Com. v. Speight

• Decision Date: 20 May 1996
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Melvin SPEIGHT, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 317

677 A.2d 317

544 Pa. 451

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Melvin SPEIGHT, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Dec. 4, 1995.

Decided May 20, 1996.

[544 Pa. 457] Mitchell Scott Strutin, Philadelphia, for Melvin Speight.

Catherine Marshall, Norman Gross, Philadelphia, Robert A. Graci, Harrisburg, Office of Atty. Gen., for Commonwealth.

Before NIX, C.J., and FLAHERTY, ZAPPALA, CAPPY and CASTILLE, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

CASTILLE, Justice.

This is a direct appeal from a sentence of death imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. ¹ Following a jury trial, appellant was convicted of two counts of first degree murder, ² two counts of aggravated assault, ³ one count of criminal conspiracy to commit murder, ⁴ and one count of possession of an instrument of crime. ⁵ The jury concluded that the two aggravating circumstances ⁶ it found outweighed the one mitigating circumstance ⁷ it found, and returned a sentence of death on each murder conviction.

At the conclusion of the trial, trial counsel was granted permission to withdraw and new counsel was appointed. Following a hearing on trial counsel's ineffectiveness, post-verdict motions were denied and the trial court imposed the death sentence for each murder conviction. In addition, the trial court sentenced appellant to consecutive terms of ten to twenty years imprisonment on each aggravated assault conviction, a consecutive term of five to ten years imprisonment on the criminal conspiracy conviction and a consecutive term of two-and-a-half to five years imprisonment on the conviction for possessing an instrument of crime.

I. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

Although appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, as in all cases in which the death penalty has been imposed, this Court is required to independently undertake a review of the sufficiency of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 26-27 n. 3, 454 A.2d 937, 942 n. 3 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). The standard for reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the evidence admitted at trial and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, is sufficient to support all the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Carpenter, 511 Pa. 429, 435, 515 A.2d 531, 533-34 (1986). After a review of the record, we find that the evidence is sufficient to support appellant's convictions.

Testimony at trial established that at approximately 9:00 p.m. on August 31, 1992, Gary Carson, Allen Carson, William Wilson, Neal Carter and David Scott (referred to collectively as "Carson's group") were drinking beer at the corner of Wyalusing and Conestoga Streets in Philadelphia when they observed a man in an orange jumpsuit, known as "Inky Man," approach the corner along Conestoga Street and wave as if signalling to persons further up the street. Indeed, in response to Inky Man's signal, appellant and three other men, Shannon Faison, Lamar Douglas and Cornell Bennet, also known as "Junior" (referred to collectively as "appellant's group"), suddenly appeared at the corner and approached the group. Gary Carson testified that in the weeks preceding the encounter, one of the members of the appellant's group, Bennet, had repeatedly warned him to stay away from that particular corner because his presence was interfering with the drug operation Bennet ran at that location.

Upon appellant's group's arrival at the corner, Faison said to Carson's group, "What's up with my man's corner?" However, before anyone could respond, appellant and his cohorts produced firearms and started firing at Carson's group. At the time of the shooting, appellant's group was standing on the sidewalk between Carson's group and the curb.

William Wilson was shot ten times, including a fatal shot to the left chest which pierced his heart and punctured his right lung. Four of the shots hit Wilson from behind. Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene. Neal Carter was shot three times from behind, including a fatal shot which pierced his heart. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Allen Carson was shot once in the back, severing his spine and permanently paralyzing him. Gary Carson was shot eight times, but survived. Only David Scott was not hit. A ballistics expert testified that at least three and possibly four different firearms were used in the attack.

Gary Carson and Allen Carson both testified that appellant was standing between Faison and Bennet, but they did not know if he had a gun. David Scott testified that the person standing between Faison and Bennet had fired a gun, although he could not identify who that person was.

The day following the shooting, Gary Carson identified Bennet from a photographic array. A week later, he also identified Faison and Douglas from photographic arrays. Finally, on September 18, 1992, Gary Carson identified appellant as the fourth assailant from a photographic array. An arrest warrant was obtained on that date and officers went to appellant's house to arrest him. However, appellant's mother told the officers that appellant was working in Baltimore and she did not know how to reach him. As a result, appellant was listed as a fugitive in the National Crime Information Computer network. Appellant was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Mansfield, Massachusetts on September 25, 1992. At the time of the murders, appellant had a full head of hair, but when he was arrested his head was completely shaved.

Evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction for first degree murder where the Commonwealth establishes that the defendant acted with a specific intent to kill; that a human being was unlawfully killed; that the person accused did the killing; and that the killing was done with deliberation. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(d); Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 528 Pa. 546, 550, 599 A.2d 624, 626 (1991). Specific intent to kill can be inferred by the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the body. Commonwealth v. Butler, 446 Pa. 374, 378, 288 A.2d 800, 802 (1972).

Here, the evidence the Commonwealth presented sufficiently established that appellant and his co-conspirators approached Carson's group to remove them, once and for all, from their location so that Bennet's drug business would not be hampered. The evidence further demonstrates that appellant's group acted together in firing numerous shots at Carson's group and that the middle person, identified by one eyewitness as the appellant, had personally fired shots at the group. ⁸ Such evidence clearly demonstrated that the killings were committed with the malice aforethought sufficient to sustain appellant's convictions for first degree murder. Commonwealth v. Joseph, 451 Pa. 440, 449, 304 A.2d 163, 168 (1973) (all co-conspirators to a murder can be found guilty of first degree murder, even if the co-conspirator did not inflict the wound which resulted in death); Commonwealth v. Boyle, 470 Pa. 343, 368 A.2d 661 (1977) (evidence that defendant who did not inflict fatal wound was member of conspiracy to kill three persons was sufficient to support guilty verdict against defendant in prosecution of three counts of first degree murder).

II. GUILT PHASE

A. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Appellant alleges that trial counsel was ineffective during the guilt phase of trial. When asserting ineffective assistance of counsel, appellant must demonstrate that: (1) the underlying claim is of arguable merit; (2) the particular course chosen by counsel did not have any reasonable basis designed to effectuate his client's interests; and (3) counsel's ineffectiveness prejudiced appellant. Commonwealth v. Edmiston, 535 Pa. 210, 237, 634 A.2d 1078, 1092 (1993), citing, Commonwealth v. Pierce, 515 Pa. 153, 158, 527 A.2d 973, 975 (1987). Counsel is presumed to have acted in his client's best interest; thus, it is appellant's burden to prove otherwise. Commonwealth v. Hancharik, 534 Pa. 435, 633 A.2d 1074 (1993); Commonwealth v. Miller, 494 Pa. 229, 233, 431 A.2d 233, 235 (1981).

1. Calling Certain Witnesses

Appellant contends that trial counsel was ineffective by calling the following witnesses to testify because their testimony was harmful to his defense. We note that such a claim of ineffectiveness may not be evaluated in hindsight. Commonwealth v. Williams, 537 Pa. 1, 28, 640 A.2d 1251, 1264-65 (1994) (citations omitted). Rather, all that we need determine is whether the course of action chosen by trial counsel at the time of trial had some reasonable basis designed to effectuate his client's best interests, and, if so, we will deem counsel effective and our inquiry ends. Commonwealth v. Buehl, 540 Pa. 493, 510, 658 A.2d 771, 780 (1995) (citations omitted). When viewed in its proper light, appellant's ineffectiveness claim must fail.

a. David Scott

Appellant contends that counsel was ineffective for calling David Scott to testify because it was Scott's testimony which placed a gun in appellant's hand. Both Gary and Allen Carson had testified during the Commonwealth's case-in-chief that appellant had been standing between Bennet and Faison at the time of the shooting. Scott testified that he could not identify appellant as having been present at the scene. However, Scott also testified that the person standing between Faison and Bennet had a gun and fired some of the shots. Appellant argues that Scott's testimony was not necessary because the defense strategy was not that appellant was not there, but, rather, that appellant was merely present and did not participate in the shootings, and that therefore counsel was ineffective for calling a witness who offered incriminating testimony.

Trial counsel testified at the evidentiary hearing on post-verdict motions that he called Scott as a defense witness because Scott was an eyewitness to the crimes and...