Commonwealth v. Baker

• Decision Date: 24 December 2018
• Docket Number: No. 221 WDA 2018,221 WDA 2018
• Citation: 201 A.3d 791
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Edward Lowe BAKER, Jr., Appellant
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

201 A.3d 791

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania

v.Edward Lowe BAKER, Jr., Appellant

No. 221 WDA 2018

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued October 31, 2018

Filed December 24, 2018

Stephen D. Colafella, Beaver, for appellant.

Brittany L. Smith, Assistant District Attorney, Beaver, for Commonwealth, for appellee.

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., SHOGAN, J., and MURRAY, J.

OPINION BY SHOGAN, J.:

Edward Lowe Baker, Jr. ("Appellant") appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed after a jury convicted him of first-, second-, and third-degree murder, rape by forcible compulsion, burglary, and criminal trespass.¹ We affirm.

We summarize the facts of record as follows. Appellant's former girlfriend, Addaleigh Huzyak ("the Victim") ended their six-month relationship in late May of 2016. N.T., 3/31/17, at 164–165, 182. Late in the evening on June 5, 2016, Appellant entered the Victim's apartment and waited for her to come home from her shift at work, which ended at 11:00 p.m. Id. at 201–205. When the Victim arrived home, she was annoyed to see Appellant and said she was going to call for help. Id. at 205–207. Appellant shot her in the face to disable her, slit her throat twice, fatally shot her in the back of the head, and then had sexual intercourse with her. Id. at 207–209 and Commonwealth Exhibit 1 (Appellant's videotaped statement). Appellant escaped through a window. Id. at 211.

Authorities apprehended Appellant in Winchester, Kentucky, on June 7, 2016. Pennsylvania State Troopers Jason Domenick and Christopher Birckbichler proceeded to Winchester that day and interviewed Appellant in the Winchester Police Station. N.T. Suppression, 10/21/16, at 9–17. Prior to the interview, Trooper Birckbichler discussed with Appellant his Miranda² rights, and Appellant completed a waiver form. Id. at 21–23, Commonwealth Exhibits 1, 2. During the interview, Appellant confessed to killing the Victim. Id. at Commonwealth Exhibit 1. Appellant was extradited to Pennsylvania the next day. Id. at 36. Prior to trial, Appellant filed a motion to suppress his confession and a petition for writ of habeas corpus , which the trial court denied. Omnibus Pretrial Motion, 9/21/16, at II, III; Order, 10/25/16.

Following his trial and conviction, the trial court sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment on the first-degree murder conviction and a consecutive ten to twenty years of incarceration on the rape by forcible compulsion conviction. Order, 4/27/17. No further penalty was imposed on the remaining convictions. Appellant filed post-sentence motions, which the trial court denied. Motion for Post-Sentence Relief, 5/4/17; Supplemental Motion for Post-Sentence Relief, 11/3/17; Order, 1/19/18. This appeal followed. Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Appellant presents the following questions for our consideration:

I. Whether the Commonwealth failed to present sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant, Edward Lower Baker, Jr., was guilty of Murder of the First Degree, Rape By Forcible Compulsion, Burglary, and Criminal Trespass?

II. Was the jury verdict of guilty against the weight of the evidence presented at trial?

III. Whether the Trial Court erred in denying Appellant's Motion to Suppress?

Appellant's Brief at 5.

In his first issue, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions of first-degree murder, rape by forcible compulsion, burglary, and criminal trespass. Appellant's Brief at 14–17. Because a determination of evidentiary sufficiency presents a question of law, our standard of review is de novo and our scope of review is plenary. Commonwealth v. Sanchez , 614 Pa. 1, 36 A.3d 24, 37 (2011). In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we must determine whether the evidence admitted at trial and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, were sufficient to prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Von Evans , 163 A.3d 980, 983 (Pa. Super. 2017). "[T]he facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth need not preclude every possibility of innocence." Commonwealth v. Colon-Plaza , 136 A.3d 521, 525–526 (Pa. Super. 2016) (quoting Commonwealth v. Robertson-Dewar , 829 A.2d 1207, 1211 (Pa. Super. 2003) ). It is within the province of the fact-finder to determine the weight to be accorded to each witness's testimony and to believe all, part, or none of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Tejada , 107 A.3d 788, 792–793 (Pa. Super. 2015). The Commonwealth may sustain its burden of proving every element of the crime by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. Commonwealth v. Mucci , 143 A.3d 399, 409 (Pa. Super. 2016). Moreover, as an appellate court, we may not re-weigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for that of the fact-finder. Commonwealth v. Rogal , 120 A.3d 994 (Pa. Super. 2015).

