Com. v. Robinson

Citation721 A.2d 344,554 Pa. 293
PartiesCOMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Antyane ROBINSON, Appellant.
Decision Date24 November 1998
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Arla M. Waller, Ellen K. Barry, Carlisle, for A. Robinson.

M.L. Ebert, Jr., Jaime M. Keating, Carlisle, for the Com.

Robert A. Graci, Harrisburg, for Office of Atty. Gen.

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

OPINION

CAPPY, Justice:

This is a direct review of a sentence of death imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County. Following a jury trial, appellant, Antyane Robinson, was found guilty of first degree murder,1 attempted criminal homicide,2 aggravated assault,3 committing a crime with a firearm,4 and concealing a firearm on his person or in his vehicle without a license.5 During the penalty phase, the jury found two aggravating circumstances: (a) the appellant knowingly created a grave risk of death to another6 and (b) the appellant committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony.7 The jury also found two mitigating circumstances: (a) the youth of appellant8 and (b) appellant's future contributions to society.9 The jury concluded that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and returned a verdict of death.10 At the sentencing hearing the trial judge formally imposed the sentence of death for first degree murder and 6 years, nine months to 20 years for aggravated assault, which sentence is to run consecutively with the sentence of death.

Although appellant does not raise a sufficiency of the evidence claim with regard to the first degree murder conviction, we must nevertheless review the record to determine if there was sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction of first degree murder. 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). In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence this court will consider whether the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as the verdict-winner, would permit a jury to find that all the elements of the crime were present beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Rucci, 543 Pa. 261, 670 A.2d 1129 (1996). In the case of first degree murder, this court must examine whether there was sufficient evidence to support the finding that appellant caused the death of another human being by an intentional killing.

A review of the record reveals that the evidence was more than sufficient to support the verdict of first degree murder. Appellant dated Tara Hodge on and off during the time period beginning in early 1993 until February 1995, when Hodge discovered that appellant had another girlfriend. They did not see each other for over a year, until March 30, 1996, when appellant re-established an intimate relationship with Hodge. Between March 30, 1996 and the night of the incident in question, Hodge was with appellant for one night on both March 30 and April 30, four days between May 10 and 13, and one night on June 1, 1996. Hodge met Rashawn Bass on May 26, 1996, after she responded to a personal ad in the local paper. On June 10, 1996, Hodge broke off the relationship with appellant by letter.

On the evening of June 29, 1996 Hodge worked the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift at Wal-Mart. Following her shift, Hodge met Bass at her apartment, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where they had a pizza delivered. After eating the pizza, Bass took a shower. Shortly after midnight, while Bass was in the shower, appellant arrived at the apartment of Tara Hodge. Hodge let him into her apartment. Upon finding that Hodge had a guest at her apartment appellant and Hodge had an argument. Appellant requested that Hodge ask Bass to leave. When Hodge refused to ask Bass to leave, appellant pulled a gun out of his "sweats," which he pointed at Hodge and shot her. Hodge heard three shots. Appellant ran by Hodge, and she fell to the floor, unconscious.

At about 1 a.m. on the morning of June 30, 1996, Hodge regained consciousness in a pool of her own blood. She then entered the bathroom where she saw that Bass was dead inside the shower stall. She was able to drag herself to her next door neighbor's home. The police arrived at the neighbor's house and saw that Hodge had a head wound. Unable to speak, Hodge wrote a note directing the police to her apartment. The ambulance arrived and took Hodge to the hospital. The officer went to Hodge's apartment and found Bass' body in the shower. After leaving the apartment, the officer went to the hospital to speak with Tara Hodge. At the hospital, Hodge identified appellant as the person who had shot her.

