Commonwealth of Pa. v. Mollett

• Decision Date: 17 August 2010
• Citation: 5 A.3d 291
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Leslie Denier MOLLETT, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

5 A.3d 291

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee

v.Leslie Denier MOLLETT, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted June 14, 2010.

Filed Aug. 17, 2010.

Suzanne M. Swan, Chief Public Defender and Frank W. Ralph, Public Defender, for appellant.

Karen Edwards, Asst. Dist. Atty., Pittsburgh, for Com., appellee.

BEFORE: BOWES, GANTMAN, and PANELLA, JJ.

OPINION BY BOWES, J.:

Leslie Denier Mollett appeals from the judgment of sentence of life imprisonment and a consecutive term of incarceration of thirteen to twenty-six years imposed after a jury convicted him of first degree murder, carrying a firearm without a license, disarming a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, resisting arrest, and persons not to possess a firearm. After careful review, we affirm.

The pertinent facts are as follows. In the early morning hours of December 12, 2005, State Trooper Corporal Joseph Pokorny was on routine patrol in a marked police cruiser. Corporal Pokorny radioed dispatch at 2:08 a.m. that he was in pursuit of a vehicle near the Extended Stay Hotel and needed a license plate check to determine whether the vehicle was stolen. The trooper relayed the number, conducted a traffic stop and notified the dispatcher that he was exiting his cruiser. The dispatcher could not report information relating to the vehicle because he failed to get a response from the trooper. Corporal Pokorny's dashboard video camera did not record the traffic stop; however, police did not reveal this fact to the public.

Within approximately seven minutes of the 2:08 a.m. dispatch, Sergeant Mark Lint, a Carnegie police officer, observed flashing police lights near the Extended Stay Hotel. Sergeant Lint stopped his vehicle and approached Corporal Pokorny's cruiser. The officer noticed that the driver's side door was open, the radio wasblaring, and no one was inside the car. When Sergeant Lint discovered Corporal Pokorny's body, he was laying on his back with his knees folded underneath his body. The trooper had no pulse and a large amount of blood appeared around his body. Corporal Pokorny had been shot once in the chest and once in the head. Corporal Pokorny's sidearm, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson Beretta, was missing.

Sergeant Lint radioed that an officer was down and began to secure the scene. An imitation mink coat, a police-issued ASP baton, a pepper mace canister, a black knit hat, a loaded .40 caliber Glock handgun, a bullet fragment, two spent cartridge casings, and Corporal Pokorny's name tag and handcuffs were located at the scene. Tamara Miller, the mother of two of Appellant's children, was the registered owner of the Glock handgun. The casings were .40 caliber Winchester S & W's and had been discharged from the same weapon. The cartridge casings were consistent with police-issued ammunition. Police found an asthma inhaler within one of the pockets of the coat and noted that the coat reeked of pepper spray. DNA testing on the Glock handgun, hat, coat, and inhaler matched Appellant's DNA profile to DNA located on those items. At the scene, investigators also located tire tracks within approximately twenty-two feet of Corporal Pokorny's car, which indicated that a vehicle had jumped the curb and entered a flower bed next to the Extended Stay Hotel parking lot.

Police canvassed the surrounding area, including the hotel wherein Trooper Frank Murphy encountered Tyrone Bullock after Mr. Bullock answered the door to Room 315. Mr. Bullock appeared nervous and was shaking. The trooper observed blood on the carpet and, after ending his conversation with Mr. Bullock, called for backup. Law enforcement officials then stormed Room 315 and located marijuana in plain view. Subsequently, a search warrant was obtained and a large quantity of heroin, drug paraphernalia, digital scales, marijuana, and promethazine syrup were recovered. Mr. Bullock was an acquaintance of Appellant and the room had earlier been utilized by Appellant, his friends, and Mr. Bullock.

Police also interviewed two hotel guests who described hearing a commotion outside their rooms around 2:00 a.m. One of the guests stated he heard a voice say, "stop, stay, turn and please." N.T., 10/12/07, at 146. The witness said afterward that he heard what sounded like an aluminum baseball bat striking a baseball and two car doors closing and tires spinning. The other hotel guest remarked that he heard an individual yell, "stop, stop, get back here, get on the ground," followed by two gunshots and the spinning of tires. Id. at 161-162.