Appellant first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction of first-degree murder. An individual commits first-degree murder when he intentionally kills another human being; an intentional killing is defined as a "willful, deliberate and premeditated killing." 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2501, 2502(a), (d). To sustain a conviction for first-degree murder, the Commonwealth must prove that: (1) a human being was unlawfully killed; (2) the accused was responsible for the killing; and (3) the accused acted with malice and a specific intent to kill. Commonwealth v. Ballard , 622 Pa. 177, 80 A.3d 380, 390 (2013). A jury may infer the intent to kill "based on the accused's use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim's body." Sanchez , 36 A.3d at 37.

Appellant argues: "When considering that the Appellant readily conceded at trial that he shot and ultimately killed [the Victim], the question for the jury was whether the acts committed constituted First-Degree Murder. The record is not able to establish all the requisite elements for First-Degree Murder, as the Appellant lacked the malice required for such a finding." Appellant's Brief at 14. We rely on the trial court's rejection of Appellant's claim that he lacked malice, as set forth in its Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion:

In support of establishing the requisite intent, the Commonwealth presented and the jury heard ample evidence indicating that [Appellant] planned to murder the [V]ictim. For example, the Commonwealth presented a series of text and Facebook messages sent shortly after an argument between [Appellant] and the [V]ictim in which [Appellant] was attempting to acquire a firearm. The jury heard testimony and viewed evidence of [Appellant's] research prior to the murder regarding extradition and Google searches inquiring "How to Knock Someone Out Fast" approximately one hour before the murder. The jury saw photos of the [V]ictim's window—the very window [Appellant] used as an exit after the crime—snapped from [Appellant's] cell phone shortly before the murder. This evidence alone, although not exhaustive,^{[3 ]} clearly is sufficient to enable a jury to find intentional premeditation. As to the finding of guilt of Murder of the First Degree, the jury was also presented with a recorded statement from [Appellant] claiming that he first shot the [V]ictim to debilitate her, slit her throat two times, and then shot her a second time, resulting in death.

Trial Court Opinion, 4/2/18, at 3–4.

We have reviewed the record, including the complete notes of trial testimony. The evidence presented and the inference drawn from Appellant's use of a deadly weapon on vital parts of the Victim's body support the first-degree murder conviction. Appellant's first sufficiency claim lacks merit.

Next, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction of rape by forcible compulsion. Appellant's Brief at 14–15. The Pennsylvania Crimes Code defines rape, in relevant part, as follows:

(a) Offense defined. —A person commits a felony of the first degree when the person engages in sexual intercourse with a complainant:

(1) By forcible compulsion.

18 Pa.C.S. § 3121(a)(1). "Forcible compulsion" is "[c]ompulsion by use of physical, intellectual, moral, emotional or psychological force, either express or implied. The term includes, but is not limited to, compulsion resulting in another person's death, whether the death occurred before, during or after sexual intercourse." 18 Pa.C.S. § 3101.

According to Appellant, "[t]he fact that the [Victim] was deceased at the time the intercourse occurred made it impossible for the Appellant to commit the crime of Rape. Due to same, the record is unable to establish the requisite elements for Rape by Forcible Compulsion." Appellant's Brief at 15. In response, the Commonwealth explains:

Appellant ... admitted to having sex with the Victim after he shot her in the head for the second time. Dr. Lukasevic testified that the Victim could have died within minutes, but possibly up to an hour after Appellant administered the final shot. There is no way for the Commonwealth to pinpoint with absolute certainty whether the Victim was alive at the time of penetration. The [rape by forcible compulsion] statute clearly contemplates this exact situation—where it is virtually impossible for the Commonwealth to show whether the [V]ictim was alive, dying, or dead at the time of the sexual act. Because ... the statute does not require the Commonwealth to prove sex occurred prior to a victim's death, the evidence was sufficient to find Appellant guilty of that crime.

Commonwealth's Brief at 13–14 (internal citations omitted).

We rely again on the trial court's rejection of Appellant's claim, as set forth in its memorandum disposing of Appellant's habeas corpus petition:

With respect to the Rape by Forcible Compulsion charge, [Appellant] argued that the Commonwealth failed to present evidence that the alleged penetration occurred while the victim was alive, and that penetration after a victim's death is not within the

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