Commonwealth v. Begley

• Decision Date: 26 September 2001
• Citation: 780 A.2d 605,566 Pa. 239
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. James William BEGLEY, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

780 A.2d 605

566 Pa. 239

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. James William BEGLEY, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 3, 2000.

Decided September 26, 2001.

Alene C. Grabauskas, for James Begley.

Christy H. Fawcett, Robert A. Graci, for Office of Attorney General.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

NIGRO, Justice.

On July 18, 1996, a jury found Appellant James William Begley guilty of the kidnapping and first-degree murder of Erica Miller. Following a penalty phase hearing, the jury found one aggravating circumstance, that the murder was committed during the course of a felony (kidnapping),¹ and two mitigating circumstances, that Appellant had no significant history of prior convictions,² and that he acted under the influence of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance.³ After weighing the aggravating circumstance against the two mitigating circumstances, the jury concluded that the former outweighed the latter. Accordingly, the jury returned a verdict of death against Appellant. On August 26, 1996, the trial court formally imposed the death sentence against Appellant.⁴ Appellant subsequently filed post sentence motions with the trial court, which the trial court denied on January 6, 1997. This direct appeal followed.⁵ We now affirm Appellant's convictions for kidnapping and first-degree murder, but reverse the sentence of death and remand the case for a new penalty hearing.

I. Appellant's claims that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for first-degree murder and kidnapping

Appellant first claims that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for first-degree murder.⁶ In reviewing such a claim, we must view the evidence, and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, as the verdict winner, to determine whether the jury could have found that every element of the crime of first-degree murder was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. See Commonwealth v. Michael, 544 Pa. 105, 109-12, 674 A.2d 1044, 1047 (1996). To obtain a conviction for first-degree murder, the Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with a specific intent to kill, that a human being was unlawfully killed, that the defendant committed the killing, and that the killing was committed with deliberation. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(a), (d); Commonwealth v. Rios, 546 Pa. 271, 281, 684 A.2d 1025, 1030 (1996),cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1231, 117 S.Ct. 1825, 137 L.Ed.2d 1032 (1997). The specific intent to kill may be proven by circumstantial evidence, and may be inferred from the defendant's use of a deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim's body. Commonwealth v. Bond, 539 Pa. 299, 305, 652 A.2d 308, 311 (1995).

The evidence adduced at trial includes and establishes the following: Brenda Miller testified that Appellant, her former boyfriend, kept in contact with her and her two teen-aged children, Erica and Charlie Miller. Appellant lived approximately two blocks away from the Miller residence in West York, Pennsylvania. Brenda Miller further testified that on January 17, 1995, she spent the evening at home with her boyfriend, Manuel, and Erica Miller. When Brenda Miller went to bed at around 9:30 p.m., Erica Miller was on the couch in the living room, where she usually slept. After Brenda and Manuel went to bed, but before they fell asleep, Brenda heard Erica ask someone something to the effect of whether they or someone else would still be up. Brenda Miller testified that she assumed that her daughter was talking with someone on the telephone, since no one else was in the house and she didn't hear anyone respond to Erica's question. When Brenda awoke the next morning, her daughter was nowhere to be found. However, there was no sign of a forced entry into the home, and Erica's cigarettes, lighter, and personal effects had been left sitting in the living room.

All efforts to locate Erica Miller proved fruitless until March 2, 1995, when the police received a 911 call from a friend of Appellant's named Tom March. Tom March told the police that he and his girlfriend, Cheryl Smith, had just discovered a body buried on their farm property. Tom March and Cheryl Smith led police officers responding to the call to a partially dug-up shallow grave located next to a barn on their property. The police continued the excavation initiated by Tom March and Cheryl Smith, and fully uncovered Erica Miller's body. The body was gagged and nude. On March 3, 1995, the police discovered a shotgun shell casing and two shotgun shell waddings at the gravesite.⁷ An autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Sarah Funke revealed that Erica Miller had been shot at close range twice in the back of the head.