Sergeant Lint also interviewed an eyewitness to the incident named Ronald Bishop. Mr. Bishop was operating a snowplow on the night in question. Prior to trial, Mr. Bishop died. The trial court did not permit Appellant to introduce Mr. Bishop's original statement to police, in which he said that he saw four people at the murder scene, two of whom fled on foot and two who escaped in the vehicle.

Utilizing the license plate number that Corporal Pokorny had radioed to dispatch, police learned that the vehicle was registered to Courtney Law. Ms. Law informed officers that she sold the car to Charise Cheatom, who was Appellant's girlfriend. At approximately 7:30 a.m., December 12, 2005, upon learning of Ms. Cheatom's address, police responded to her residence in the South Side area of Pittsburgh. After hearing movement inside the home, police sealed off the area and a SWAT negotiator attempted toreach Ms. Cheatom via her cellular phone. In addition, police traveled to Ms. Cheatom's workplace and at 11:20 a.m. were able to speak with her after she called her work. Ms. Cheatom indicated that she was not at home and was at a doctor's appointment in downtown Pittsburgh. She informed police that Appellant was at his grandmother's home.

However, both Appellant and Ms. Cheatom were at her home and the SWAT negotiator was able to converse with her at 12:50 p.m. At 1:15 p.m., Appellant and Ms. Cheatom exited the home and police took them into custody. When interviewed by police, Appellant gave four different versions of events. First, he maintained that he had not been driving Ms. Cheatom's car and had been at an establishment called Art's Bar when Corporal Pokorny was shot. After police gave Appellant his Miranda rights,¹ Appellant requested to speak to his father and asked to speak with his attorney. A phone call was then placed to his attorney, who could not be reached, and Appellant was permitted to talk with his father. While talking with his father, his father informed Appellant that his mother was in the building and police brought her into the interview room. After a discussion with his mother, Appellant indicated that he would speak with the police. Police again issued Appellant his Miranda warnings.

Subsequently, Appellant gave police a second version of events and acknowledged that his original story was false. Appellant's second account related that he drove Ms. Cheatom's vehicle to Art's Bar and then to an establishment known as Dowe's. According to Appellant, he met two people at Dowe's whom he identified as "J Rock" and "C Note." Appellant indicated that he was with these two individuals following another vehicle when the trooper pulled him over for speeding. He maintained that C Note attacked the trooper and that both he and J Rock fled, J Rock fleeing on foot and Appellant taking the car. Appellant reported that, as he entered the vehicle and began to drive away, two gunshots were fired. In Appellant's third statement, he asserted that during the struggle between C Note and Corporal Pokorny he attempted to intervene during which the trooper pulled Appellant's coat off and scratched Appellant's eye. Appellant again claimed that C Note shot the officer.

At this juncture, Appellant's mother left, indicating that she did not believe her son. Appellant then offered a final version of events, which the police recorded. The Commonwealth played this recorded statement for the jury. In this final account of events, Appellant related that he had been following another vehicle when he was pulled over for speeding. He indicated that he did not immediately stop but crashed into an embankment. Next, he and the two other men exited the car and the trooper told them to freeze. While being patted down, Appellant alleged that C Note struggled with Corporal Pokorny and the trooper deployed his pepper spray. Appellant maintained that during the struggle, he attempted to aid the trooper, but the trooper pulled Appellant's coat over his head. According to Appellant, at this point, J Rock, not C Note, entered the struggle and was able to secure Corporal Pokorny's sidearm and shot him twice.

Ms. Cheatom, after police gave her Miranda warnings, originally indicated that Appellant arrived at her home on December 12, 2005, at approximately 3:00 a.m. Appellant promptly went to the bathroom to wash his face and she observed a scratch near Appellant's eye. He informed her that the scratch came from ascuffle with a state trooper. Ms. Cheatom related that Appellant stated he was maced and kicked a gun underneath the snow. Appellant then exited the house, but instructed Ms. Cheatom to watch the news. Ms. Cheatom then learned that a state trooper had been shot and killed.

When Appellant appeared at her home two hours later, she asked him whether he had shot the state trooper. Appellant denied that he committed the crime. Ms. Cheatom gave a subsequent statement wherein she indicated that Appellant had remarked that he thought he killed a state trooper. She also provided more details, maintaining that Appellant informed her that he had been in her vehicle with Jabbar James and Phillip Peterson when he was pulled over by the state trooper. Additionally, she indicated that Appellant had changed his clothes and placed them into a garbage bag before leaving. Ms. Cheatom further stated that she heard Appellant discuss the incident over the telephone and admit that he...