Com. v. Young

• Decision Date: 29 March 1990
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Joseph Louis YOUNG, a/k/a Yusuf Ali, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 1217

572 A.2d 1217

524 Pa. 373

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Joseph Louis YOUNG, a/k/a Yusuf Ali, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued April 13, 1989.

Decided March 29, 1990.

[524 Pa. 378] Stephen G. Heckman, Norristown, for appellant.

Mary Killinger, Chief, Appeals Div., Robert A. Graci, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before NIX, C.J., and LARSEN, FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT, ZAPPALA and PAPADAKOS, JJ.

OPINION

NIX, Chief Justice.

This is a direct appeal from the judgment of sentence of death imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County. A jury returned a verdict of guilty of two counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder, burglary, criminal trespass and aggravated assault. In addition to the statutory review this Court is required to undertake, appellant raises 24 points of error for our consideration. For the following reasons we are constrained to remand this matter to the trial court for a resentencing hearing pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h)(4).

As in all capital cases this Court is first required to review the sufficiency of the evidence to determine whether there was the evidence necessary to support the conviction, without regard to whether the appellant has challenged the conviction on that ground. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(h). Commonwealth v. Aulisio, 514 Pa. 84, 522 A.2d 1075 (1987); 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). The test for establishing the sufficiency of the evidence has been defined as follows:

[T]he test of sufficiency of evidence is whether, viewing all of the evidence admitted at trial, together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the trier of fact could have found that each element of the offenses charged was supported by evidence and inferences sufficient in law to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Commonwealth v. Jackson, 506 Pa. 469, 473, 485 A.2d 1102, 1103 (1984); see also, Commonwealth v. Macolino, 503 Pa. 201, 469 A.2d 132 (1983). The evidence produced by the Commonwealth in this case unquestionably meets the prescribed standard and would support the conviction for first degree murder.

The evidence at trial established that, during the early morning hours of May 27, 1986, Dr. Ismail al Faruqui and his wife, Lois el Faruqui were brutally stabbed to death in their Wyncote home. Their pregnant daughter, Anmar el Zein, was also stabbed but both she and her child survived the attack. While the assailant was attacking Dr. Faruqui, Mrs. Zein was able to reach a telephone and call for help. When the police arrived both Dr. and Mrs. Faruqui were dead and Mrs. Zein was barely conscious.

The police found the murder weapon, a 15-inch survival or "Rambo-type" knife, in the second floor study of the house. They also found rubber surgical gloves covered with blood and a cloth used by the assailant as a mask. In the neighbor's trash container, the police uncovered the sheath of the murder weapon and a screwdriver used to gain entry into the home through a pantry window. The investigation produced several latent fingerprints that did not belong to the Faruquis, along with hair follicles and blood stains that could not have come from the victims.

Months later, detectives in Montgomery County received an anonymous phone call which suggested they compare the latent fingerprints found at the scene of the crime with those of the appellant. Both sets of prints were sent to the FBI for analysis and were determined to be a match. An arrest warrant was issued for appellant. In order to serve the arrest warrant, the detectives immediately contacted the Philadelphia Police Department where appellant was incarcerated for an unrelated offense. The Philadelphia detectives arranged for him to be transported from the detention facility to the homicide division for the Montgomery Police to serve him with the warrant for his arrest.

When appellant arrived at the Philadelphia Police Administration Building, two detectives took biographical information from him. At the conclusion of this inquiry appellant said, "This is about Dr. Faruqui, isn't it?" The Philadelphia detectives immediately informed him of his rights and proceeded to question the appellant further about the murders of the Faruquis. Appellant stated he had committed the murders and was willing to sign a written confession. At that point, the Montgomery County police arrived and served the arrest warrant on the appellant. The appellant then repeated his confession in the presence of the Montgomery police officers and the statement was transcribed by one of the Philadelphia detectives.

The appellant was arraigned in Philadelphia and then transported to Montgomery County for a second arraignment. After the appellant's second arraignment, a search warrant was issued for blood, saliva and urine samples of the appellant for comparison with the blood left at the scene. Also included in the search warrant was a request for hair samples. Upon comparison, it was determined that the appellant's blood and hair matched those left by the assailant.

