Commonwealth v. Walter
| Citation | 119 A.3d 255 |
| Decision Date | 20 July 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 645 CAP,645 CAP |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Shonda WALTER, Appellant. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania |
Christian David Frey, Esq., George Edward Lepley, Jr., Esq., Lepley, Engelman & Yaw, L.L.C., Williamsport, for Shonda Dee Walter.
James Patrick Barker, Esq., Susan Lynn DiGiacomo, Esq., Amy Zapp, Esq., PA Office of Attorney General, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
OPINION
In this direct appeal nunc pro tunc, Appellant Shonda Walter challenges the May 26, 2006 judgment of sentence of death imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Clinton County after a jury convicted her of first-degree murder and theft by unlawful taking.1 For the following reasons, we affirm.
On March 29, 2003, Rhoda Powers called the Lock Haven Police Department and reported to Officer Thomas Winter that she had not seen or heard from her brother, 83–year–old Lock Haven resident James Sementelli, in several days, and that she was concerned for his welfare. Shortly thereafter, Officer Winter visited Sementelli's home, where, inter alia, he noticed that Sementelli's Toyota Camry was absent from the carport. Officer Winter issued a “be-on-the-lookout” bulletin for the car, and, the next day, officers in nearby Williamsport discovered Aaron Jones driving the vehicle. The officers initiated a traffic stop, and, under the guise of investigating an obscured vehicle registration or inspection sticker, questioned Jones as to how he had obtained the car. Jones indicated that a woman named Shonda owned the car and had allowed him to use it. Ultimately, the officers released Jones but seized the car.
The next evening, one of Jones' friends, Shanee Gaines, called Lycoming County emergency services and reported that Appellant, who lived near Sementelli, had murdered him with a hatchet in an effort to steal and sell his car. The dispatchers relayed the report to Lock Haven police, who forced entry into Sementelli's home and discovered his body, apparently murdered six days prior in a brutal hatchet attack wherein he sustained numerous blunt and sharp force trauma wounds, fractures, and bruises, as well as a near-severed left ear and a punctured eye.
Police interviewed Gaines, who gave a lengthy statement implicating Appellant as Sementelli's assailant. According to Gaines, on March 23, 2003, she was babysitting for Michelle Mathis, a mutual friend of Appellant and Gaines, when Appellant came to Mathis' home in Sementelli's car and approached the door with blood on her face and hands. Gaines said that Appellant asked for Mathis, that Gaines let Appellant come into the home and shower, and that, when Mathis returned, the women went back to the crime scene, where Appellant cleaned up evidence and stole, inter alia, a plastic container of coins and some DVDs. Thereafter, Gaines indicated, the women left Lock Haven, discarded the murder weapon on a rural road, attempted to exchange the coins for currency, and returned to Mathis' home, where they smoked marijuana and watched some of the DVDs. Over the next two days, Gaines claimed, Appellant and several others—including Jones, Gaines, Mathis, and Jones' cousin Emma Thompson—took two trips to the Philadelphia region in an attempt to sell the car, but to no avail.
In the early morning hours of April 1, 2003, Appellant was arrested and charged inter alia, with first-degree murder, 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(a), and theft by unlawful taking, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3903(a.1). Appellant proceeded to arraignment, where the Magisterial District Court appointed Public Defender Stephen C. Smith as counsel. Upon reaching the trial court, the matter was assigned to then-Judge J. Michael Williamson. On June 16, 2003, the Commonwealth filed notice of its intent to seek the death penalty, citing the aggravating circumstance that the murder occurred in the perpetration of a felony, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(6) —i.e., the theft of Sementelli's car. On September 11, 2003, the trial court appointed James Bryant, Esq., as co-counsel.
On November 17, 2003, Appellant filed documents styled “Motion to Dismiss Alleged Aggravating Circumstances” and “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus With Respect To Count V,” which was the charge of theft by unlawful taking. After a hearing, on January 8, 2004, the trial court dismissed the motion and petition. On February 2, 2004, Appellant filed an application for a change of venue. On March 1, 2004, the trial court held a hearing on the application, but declined to issue a ruling.2 On March 24, 2004, the trial court held another hearing, after which it opined that it would hold Appellant's application for a change of venue in abeyance unless and until it was unable to seat an unbiased jury.
