Com. v. Rogers

• Decision Date: 01 October 1992
• Citation: 419 Pa.Super. 122,615 A.2d 55
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Eric ROGERS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 55

615 A.2d 55

419 Pa.Super. 122

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Eric ROGERS, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted June 29, 1992.

Filed Oct. 1, 1992.

Michael E. Wallace, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Kathy L. Echternach, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for Com.

Before CAVANAUGH, OLSZEWSKI and MONTGOMERY, JJ.

OLSZEWSKI, Judge.

Appellant, Eric Rogers, appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed on October 24, 1991, by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. Following a jury trial, appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 5, 1991. On October 24, 1991, after post-trial motions were heard and denied, appellant was sentenced to an additional 2 1/2 to 5 years for possession of an instrument of crime, 5 to 10 years for criminal conspiracy, and 10 to 20 years for aggravated assault. These sentences are to be served consecutive to each other and to the life sentence.

Appellant worked for a man named Craig Haynes and received a salary of $600 a week to watch over Haynes' drug houses. (N.T. 4/2/91 at 2.43, 2.49.) In the spring of 1989, the Haynes group and the Junior Black Mafia (JBM) became engaged in a "war." The JBM was a rival group that conducted the same business as Haynes. Appellant's conviction arose out of an incident that occurred on June 29, 1989. On that date, a crowd had gathered to watch a basketball game at Fourth Street and Washington Avenue. After consulting with Haynes, Byron Massey Lawrence informed appellant that two men sitting in a parked car were JBM members and that they were to "hit" them. (N.T. 4/1/91 at 2.34.)

The victims, Anthony Fletcher and Eric Hurst, were sitting in Fletcher's gold BMW parked on Fourth Street beside the playground. Appellant was armed with a .45 caliber automatic which was given to him by Haynes two days prior to the shooting. Lawrence was armed with a .32 caliber automatic. Appellant repeatedly fired at the car from the rear while Lawrence shot from the front. Eric Hurst, who was shot from behind in the head and chest, fell to the ground and died as he tried to get out of the car. Fletcher ultimately recovered from the gunshot wounds. Raymond Adams, who was familiar with appellant and his accomplice, was an eyewitness to this grisly scene that occurred at approximately 7:15 P.M. (N.T. 4/1/91 at 1.146, 1.58-59; 4/2/91 at 2.65.)

On November 21, 1989, appellant was arrested and gave a voluntary inculpatory statement. At a hearing on March 22, 1991, appellant was unsuccessful in having that statement suppressed. After a jury trial on April 4, 1991, appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, and possession of an instrument of crime. Appellant received a sentence of life imprisonment for first-degree murder. Post-trial motions were denied on October 24, 1991, and additional consecutive terms of 10 to 20, 5 to 10, and 2 1/2 to 5 years were imposed. Appellant now appeals from the judgment of sentence.

Appellant raises eleven issues for our review. Because we find appellant's contentions are without merit, we affirm the judgment of the lower court. Initially, we note that appellant's statement of the questions presented is in violation of Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 2116(a), which states that the statement of questions presented should not ordinarily exceed fifteen lines and must never exceed one page. Appellant's statement of questions presented exceeds the limit by a half page. Nevertheless, we will address appellant's contentions.

Appellant's first contention is that the trial court erred in admitting, over objection, a portion of appellant's statement relating to prior, wholly unrelated, crimes. Appellant complains that the statement was inflammatory and unrelated to the trial. We disagree.

Admissibility of evidence is a matter addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court and an appellate court may reverse only upon a showing that the lower court abused its discretion. Commonwealth v. Tedford, 523 Pa. 305, 328, 567 A.2d 610, 621 (1989).

Evidence of other crimes is generally inadmissible. Such evidence may, however, be admitted in certain circumstances where the evidence is relevant for some other legitimate purpose and not merely to prejudice the defendant by showing him or her to be a person of bad character. Commonwealth v. Hughes, 521 Pa. 423, 555 A.2d 1264 (1989). A defendant's other criminal acts may be introduced to prove motive; intent; absence of mistake or accident; a common scheme, plan, or design embracing the commission of two or more crimes so related to each other that proof of one tends to prove the others; or to establish the identity of the person on trial as the person who committed the crime in issue. Commonwealth v. Billa, 521 Pa. 168, 555 A.2d 835 (1989); Commonwealth v. Banks, 513 Pa. 318, 521 A.2d 1 (1987).