At trial, the appellant conceded the confession was given voluntarily and he in fact committed the murders. He relied solely upon the defense of insanity. He claimed voices instructed him to commit these murders because the victims were having homosexual relations with Malaysian students. Two psychiatrists for the defense testified that, while the victims were not involved in illicit conduct with students, the appellant had a deeply hidden psychosis toward homosexuals and his belief that the victims were so involved triggered this attack. The Commonwealth provided three expert witnesses, each of whom stated appellant was not suffering from criminal insanity at the time of the murders.

In order to establish murder in the first degree, the Commonwealth must prove the actor specifically intended to kill which, in turn, is shown by establishing premeditation and deliberation. Commonwealth v. Garcia, 505 Pa. 304, 310, 479 A.2d 473, 476 (1984). It is clear from the facts presented at trial the Commonwealth produced sufficient evidence to support a conviction for first degree murder. In addition to the confession, there were several pieces of scientific evidence which further inculpated appellant. The matching fingerprints, blood types and hair samples all indicate he committed these acts. Finally, as previously mentioned, appellant has not denied he committed the acts; instead he has offered his alleged insanity in defense. The jury was free to believe the insanity defense or entirely reject such a claim. Commonwealth v. Nelson, 514 Pa. 262, 523 A.2d 728, cert. denied, 484 U.S. 928, 108 S.Ct. 293, 98 L.Ed.2d 253 (1987).

The Commonwealth, as verdict winner, is afforded the inference that the specific intent required for first degree murder can be proven by the conduct of the perpetrator, including the use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body. Commonwealth v. Pronkoskie, 498 Pa. 245, 445 A.2d 1203 (1982); Commonwealth v. O'Searo, 466 Pa. 224, 352 A.2d 30 (1976). In this case, Dr. Faruqui was stabbed 15 times and Mrs. Faruqui was stabbed 7 times. Clearly, the repetitive stabbing in vital areas of the body is an indication of specific intent to kill. Commonwealth v. Pronkoskie, supra; Commonwealth v. O'Searo, supra. Furthermore, in appellant's confession he stated he had circled the area of the victims' home the night before the murders to plan an escape route which would attract the least attention. This conduct supports the Commonwealth's claim that appellant knew his intended action was wrong but deliberately completed the acts. Therefore, the Commonwealth unquestionably produced sufficient evidence to support the verdict of first degree murder.

Having concluded that the evidence was sufficient, we now address the various claims of error.

I Pre-trial Errors

The first claim of error concerns the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to change venue due to the prejudicial impact of pre-trial publicity. Appellant asserts the community was saturated with articles about the incident and therefore the publicity was per se prejudicial. Commonwealth v. Jermyn, 516 Pa. 460, 533 A.2d 74 (1987); Commonwealth v. Pursell, 508 Pa. 212, 495 A.2d 183 (1985); Commonwealth v. Kichline, 468 Pa. 265, 361 A.2d 282 (1976).

In this case the trial court properly withheld a decision on the change of venue motion until after the voir dire was completed. Commonwealth v. Romeri, 504 Pa. 124, 470 A.2d 498 (1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 942, 104 S.Ct. 1922, 80 L.Ed.2d 469 (1984). During voir dire it became clear several of the venirepersons had read or heard some account of the event. However, in denying the appellant's motion, the court concluded no juror had expressed a fixed opinion or bias toward the appellant. Commonwealth v. Bachert, 499 Pa. 398, 453 A.2d 931 (1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1043, 103 S.Ct. 1440, 75 L.Ed.2d 797 (1983). It is clear the jury need not be ignorant of the facts or issues involved in the case. Irvin v. David, 366 U.S. 717, 81 S.Ct. 1639, 6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961). As this Court stated in Commonwealth v. Drew, 500 Pa. 585, 588, 459 A.2d 318, 320 (1983), "The law recognizes that prospective jurors were not cultivated in hermetically sealed environments free of all beliefs and views. The relevant question is therefore whether any biases or prejudices can be put aside."

After a review of the published material, it does not appear that any were inflammatory or prejudicial. Thus the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellant's motion. Commonwealth v. Rigler, 488 Pa. 441, 412 A.2d 846 (1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1016, 101 S.Ct. 3004, 69 L.Ed.2d 387 (1981). Furthermore, appellant exercised only eight of his twenty peremptory challenges and therefore failed to preserve the...