Commonwealth v. Freeman
| Decision Date | 02 December 2015 |
| Citation | 2015 PA Super 252,128 A.3d 1231 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Charles FREEMAN, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
David G. Ennis, Glenside, for appellant.
Robert M. Falin, Assistant District Attorney, and Adrienne D. Jappe, Assistant District Attorney, Norristown, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Charles Freeman appeals the June 24, 2014 judgment of sentence. We affirm.
On May 5, 2013, Freeman, Andre Collier, Omar Miller, and Rasheed Teel devised a plan to rob nineteen-year-old Kareem Borowy. Freeman drove the group to Borowy's house in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and waited in the car while Miller, Teel, and Collier entered the residence. Once inside, Collier, armed with a .45 caliber Glock pistol, demanded that Borowy hand over a large quantity of marijuana and $3,000.00 in cash. Borowy pleaded with the robbers, insisting that there was no money in the home.
Sensing that the trio was growing impatient, Borowy falsely told them that he kept his money in a “stash house” at a different location. The men then took Borowy outside and forced him into the getaway car. Freeman drove away from the residence, presumably intending to travel to Borowy's contrived stash house. When the vehicle slowed down on a rural roadway in Lower Pottsgrove Township, Borowy managed to escape. Collier chased after Borowy and shot him twice. When he returned to the vehicle, Collier told the others that he saw Borowy fall to the ground, and instructed Freeman to drive away.
Although severely injured, Borowy managed to crawl on his hands and knees to the main roadway. A passing motorist spotted Borowy lying beside the road a short time later and called 911. When the police arrived, Borowy was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In response to an anonymous tip, Montgomery County Detectives Todd Richard and Paul Bradbury interviewed Teel on May 9, 2013. Although he initially denied participating in the robbery and/or murder, he eventually admitted that he was present during the crimes. Teel told the detectives that Freeman drove him, Collier, and another male whose name he did not know from Philadelphia to Pottstown, where the group intended to rob Borowy. Teel identified Collier as the gunman and Freeman as the driver of the getaway car, which he described to the detectives as a light gray four-door vehicle.
On May 10, 2013, Detectives Mark Minzola and Joseph Campbell went to Freeman's residence, which he shared with his girlfriend, Janae Nixon. The detectives were dressed in formal business attire and carried firearms concealed beneath their suit jackets. Detective Minzola told Freeman that he was conducting a criminal investigation and wanted to speak with him. Freeman agreed to go to the Lower Pottsgrove Township Police Department, but told the detectives that he did not have a means of transportation. The detectives offered to drive Freeman to the police station, and he accepted that offer.
Detective Campbell drove Freeman and Detective Minzola to the police station in an unmarked police vehicle with no “cage or barrier” dividing the passenger compartment. See Notes of Testimony Suppression (“N.T.S.”), 1/7/2014, at 28. The trip to the station lasted approximately ten to fifteen minutes. Once they arrived at the station, the detectives led Freeman into an interview room. Detective Minzola explained to Freeman that he had closed the interview-room door for privacy, but that it was unlocked. Detective Minzola also explained to Freeman that he was not under arrest, and that he was free to leave at any time.
Back at Freeman's residence, Detective Todd Richard arrived shortly after Freeman left with Detectives Minzola and Campbell. Detective Richard spoke with Nixon, and obtained her written consent to search the residence. Detective Richard asked Nixon if she knew where Freeman's cell phone was located. Nixon told Detective Richard that Freeman had multiple cell phones, but that she saw one of them charging in the living room right before the detectives arrived. When Nixon could not find Freeman's phone where she last saw it, she called it. Once the call connected, Detective Richard could hear a loud ringing sound coming from a plastic garbage can in the kitchen. Detective Richard removed the lid from the garbage can, and found two cell phones therein. He removed the phones, which Nixon confirmed belonged to Freeman, and remained at the residence while his colleagues obtained a warrant to search the home and to seize Freeman's cell phones.1
Meanwhile, at the police station, Detective Minzola told Freeman that he was investigating a home invasion, kidnapping, and murder that occurred in Montgomery County on May 5, 2013. Detective Minzola then proceeded to ask Freeman a series of questions and transcribed Freeman's answers. Freeman categorically denied participating in the crimes. He told Detective Minzola that he was at a friend's house until 12:30 or 1:00 in the afternoon on the day of Borowy's murder. According to Freeman, he stopped to get gas on the way home, when he noticed that his car was overheating. Freeman then drove the vehicle, a silver Buick LeSabre, to his cousin's garage in Philadelphia to have it repaired. Freeman told Detective Minzola that he waited at his cousin's garage until Nixon picked him up. The two then went out for dinner.