On April 15, 2004, the Commonwealth filed a motion to recuse Judge Williamson, noting, inter alia, that its extant theory was that Appellant had killed Sementelli to steal his car, in part, to use the proceeds to pay off fines Judge Williamson imposed on Appellant in an earlier criminal case, and suggesting it may have to call Judge Williamson as a witness at trial. On April 19, 2004, the trial court denied the motion to recuse. On April 23, 2004, the Commonwealth appealed the trial court's denial of its motion to recuse to the Superior Court.
During the pendency of the Commonwealth's appeal, on July 1, 2004, Attorneys Smith and Bryant filed a supplemental application for a change of venue. The next day, the trial court entered an order indicating it would schedule a hearing on the supplemental application upon remand from the Superior Court. On July 12, 2004, Appellant filed a second supplemental application for a change of venue. On November 1 and 3, 2004, and as discussed further below, Appellant filed documents styled “Defendant's Challenge to Capital Proceedings,” and “Defendant's Amended Challenge to Capital Proceedings.”
On December 22, 2004, the Superior Court reversed the trial court's order denying the Commonwealth's motion to recuse, and, on remand, the matter was reassigned to then-President Judge Richard N. Saxton, Jr.
On April 1, 2005, Appellant proceeded to voir dire, and, on April 11, 2005, to a jury trial, at which the Commonwealth pursued the theory, consistent with Gaines' statement, that Appellant murdered Sementelli with a hatchet in order to steal his car and sell it to pay off her debts.3 Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and theft. On April 19, 2005, Appellant proceeded to a penalty-phase hearing, after which the jury found as an aggravating circumstance that the murder was committed in the perpetration of a felony, found no mitigating circumstances, and imposed a sentence of death. On May 19, 2005, Appellant filed a post-sentence motion, which was subsequently denied.
Appellant timely appealed to this Court. We found the evidence sufficient to support her conviction for first-degree murder, found the balance of her claims to be moot, waived due to lack of development in her brief, or meritless, and found the jury's imposition of the death penalty was not the product of arbitrariness and was supported by at least a single aggravating circumstance, and so we affirmed the judgment of sentence of death. Commonwealth v. Walter, 600 Pa. 392, 966 A.2d 560 (2009).4
Appellant timely filed a PCRA petition, raising a claim that her appellate attorney had rendered ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to develop the arguments in her brief, as well as numerous other claims. On November 29, 2011, upon the Commonwealth and Appellant's consent, the PCRA court, by then-President Judge Williamson, granted relief, reinstating Appellant's right to file a direct appeal nunc pro tunc from the judgment of sentence of death, and thus declining to reach her other claims.5
Appellant timely appealed to this Court, raising ten issues, and, after an initial round of briefing, this Court entered an order noting that the trial court had not prepared an opinion in support of its decision to grant Appellant a new direct appeal nunc pro tunc or an opinion concerning Appellant's issues on appeal, and directing it to do so. On May 9 and 23, 2013, the trial court, by now-Senior Judge Williamson, issued opinions detailing its grant of relief and indicating that an opinion should be prepared by now-Senior Judge Saxton. On June 20, 2013, we entered an order directing Senior Judge Saxton to prepare such an opinion. Subsequently, Senior Judge Saxton complied, and, on May 2, 2014, the matter was submitted on the briefs for disposition.
In her first issue, Appellant argues the trial court erred in denying her serial requests for replacement of appointed counsel on the ground that the court's decision violated her Sixth Amendment right to counsel free from conflicts of interest.
On March 10, 2004, Appellant sent a pro se letter to the trial court requesting replacement of appointed counsel. Therein, she identified essentially three complaints concerning counsel's stewardship: (1) counsel had spoken with and disclosed information concerning her case with another inmate; (2) counsel had left her discovery material with prison officials, where it was accessible to third parties; and (3) counsel failed to adequately communicate with her. On March 15, 2004, the trial court held a hearing on the matter, at which it inquired of counsel with respect to each of Appellant's concerns. Regarding confidentiality, Attorney Smith indicated that he had interviewed the inmate, and, although counsel had provided “background” regarding Appellant's case, he had not disclosed any of Appellant's confidential statements. N.T. Pretrial Hearing, 3/15/04, at 4. Regarding Appellant's discovery, Attorney Smith indicated he was unable to determine whether Appellant's discovery material had been accessible to third parties, but, in any event, the...
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