The portion of appellant's statement that appellant objects to having been admitted into evidence established that appellant had previously worked for Craig Haynes by watching Haynes' drug houses. In return, appellant received a salary of $600 per week. It also establishes that appellant was in jail for ten months, during which time he threatened a rival of Haynes. For this deed, appellant received a sum of $500 from Haynes. This statement was read to the jury during trial (N.T. 4/2/91 at 2.43), read by the prosecutor during his closing (N.T. 4/4/91 at 4.39-4.41), and read again during jury deliberations. (Id. at 4.101.)

Contrary to appellant's allegations, this evidence does not contain "inflammatory, unrelated biographical material." (Brief for appellant at 8.) The fact that appellant previously worked for the rival of the victims and collected money for protecting this rival demonstrates motive. Without the introduction of this evidence, there would be no apparent link between appellant and the victims.

Appellant's contention that this evidence was irrelevant and inadmissible has been addressed by the Supreme Court in 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), and Commonwealth v. Gwaltney, 497 Pa. 505, 442 A.2d 236 (1982). In Colson, this state's Supreme Court held that evidence that defendant was a drug dealer with the victim's brother who had a strong motive to kill the victim was admissible to show the relationships of the parties involved in the crime. Colson, 507 Pa. at 463, 490 A.2d at 823. In Gwaltney, evidence that showed that the defendant and the victim were members of rival gangs in Philadelphia was admissible to establish motive. Similarly, the evidence in this case was admissible to show the relationship between the parties that created the motive for murder.

Appellant also argues that the instant case does not fall into that class of cases where the motive is defined with specificity and where the other crime evidence has a particular, direct bearing upon motive. This argument has no merit. Caselaw requires only that the evidence be relevant. See Commonwealth v. Cannaday, 404 Pa.Super. 215, 590 A.2d 356 (1991); Commonwealth v. Colson, supra. Instantly, the evidence was admissible and relevant to show the motive for murder.

Appellant further contends that irrelevant or peripheral evidence concerning drugs is especially objectionable. However, the evidence at issue was relevant to show motive for the shooting. Furthermore, evidence of other crimes, even those involving drug-related activities is admissible to demonstrate motive. In Commonwealth v. Ramos, 366 Pa.Super. 624, 532 A.2d 22 (1987), evidence was presented that appellant killed a drug dealer in competition with appellant's friend. Evidence that appellant and his friend had threatened the victim for selling drugs in his territory was admissible. See also Commonwealth v. Gelber, 406 Pa.Super. 382, 594 A.2d 672 (1991); Commonwealth v. Stern, 393 Pa.Super. 152, 573 A.2d 1132 (1990).

Appellant alternatively argues that even if the other crime evidence in appellant's statement was relevant to motive for the crime in question, its prejudicial effect outweighed any probative value. We disagree.

In determining whether evidence is admissible, the trial court should balance the relevancy and evidentiary need for the evidence of distinct crimes against the potential for undue prejudice. Commonwealth v. Lark, 505 Pa. 126, 477 A.2d 857 (1984). Where the evidence is relevant, the fact that testimony of another crime may be prejudicial will not make it inadmissible. Commonwealth v. Gelber, supra, (quoting Commonwealth v. Hall, 523 Pa. 75, 85, 565 A.2d 144, 149 (1989) (citing Commonwealth v. Morris, 513 Pa. 169, 175, 519 A.2d 374, 376 (1986)).

While the admission of this statement may be somewhat prejudicial to appellant, this is outweighed by its relevancy and probative value. As previously stated, the evidence in the present case is relevant to show appellant's motive. It is probative to show a relationship between appellant and a rival of the victims. Indeed, it is the only apparent link between appellant and the victims. For this reason it was admitted into evidence. It was not offered into evidence to show that appellant is of bad character and has a propensity to commit crimes.

Also, as a further precaution against improper prejudice, the judge instructed the jury that this evidence could only be considered for two purposes: one, to determine whether there was a relationship between appellant and Haynes; and, two, to determine whether this relationship provided a motive for the shooting of Anthony Fletcher and the murder of Eric Hurst. (N.T. 4/4/91 at 4.66.) Therefore, we disagree that the prejudicial effect of this evidence outweighed any probative value.

Appellant next contends that the trial court erred in admitting, over objection, testimony concerning appellant's participation in an alleged drug transaction that took place on the Walt Whitman Bridge...