Rashawn Bass had been shot seven times and died almost instantly from multiple gunshot wounds. Bass was shot in the ear, the left side of his head, his upper and lower right chest, the lower left chest, the side of his left arm, and the back of his right hand. Twelve empty 9 millimeter shell casings were found in the apartment. The bullets from the empty shell casings were all fired from the same gun, which was manufactured by one of four possible companies, one of which was Lorcin. In Tara Hodge's apartment, the police found a notebook containing appellant's pager number. Following this, the police obtained an arrest warrant charging appellant with criminal homicide of Rashawn Bass, attempted criminal homicide of Tara Hodge and other related charges. The arrest warrant was forwarded to Prince George's County, Maryland, where appellant was residing at his parents' home. The following day, July 1, the Prince George's County police paged appellant. Twenty minutes later, appellant returned the call from a local shopping center. The police did not answer the call, but proceeded directly to the shopping center where they observed appellant playing video games. The police then arrested appellant at 4:00 p.m.

At the time of arrest, appellant identified himself as Joseph Smith. The police took appellant to the homicide unit of the Prince George's County police department, where they were met by Detective David Fones and Corporal Hayes of the Carlisle police department at 5:30 p.m. They identified themselves to the appellant as police officers from the Borough of Carlisle and told him they wished to question him about an incident that occurred there. Appellant was advised of his Miranda rights and signed a written waiver. Appellant told police that he had last been in Carlisle at the end of May or beginning of June. In response to whether he knew anyone in Carlisle, appellant stated that he knew Tara Hodge and her family. Appellant also told police that he had spent June 29 through the afternoon of June 30 in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Appellant also told police that he had owned a 9 millimeter handgun, which had been stolen by his niece's boyfriend before June, and a 380 handgun, which he had sold. At 6:00 p.m., Detective Fones told appellant he was charged with criminal homicide in Carlisle and read a portion of the arrest warrant to him. Appellant then asked whether "Tara is okay." The detective told appellant that she was okay and that she had identified appellant as the shooter. The appellant then dropped his head and moved it side to side. He denied any involvement in the shootings.

The police conducted a search of appellant's room in his parents' home in Fort Washington, Maryland. In the bedroom, they found documents in a locked safe relating to a 9 millimeter Lorcin handgun. They did not find the weapon. They also found a picture of appellant holding a 9 millimeter Star handgun, as well as a Federal 44 SPL revolver with ammunition. The police also found the letter from Tara Hodge postmarked June 10, 1996. The police also searched the residence of a woman whom appellant was dating. They found some of appellant's belongings at her house, including 9 millimeter ammunition.

In order to sustain a finding of first degree murder, the evidence must establish that a human being was unlawfully killed, the appellant did the killing, and that the killing was done in an intentional, deliberate and premeditated way. Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 528 Pa. 546, 599 A.2d 624 (1991). Specific intent to kill can be inferred by the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the body. Commonwealth v. Speight, 544 Pa. 451, 460, 677 A.2d 317 (1996). We conclude upon reviewing the facts established in the case at bar, that sufficient evidence was established by the Commonwealth to support appellant's conviction.

In his brief to this court, appellant raises six claims for this court to review. Appellant's first claim is that the trial court erroneously admitted several pieces of evidence, which were seized pursuant to a search of his home. Appellant contends that the following items were not relevant to the case at hand, and therefore were inadmissible: a Bulldog Pug 44 SPL revolver, Federal 44 S & N special cartridges, a photograph of a drawer containing a bulletproof vest, the bulletproof vest, a page from appellant's scrapbook with seven photographs of guns and money and appellant posing with guns, and a second page from appellant's scrapbook with seven photographs depicting appellant with guns.

The admissibility of evidence is a matter directed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and an appellate court may reverse only upon a showing that the trial court abused that discretion. Commonwealth v. Wallace, 522 Pa. 297, 561 A.2d 719 (Pa.1989). The threshold inquiry with admission of evidence is whether the evidence is relevant. "Evidence is relevant if it logically tends to establish a material fact in the case, tends to make a fact at issue more or less probable, or supports a reasonable inference or presumption regarding the existence of a material fact." Commonwealth v. Spiewak, 533 Pa. 1, 8, 617 A.2d...

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