Commonwealth v. Martin

• Decision Date: 24 September 2014
• Docket Number: No. 603 CAP,603 CAP
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Jeffrey Robert MARTIN, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

627 Pa. 623

101 A.3d 706

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee

v.Jeffrey Robert MARTIN, Appellant.

No. 603 CAP

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued April 10, 2012.

Decided Sept. 24, 2014.

Harry J. Cancelmi Jr., Esq., Waynesburg, for Jeffrey Robert Martin.

Amy Zapp, Esq., PA Office of Attorney General, Linda Marie Chambers, Esq., Waynesburg, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

BEFORE: CASTILLE, C.J., SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER, TODD, McCAFFERY, ORIE MELVIN, JJ.

OPINION

Justice McCAFFERY.

This is a direct appeal from a death sentence imposed after a jury convicted Appellant of one count of first-degree murder and other charges arising from the strangulation death of a twelve-year-old girl. The jury concluded, with respect to the circumstances of the murder, that the aggravating factors (committing murder to prevent testimony in a possible criminal proceeding regarding a felony and committing a killing in perpetration of a felony) outweighed the mitigating circumstances (“character and record”). Thus, the jury imposed a sentence of death.

The primary issues raised by Appellant concern whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's guilty verdicts for the additional charges of rape, sexual assault, and statutory sexual assault. Appellant argues that because there was insufficient evidence to prove that the killings had been committed during the perpetration of these felonies, the jury considered non-existing aggravating circumstances when it imposed the sentence of death. Appellant also challenges the ruling of the suppression court that allowed certain evidence to be presented against him at trial. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The facts, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict-winner, show that on June 13, 2006, G.B., a twelve-year-old girl, was reported missing by her parents. Notes of Testimony (“N.T.”) Trial, 5/1/08, at 188, 197–98. The girl and her family lived in a rural corner of Pennsylvania, and she was reported missing on the day of her disappearance. Id. at 197–98. The Pennsylvania State Police immediately initiated a search that was later joined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), other agencies, canine units, and civilian searchers. Police interviews with neighbors and other witnesses revealed that G.B. had been riding her small all-terrain vehicle (“ATV”) on the morning of her disappearance and was last seen heading in the direction of a neighboring horse and pleasure farm that she had previously visited with her parents' permission. Id. at 204, 211–12, 241. The owners of the farm were away that morning; however, their sole hired farmhand, Appellant, Jeffrey Robert Martin, was working alone there at the time. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 872, 874. Among Appellant's duties was the collection and spreading of manure. N.T. Trial, 5/1/08, at 309.

On June 16, Appellant waived his right to counsel and agreed to be interviewed by agents of the FBI. He did not make any incriminating statements and was released. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 699–701. However, late in the day on June 17, 2006, and four days after G.B. had been reported missing, her ATV was found partially buried in a creek bank and under a top layer of manure near a horse trail on the farm where Appellant had very recently spread manure as part of his duties. N.T. Trial, 5/1/08, at 58; N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 685–86, 747–48, 778. Appellant, who was working on the farm at the time, was immediately placed under arrest for tampering with evidence, giving false information, and hindering a police investigation (N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 714, 749, 800), and taken to an area of the farm near to where the ATV had been found. Id. at 566, 584. Appellant was advised of his Miranda rights¹ AND THEN TOLD THAT Searchers had found g.b.'s atv. iD. AT 572, 628, 637, 687, 749. At that point, Appellant stated to a state trooper that there were new trails “down there” and that he had spread manure in that area. Id. at 687, 750, 780. The trooper pointed out to Appellant that he had never told Appellant where the ATV had been found. Id. at 750. Nevertheless, Appellant stated that “she's not down there,” and then denied that he knew where G.B. was. Id. at 572, 688, 750, 781. Shortly afterward, Sergeant Kevin T. Kolson of the Pennsylvania State Police arrived on the scene, asked if Appellant had been read his rights, and, assured that he had been, asked Appellant where G.B. was, while jabbing his fingers into Appellant's chest. Id. at 750–51. Appellant did not respond. Id. at 629–30, 639, 751, 784. No further questions were asked of Appellant at that time; however, he was then moved to a nearby area that was not as crowded with personnel searching for the missing girl. Id. at 751, 785. There, after the state troopers began questioning him, Appellant stated, “I think I need an attorney,” and all questioning immediately stopped. Id. at 587, 645, 690–92, 717, 751–52, 785–86.

