Commonwealth v. Bidwell

• Decision Date: 11 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 16 EDA 2018,16 EDA 2018
• Citation: 195 A.3d 610
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant v. James BIDWELL
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

195 A.3d 610

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant

v.James BIDWELL

No. 16 EDA 2018

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued August 7, 2018

Filed September 11, 2018

Reargument Denied November 13, 2018

Michael Mancuso, Assistant District Attorney, Stroudsburg, for Commonwealth, appellant.

David B. Mischak, Philadelphia, for appellee.

BEFORE: STABILE, J., STEVENS^* , P.J.E., and STRASSBURGER^** , J.

OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.E.:

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appeals from the Order entered on December 15, 2017, by the Honorable Margherita Patti Worthington, Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County, granting in part and denying in part its pretrial motion in limine . Following a careful review, we affirm.

The learned trial court summarized the relevant facts and procedural history according to the Commonwealth as follows:

On June 2, 2011, at 7:39 p.m., Mr. Todd Bachman placed a 9-1-1 call to Monroe County Control Center reporting the discovery of the body of Kristin Wagner ("Victim"), hanging from an electrical heating wire tied to a refrigeration unit that was located in a trailer at 860 Crowe Road, Stroud Township. The trailer was located in a scrap yard operated by Christian Containers, LLC, a company owned by [Appellee]. Within minutes of the 9-1-1 call, members of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department and emergency medical service personnel arrived and observed the scene and body.

The Victim's body presented with signs of livor mortis , a condition indicative that death had occurred several hours prior to its discovery. The condition had not yet set, thus narrowing the time of death to not more than a few hours prior to discovery. The position of the Victim's body was such that the Victim's feet were resting on the floor with her knees bent and her hands free at her side. Heating wire was looped around the Victim's neck, but was not fashioned into a noose or otherwise twisted around her neck. The ligature had caused a well-defined furrow around the frontal and upper areas of the Victim's neck. The ligature did not appear to cause any abrasions or otherwise indicate that a struggle or involuntary movements had occurred prior to death. The Victim's face was not swollen or discolored, as is commonly seen in victims of hanging or ligature strangulation.

Alongside the body was a metallic box upon which, in the dust, prints from a work boot were identified. The pattern of the work boot prints were not made by the footwear of the Victim. There was also a coating of white substance, which was later identified as paint, visible on the Victim's right shoulder and both arms.

A cursory autopsy revealed there was no evidence of injury to the internal structures of the Victim's neck, no petechial hemorrhaging, and no discoloration of the face above the ligature. While the responding paramedics viewed the death as suspicious, the original investigators and the coroner concluded that the Victim committed suicide by hanging.

On June 5, 2014, Richard Gerber contacted the authorities and advised them that [Appellee] admitted to him that he had killed the Victim in the office trailer of the Crowe Street container yard by "choking her out" and thereafter hung her body in a refrigerated trailer to make it appear as though she had committed suicide. Based on Mr. Gerber's information, police initiated an investigation into the Victim's death. The investigation revealed that [Appellee] was never sought for questioning by the original investigators despite his owning the business where the Victim's body was discovered, engaging in an extra-marital affair with the Victim, and being the last person to see the Victim alive.

[Appellee] and the Victim were engaged in a sexual relationship beginning in May 2010. The relationship included [Appellee] supplying the Victim with quantities of methamphetamine and Percocet

pills. During the fall of 2010, the Victim provided members of the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police with information about [Appellee] trafficking in large quantities of methamphetamine. Soon thereafter, acting in part upon the information supplied by the Victim, [Appellee] was subject to a traffic stop in

which a quantity of methamphetamine was located. [Appellee] suspected that the Victim informed the police about his drug trafficking and expressed his suspicion to his wife, Jennifer Bidwell. Less than a week after the Victim's death, [Appellee] was arrested for drug trafficking, based in part on the information previously supplied by the Victim.¹

On June 2, 2011, the day of the Victim's death, Veronica Murray, owner of the Cinder Inn, a bar located on Crowe Road, saw the Victim and [Appellee] at the bar from approximately 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Victim and [Appellee] consumed alcohol and acted in a sexual manner toward one another. During this time, the Victim placed a phone call to her father, Donald Wagner, Sr. Cellular telephone records show that the phone call began at 3:55 p.m., lasted 20 minutes, and ended at approximately 4:15 p.m. [Appellee's] cellular telephone records show that he remained in the immediate vicinity of Crowe Road until approximately 5:09 p.m. on the day of the Victim's death.