The police arrested Appellant in connection with the homicide on March 3, 1995, the day after the discovery of Erica Miller's body. Upon arresting Appellant, the police discovered and seized a pair of black leather gloves from his person.⁸ In addition, at the time of Appellant's arrest, the police impounded his car, and later obtained a warrant to search the car. Inside Appellant's car, the police discovered a roll of the same type of duct tape that had been used to gag Erica Miller. Richard Buechle, an expert materials analyst for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, testified at trial that he matched up the end of the roll of duct tape found in Appellant's car with the end of the duct tape used to gag Erica Miller.

At trial, the Commonwealth presented testimony from three separate witnesses, Charlie Miller, Sharon Buckingham, and Todd Schulz, which established that prior to her disappearance, Erica Miller claimed that she had been offered a secret government job, which would pay $15 an hour. Charlie Miller, Erica's brother, testified that he spoke with Erica on the telephone a few days before Erica's disappearance and in their conversation, Erica confided in him that Appellant offered her a job guarding a female victim/witness in a safe house. According to Charlie Miller, Erica told him that Appellant needed a woman to do the job because the victim/witness was a woman. Additionally, Charlie Miller testified that Erica told him that she was not supposed to say anything about the job because she was going to have to take a lie detector test. Erica explained to her brother that she only told him about the job because they were so close and she knew he wouldn't tell anybody. Similarly, Sharon Buckingham, a friend of the Millers, testified that a few days before Erica disappeared, Erica told her that she was going to get a job with the government for $15 an hour, that it was a classified position, and that she was not supposed to talk about the job. Finally, Todd Schulz, an acquaintance of Erica Miller's, testified that a few days before her disappearance, Erica told him that a friend offered her a job guarding a safe house for $15 an hour.

Some of the most damaging testimony against Appellant came from Tom March and Cheryl Smith. At trial, Tom March testified that in January of 1995, Appellant asked March if he could borrow March's shotgun to go squirrel hunting since March's shotgun had a longer barrel than his shotgun, which was more effective for hunting squirrels. March agreed to lend his shotgun to Appellant, and Appellant promised to clean March's shotgun before he returned it. According to March, he lent his shotgun to Appellant on January 16, 1995, the day before Erica Miller disappeared, and Appellant returned the shotgun to him, fully cleaned, on January 18, 1995, the day after Erica Miller disappeared. Although March loaned Appellant five black shotgun shells along with his shotgun, none were returned to him.⁹

Tom March also testified that in the middle of January, Appellant asked March whether he could bury a box containing evidence and important papers related to his "private arms security business" and conduct a "prisoner exchange" on the farm property Tom March shared with Cheryl Smith. Appellant explained that he wanted to bury the box because it would help decrease his insurance payments. Tom March agreed to allow Appellant to bury his box and conduct a "prisoner exchange" on his property, but demanded that he do so at the end of the driveway by the barn, because he didn't want those things going on near his home and children.¹⁰ Cheryl Smith subsequently testified that at approximately 7:45 a.m. on the day following Appellant's request to bury the box and conduct the prisoner exchange on the March/Smith property, she saw Appellant's car next to the barn when she walked her daughter to the bus stop. At that time, Cheryl Smith did not see Appellant, but later that day, Appellant came to her home and told her that he was done with his business at the barn and she could return to that area.

Furthermore, Tom March testified that on January 22, 1995, he asked Appellant to help him gut some deer. After they wrapped the deer meat, Appellant showed March a patch of freshly disturbed soil near the barn and told March that he buried his box under that soil. According to March, Appellant visited him much more frequently after Appellant showed him where he buried his box. Additionally, Appellant repeatedly asked March if anyone had been around where the box was buried, and asked March if he was going to lay stones over the area where the box was buried.

On March 1, 1995, Appellant drove to Tom March's workplace and agreed to take March to get his picture taken for a photo I.D. license. On the way there, Appellant told March that someone had called a tavern near a hunting cabin that March and Appellant shared, and asked if anyone saw Appellant with a missing 19 year-old girl at the tavern.¹¹ Tom March found it extremely odd that someone would make such a telephone call, and told Cheryl Smith about his conversation with Appellant that same night....