspirator exception to the hearsay rule. The Commonwealth initially maintained that the coconspirator exception was indeed implicated, since at least a portion of the statements were made in furtherance of the conspiracy, or, more specifically, in an attempt to market the stolen merchandise. The trial court rejected this argument, however, on the ground that the Commonwealth's proffer was insufficient to establish an ongoing conspiracy at the time of Auman's statement, due to the lapse of a year's time since the burglary.⁶

The Commonwealth then asserted its alternative position that the statements were in the nature of declarations against Auman's penal interest, and, as such, were admissible over and against Appellant's objections on both hearsay and Confrontation Clause grounds. The trial court endorsed this argument in part, but concluded that only those portions of the statements that directly incriminated Auman would be admitted. The court determined that other portions, such as those that would directly or by implication disclose Appellant's involvement in the burglary, were not sufficiently adverse to Auman's interest to qualify for admission under the exception. The trial court referenced Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), in its various rulings on the subject. Thus, the court permitted Downey to testify regarding the jailhouse confession, but prohibited him from mentioning any of Auman's comments implicating Appellant directly or by contextual implication. Similarly, it allowed the Commonwealth to air before the jurors an edited version of the taped conversation, which eliminated various portions of the discussion referencing Appellant by implication.⁷

The Commonwealth's strategy was to establish Auman's guilt, and to connect Appellant through his admitted association with Auman and, in particular, in connection with the rental of the vehicle used in the crime. As such, Auman's statements were clearly a central aspect of the Commonwealth's case.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the court sentenced Appellant to five to ten years of imprisonment and restitution of $222,000. On appeal, Appellant argued that the trial court erred in admitting the untested hearsay versions of Auman's statements. Appellant maintained that such admission violated his right to confront a witness against him pursuant to both the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.⁸ While the Superior Court affirmed the conviction by memorandum opinion, this Court subsequently granted allocatur and remanded the matter to the Superior Court for reconsideration in light of Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U.S. 116, 119 S.Ct. 1887, 144 L.Ed.2d 117 (1999)(plurality opinion), in which the United States Supreme Court determined that the admission of certain inculpatory statements by a non-testifying coconspirator offended a defendant's right of confrontation. See Commonwealth v. Robins, 558 Pa. 104, 735 A.2d 702 (1999) (per curiam)

.

On remand, the Superior Court again affirmed the judgment of sentence. The court emphasized the United States Supreme Court's efforts in Confrontation Clause jurisprudence to balance the government's need for evidence of extrajudicial statements against a...