Appellant was returned to the area of the farm that was being used as a staging area for the search, and kept in the back seat of a patrol car while the state troopers continued their search and investigation of the site where the ATV had been found. Id. at 693, 707–08. Standing near the patrol car was a local constable who knew Appellant. The constable asked Appellant if he was ok. Id. at 670. Shortly thereafter, Appellant volunteered that he could save everyone some time, stating that only the ATV was down in the creek area, not G.B., and that she was somewhere else. Id. at 602, 671. The constable called to the nearby state troopers to inform them that Appellant had something to say. Id. at 602. Upon returning to the patrol car, the state troopers re-advised Appellant of his Miranda rights (Id. at 602, 678, 694–95, 754), transported Appellant back to the more quiet area of the search perimeter, once again advised Appellant of his right to remain silent and to consult with an attorney, and then requested that Appellant sign a written waiver of those rights as given him. Id. at 652–54, 696, 721. Appellant stated that he did not want to sign anything without consulting a lawyer. Id. at 696, 721. However, Appellant immediately volunteered that he been approached by a “fat, bald guy in a white truck,” who offered him $100 to help bury an ATV. Id. at 573, 591–92, 696, 720, 755. The troopers perceived this statement to be a falsehood, became frustrated with Appellant, and returned with him to the staging area on the farm. Id. at 573, 591–92, 696–97, 721–22, 755–56.

There, the troopers, concerned about the safety of the missing girl, pleaded with Appellant to divulge the girl's whereabouts. Id. at 575–76, 602–03, 761. Appellant first stated that he could show the troopers where the girl's helmet and shoes were buried (Id. at 576, 761–62), and shortly afterward stated that he could show the troopers where G.B. was located. Id. at 762. Appellant told the troopers that they would need a backhoe to “recover” the girl. Id. at 578, 703, 726, 762. This statement confirmed that G.B. was dead-until this point, the troopers had continued to treat the investigation as one involving a missing child.

Appellant led the troopers to a spot near where the ATV had been found and indicated that in one spot they would find the girl's helmet, and in another spot several feet away they would find her shoes. N.T. Trial, 5/1/08, at 68; N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 576–77, 702, 725, 762–63. At or about this time, Appellant volunteered that he had not molested the girl. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 577, 595, 600, 762, 798–99. Appellant then stated that the girl's body was at a different location on the farm and pointed the troopers to an area which was near a burn pile. Id. at 703–04, 725, 763–64. Before being transported to the police station, Appellant stated to the troopers that he had spread lime on G.B.'s body before covering it with earth in order to interfere with the ability of search dogs to find the girl's remains. Id. at 578, 595–96, 600, 764.²

After digging at the spot by the burn pile pointed out to them by Appellant, the officers found G.B.'s body buried more than five feet underground. N.T. Trial, 5/1/08, at 117–18, 149. They found that the girl's shirt had been pulled up to her armpits, and that her panties and jeans had been pushed down around her thighs and ankles.Id. at 149, 154; Commonwealth Exhibits 28–29, 31–32. Her body was indeed covered with lime, and two empty 50 lb. lime bags were found lying on top of her lime-covered body. N.T. Trial, 5/1/08, at 124–25, 149, 158, 172–78; N.T. Trial, 5/2/08, at 508; Commonwealth Exhibit 27. An autopsy subsequently revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and manually strangled.³ N.T. Trial, 5/2/08, at 389–96, 400–01, 407–08, 420–21; Commonwealth Exhibit 66.

After being taken to the Waynesburg State Police Station, Appellant was once again given his Miranda rights, but he agreed to waive them and signed a written waiver to that effect. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 705, 731–34, 770; Commonwealth Exhibit 89. He then gave a confession that was tape-recorded. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 727–29, 770; Commonwealth Exhibit 90. In his confession, he explained that on the morning of June 13, 2006, G.B. had appeared on the farm on her ATV and, for no apparent reason, according to Appellant, stated that she was going to tell her parents that he had just molested her. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 706. Appellant then stated that he had “panicked” and grabbed at the child, who ran away down the driveway. Commonwealth Exhibit 90 (transcript of Appellant's recorded confession) at 2. Appellant was able to catch up with her and, once he did, “jumped on top of her” and placed his hands around her neck. N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 706, 794; Commonwealth Exhibit 90 at 2. Appellant stated that he choked G.B. until she stopped moving, which, he observed, “took a good while.” N.T. Trial, 5/5/08, at 706–07, 796; Commonwealth Exhibit 90 at 2. He stated that he then went to get a farm vehicle...