After approximately fifty minutes of questioning, Detective Minzola printed the transcript of the interview and asked Freeman to review it. Freeman made two corrections to the transcript, agreed that it was otherwise accurate, and signed it. After reviewing Freeman's statement, Detective Minzola told Freeman that he suspected that Freeman was being dishonest. He then explained to Freeman the legal concept of accomplice liability. Freeman then became “loud and agitated” and denied any involvement in Borowy's murder. N.T.S. at 36. Freeman asked if he was free to leave, and Detective Minzola reminded him that he was. Rather than leaving, however, Freeman asked to speak with Detective Minzola's supervisor, Detective James McGowan.
Detective McGowan came into the interview room, introduced himself, and sat down. Detective McGowan told Freeman that the homicide investigation was going to continue, but that Freeman was free to leave. Detective McGowan gave Freeman his business card and cell phone number, and Freeman left the police station. Freeman returned approximately two hours later and asked for a ride home. Detective Minzola told Freeman that he could drive Freeman back to his residence in ten minutes. Freeman waited for a few minutes, but then apparently changed his mind and walked out of the police station.
On May 11, 2013, detectives found Freeman's silver Buick LeSabre parked on the 5500 block of Yocum Street in Philadelphia. When the detectives found the vehicle, all four doors were open and a man was cleaning the interior. The detectives towed the Buick to a secure holding area to prevent any potential evidence from being destroyed. On May 13, 2013, they applied for, and executed, a warrant to search the vehicle.
Detective Campbell arrested Freeman on May 20, 2013, and charged him with homicide, kidnapping, robbery, persons not to possess a firearm, receiving stolen property, false imprisonment, and conspiracy to commit each of those offenses.2 On June 3, 2013, a team of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers arrested Miller on the sidewalk outside of his uncle's home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The officers transported Miller to the homicide unit of the Montgomery County Detectives' Bureau. Miller initially denied participating either in the robbery or in the murder. However, after several hours of questioning by detectives, Miller confessed to participating in the robbery along with Freeman, Collier, and Teel.
Collier evaded arrest until August 5, 2013, when the Pennsylvania State Police and the United States Marshals arrested him in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Teel pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, and agreed to testify for the Commonwealth against his co-conspirators. Prior to Freeman's trial, the Commonwealth filed notice of its intent to consolidate the cases against Collier, Miller, and Freeman. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 582 ().
On December 26, 2013, Freeman filed an omnibus pretrial motion. Therein, Freeman sought to suppress a litany of physical and testimonial evidence. Specifically, Freeman argued that: (1) the statements Freeman made to detectives on May 10, 2013, were obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); (2) the May 10, 2013 warrant to search Freeman's residence was not supported by probable cause; (3) Detective Richard conducted an illegal search when he removed Freeman's cell phones from a kitchen garbage can without a warrant; (4) the May 13, 2013 warrant to search the content stored on Freeman's cell phones was not supported by probable cause; and (5) detectives illegally seized Freeman's Buick LeSabre on May 11, 2013. On April 15, 2014, following a hearing, the trial court denied Freeman's suppression motions.
In his December 26, 2013 motion, Freeman also sought severance of his case from the prosecution of his co-defendants. Freeman argued that a joint trial would unfairly prejudice him because “[t]he various statements of [Freeman's] co-defendants are not capable of separation by the jury, and there is a danger of confusion.” See Freeman's Motion for Severance, 12/26/2013, at 5. On March 14, 2014, following a hearing, the trial court denied Freeman's motion to sever.
Freeman, Collier, and Miller proceeded to a jury trial, which commenced on April 15, 2014. On April 16, 2014, Teel...
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