Commonwealth v. Fason

• Decision Date: 03 February 2023
• Docket Number: 224 WDA 2022,J-S25041-22
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee v. LARRY BENEFIELD FASON Appellant
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee v. LARRY BENEFIELD FASON Appellant

No. 224 WDA 2022

No. J-S25041-22

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

February 3, 2023

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered February 2, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County Criminal Division at No(s) CP-11-CR-0000168-2018

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., DUBOW, J., and KING, J.

MEMORANDUM

KING J.

Appellant Larry Benefield Fason, appeals from the order entered in the Cambria County Court of Common Pleas, which denied his petition brought under the Post-Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA").^[1] We affirm.

A prior panel of this Court set forth the facts and procedural history of this case as follows:

On November 5, 2017, Johnstown Police Department officers and detectives were dispatched to the area of Bell Place and Messenger Street in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after a report of a deceased body. When they arrived on the scene, they observed a deceased female lying in an apartment complex's trash receptacle area. The deceased, later identified as Angela Lunn (Victim), a known acquaintance of Appellant, was partially clothed and had multiple contusions on her face and head.

Upon investigation, detectives noticed droplets of blood "leading from [Victim] up to the staircase to the rear of an apartment complex." N.T., 7/16/19, at 78. The blood trail led to a third floor apartment, where Appellant resided. Appellant allowed police to enter the apartment to remove some of Victim's personal belongings. Once inside, police immediately were "hit with a very strong smell of cleaning products; ammonia, like Clorox type smell." N.T., 7/17/19, at 59. The police also noticed blood stains around the kitchen sink and droplets of blood on the floor, which appeared "to be the same blood trail leading out the door." N.T., 7/16/19, at 81.

Police obtained a "body warrant" for Appellant, seeking photographs of his body, as well as samples of his blood, DNA samples, pubic hair, hair follicles, and fingernail clippings. Appellant was transported to a local hospital where a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) examined Appellant and found blood on his finger, right foot, left toes, and underneath his left foot toenails. The officers also obtained a search warrant for Appellant's apartment, where they recovered a "jug" of ammonia and a "jug" of detergent from the kitchen, and a tire iron, which was sticking out of a water jug in the master bedroom.

Upon noticing a surveillance camera facing the trash bin area, Detective Sergeant Corey Adams contacted the manager of the Elks Lodge to view the video beginning at midnight the night before. … The recording, which was played for the jury at trial, showed Victim arrive at the apartment complex at 4:15 a.m. on November 5^th. At approximately 5:30 a.m., Appellant could be seen placing two "shopping bags" inside a dumpster. An hour later, the video showed Appellant positioning Victim's body in the trash bin area before returning to his apartment. … The detective later retrieved the shopping bags from the dumpster and discovered "numerous rags and towels soaked with blood, clumps of hair, … a pillowcase saturated in blood, and other pieces of garbage." [N.T., 7/16/19, at 142.]

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The trial court summarized the testimony of forensic pathologist Dr. Kevin Whaley regarding Victim's injuries as follows:

[Dr.] Whaley testified that [Victim] suffered numerous defensive and blunt force traumas that resulted in a variety of injuries and that three of those injuries would have been fatal with one being immediately fatal.

[Dr.] Whaley testified that [Victim's] injuries from the blunt force trauma included: a fracture to her mandible; a right and left basilar skull fracture; diffuse subgaleal hemorrhaging, where blood pools under the scalp; [subarachnoid] hemorrhaging where blood pools around the brain; cerebrospinal fluid leaking from the left ear canal through the left side basilar fracture across the petrous ridge; a green stick fracture to her right arm's ulna; a comminuted fracture of her right wrist bones; a fracture to the left arm's ulna bone; fractures to the front and sides of her left ribs numbers 3-7; a punctured left upper lung lobe resulting from a broken rib entering the lung; fractures to the front and sides of her right ribs numbers 2 and 6-10; her right ear being partially torn off; a lacerated spleen resulting from a broken rib piercing the organ; vaginal and rectal tearing; her left ear being damaged; hair torn from the scalp; and multiple abrasions, lacerations and bruises over her body. [Dr.] Whaley explained that [Victim's] injuries to her arms were consistent with defensive injuries that result when a person attempts to shield the head or body with their forearms.