At approximately 5:20 p.m. [Appellee] telephoned Jennifer Bidwell. The call lasted for approximately 9 minutes. During the call, [Appellee] was crying and said things such as "she's hanging" "she killed herself" and she "died." [Appellee] clarified that he was referring to the Victim. [Appellee] then called Donald Wagner at 7:28 p.m. This call lasted approximately 10 minutes, during which [Appellee] informed Mr. Wagner that the Victim was dead. The Victim's body was discovered by Mr. Bachman at 7:39 p.m., who called 9-1-1.

After discovering the Victim's body and calling 9-1-1, Mr. Bachman called his immediate supervisor, James Smith, to report the death and Mr. Smith called [Appellee] at 7:41 p.m. After being told by Mr. Smith that the Victim's body had been discovered at his Crowe Road container yard, [Appellee] claimed to be in Philadelphia and unable to return to the scene.

[Appellee] has made several contradictory statements regarding the circumstances of the Victim's death and his whereabouts at that time. [Appellee] claimed to employees and associates that he was in Philadelphia at the time of the death; that he left the Victim for a period of time and returned to find her dead; that the Victim left a suicide note; and implied that the Victim's 3:55 p.m. conversation with her father motivated her to commit suicide. Additionally, [Appellee] relayed to Jennifer Bidwell that the Victim needed money, so he agreed to allow her to paint his office trailer. [Appellee] stated to Mrs. Bidwell that while the Victim was painting the trailer he told the Victim he was reconciling with his wife and could not be there for her anymore but that God would be there. [Appellee] relayed that the Victim stated "f*** God" and had an evil look in her eye and that this was the last time he saw the Victim.

The Victim's family and friends maintain that she would not have committed suicide. The Victim's calendar for May and June 2011 contained multiple entries for events involving her children and other planned events. The Victim did not display any signs of depression at the time. On June 2, 2011, Ms. Murray, owner of the Cinder Inn, observed the Victim as appearing happy and outgoing, speaking of her children, and sharing photographs.

On July 26, 2016, the Seventh Monroe County Investigating Grand Jury issued a Presentment at Investigation No. 6-2014 that recommended [Appellee] be arrested for violating Section 2501 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code and additional sections of the Crimes Code. By Order date July 28, 2016, this [c]ourt, as Supervising Judge of the Investigating Grand Jury, accepted the Presentment and referred the matter to the Attorney for the Commonwealth.

[Appellee] was charged by Criminal Information on November 14, 2016, with Criminal Homicide.² On November 15, 2016, the Commonwealth filed a Motion for Status Conference. On November 17, 2016, we scheduled a status conference with Counsel. On November 21, 2016, the Commonwealth filed a Motion to Continue Scheduling Conference, which was granted. The status conference was rescheduled to November 29, 2016. At the status conference both parties were directed to file all pretrial motions on or before July 21, 2017.

The Commonwealth filed the present Motion in Limine on July 12, 2017. [Appellee] filed an Answer to the Commonwealth's Motion in Limine on August 15, 2017, and a Supplemental Memorandum of Law on October 10, 2017.

A hearing on the Commonwealth's motions was held on September 15, 2017, wherein the Commonwealth introduced a compact disc containing the following evidence:

1. A folder marked "Alyssa Benak" containing her audio-recorded interview with law enforcement, and corresponding transcript, on February 28, 2017;

2. A folder marked "Danielle Sickle" containing a report of her interview with law enforcement on January 30, 2017, an audio recording of same, a Pennsylvania State Police incident report dated November 23, 2014, and a Stroud Area Regional incident report dated November 23, 2014;

3. A folder marked "Denise Bidwell" containing her audio–recorded interview with law enforcement, and corresponding transcript, on August 23, 2016, and her medical records from St. Mary's Medical Center dated March 13, 2006;

4. A folder marked "Jennifer Bidwell" containing her audio–recorded interview with law enforcement, and corresponding transcript, on February 5, 2016, a Yahoo email message from [Appellee] dated January 16, 2011, a Yahoo email message from [Appellee] dated June 1, 2011, a "Complaint for Support" from Monroe County Case No. 126 CV 2011, a Pocono Mountain Regional Police incident report dated June 13, 2010, and a "Note to File" dated September 19, 2017;

5. A folder marked "Kristin Wagner" containing audio clips of recorded telephone conversations

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