[Dr.] Whaley testified that the bruising on [Victim's] buttocks, chest, abdomen, thighs, arms, and chin suggested it had been caused by a weapon since the bruising showed a tram track pattern…. Based on the bruises here [Dr.] Whaley concluded [Victim] had been struck repeatedly and with significant force by a long and narrow diameter object, such as a rod or board, on her head, chest, abdomen, arms, legs, buttocks, and chin….

[Dr.] Whaley explained, that of the injuries [Victim] sustained three would be fatal with one resulting in immediate death. [Dr.] Whaley noted that both the punctured lung and lacerated spleen would have resulted in [Victim's] death unless immediate medical aid was provided. He noted that there was little blood loss from [Victim's] lung or spleen injury into the body cavity indicating that the injuries occurred immediately prior to or after [Victim's] death when her blood pressure was minimal to nonexistent. [Dr.] Whaley explained that a person with a left side basilar fracture like [Victim's] would be able to survive for a period of time without medical attention but would eventually die without aid[.] He explained that a similar right side basilar fracture would be "most immediately lethal" as it would result in damage to the brain stem resulting in the shutdown of a person's autonomic functions such as heart rate and respiration. [Dr.] Whaley testified that it would take a significant blow to cause such a right side basilar fracture as the bone in that area is the thickest in the body. He opined that based upon the autopsy[,] it was likely caused by the blow to [Victim's] chin with the force resulting in the fractured jaw and traveling through the skull to cause the two basilar fractures and injury to the brain stem…. Finally, he opined that such a right side basilar fracture could not be caused by a simple fall or a normal fall down stairs.

Trial Ct. Op., 1/27/20, at 8-10.

Forensic testing revealed one hair fragment, but no blood on a tire iron recovered from Appellant's apartment. With regard to the items sent for DNA testing, Appellant's DNA matched DNA found under the nails of Victim's hands. Victim's DNA matched the blood sample recovered from Appellant's left toes and boxer shorts, as well as various blood samples recovered from Appellant's apartment. Moreover, "DNA from the four human hairs recovered from the clumps located in the dumpster contained one DNA profile that was a match to [Victim]."

Appellant testified to the following in his own defense at trial. In the early morning hours of November 5, 2017, Victim came to his apartment with "bruises on her face, … [h]er lip was busted[, and s]he was leaking blood from her mouth." N.T., 7/18/19, at 52. Victim asked to use his bathroom, and borrowed some towels so she could "wash up." The two then smoked "weed" and "crack cocaine." Appellant started to get "piss[ed] off" when Victim neglected to use an ashtray, and let the ashes from her cigarettes fall on the floor. As he attempted to sweep up the ashes, he and Victim had words, and she bit his finger. At that point, Appellant pushed her "kind of rough." Appellant explained: "She came back - she like had her head on my chest, … and then I pushed her off me again a little harder[, and] she fell and hurt herself on the wall." [Id. at 57.]

He told the detectives that he "just F-ing snapped out" because he was angry at Victim for messing up his apartment. Appellant then put the bloody rags Victim used to clean herself in a garbage bag, and took them to the dumpster. He also began cleaning the blood spots throughout the apartment with disinfectant. Shortly thereafter, Appellant discovered Victim "broke [his] weed plant[,]" at which point, he told her she "really [had] to go." As Victim started down the steps, "[s]he got her feet messed up on the top of the step, and . . . fell backwards" to the second floor landing. Id. at 61. Appellant helped her up, and as she was holding his arm for support, she lost her grip, and fell "straight down" the rest of the steps, and struck her head on a pillar. Victim got up and walked a few steps before collapsing. Appellant admitted he then dragged her to the dumpster area before returning to his apartment. He claimed he never meant to hurt her, and he "thought she was okay" because she was still mumbling when he left her. On cross-examination, Appellant stated he "told a lot of pieces of lies" to the police because he was scared and "in shock" because they had just gotten him out of bed and told him Victim was dead. N.T., 7/18/19, at 69. He also claimed he was afraid the police would charge him with a crime simply because he is black and Victim was white.

The Commonwealth presented one rebuttal witness, biochemical engineer and accident reconstructionist, Dr. Andrew Rentschler, who opined the basilar skull fracture and other injuries Victim sustained were "inconsistent with a backward fall down the steps[.]." See N.T., 7/18/19, at

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