Com. v. Roberts, D. ( 2019 )

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
DAWIONE LAMAR ROBERTS :
:
Appellant : No. 165 EDA 2019
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered April 15, 2016
In the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-23-CR-0003346-2015
BEFORE: OTT, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and McLAUGHLIN, J.
MEMORANDUM BY McLAUGHLIN, J.: FILED DECEMBER 31, 2019
Dawione Lamar Roberts (“Roberts”) appeals from the judgment of
sentence entered on April 15, 2016, following his convictions for attempted
murder and aggravated assault.1 We affirm.
The lower court summarized the facts as follows:
[T]he victim, Haniyyah Dwight, identified Appellant Roberts
as the individual who attempted to kill her on January 5,
2015. Other witnesses took the stand and testified that
immediately after the shooting, the victim, Haniyyah
Dwight, told multiple people with whom she came into
contact, including: her neighbor who drove her to the
hospital, her mother, the emergency room physician, and a
responding police officer that “[Roberts] shot me.”
By way of background, Ms. Dwight testified Appellant
Roberts along with several other individuals would loiter
outside her home in the City of Chester and engage in hand
____________________________________________
1 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2502 and 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(a)(1), respectively.
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to hand drug sales. The victim made numerous anonymous
reports to the Chester City Police Department regarding
Appellant Roberts and the activity outside her home. On
January 4, 2015, the victim made a complaint regarding
Appellant and the group that loitered outside her home to
the Chester Housing Authority and a Housing Authority
officer visited her home later that day while Appellant
Roberts and his cohorts remained outside the home. The
victim testified she would routinely ask the Housing
Authority police not to approach her home as she was
concerned about retribution by the group loitering outside.
This personal safety request was not honored in January of
2015.
…
On January 5, 2015, at approximately 10:30 p.m. while
entering her home via the front door, the victim testified
Appellant Roberts approach[ed] her and announced: “Call
the cops now Haniyyah.” He then fired several gun shots at
the victim striking her three times.
PCRA Court Opinion, 6/11/19, at 10-12 (emphasis in original).
A jury trial commenced in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware
County, Pennsylvania on February 17, 2016 and concluded on February 18,
2016. The jury found Roberts guilty of attempted murder and aggravated
assault. At sentencing, the court imposed a prison sentence of 20 to 40 years.
The court later denied Roberts post-sentence motion. After Roberts had his
appellate rights reinstated nunc pro tunc in a timely Post Conviction Relief Act
petition, he filed this timely appeal. He raises the following issues:
I. Did the prosecutor[’s] improper comments during
closing argument violate Appellant’s constitutional
rights under the Sixth and the Fourteenth
Amendments and Article 1, sec. 9 of the Pennsylvania
Constitution?...
II. Did the trial court err, violating Appellant’s Sixth and
Fourteenth Amendment rights when it permitted Ms.
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Dwight to testify about her house being robbed after
the shooting and seeing someone (other than the
defendant) on Facebook posting pictures with her TV
in the background?
III. Did the trial court abuse [its] discretion in sentencing
the Appellant to 20 to 40 years’ incarceration[?]
IV. Did the [t]rial [c]ourt err, violating Appellant’s rights
under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the
U.S. Constitution and Article 1, sec. 9 of the
Pennsylvania Constitution, when it denied the post-
sentence motion and found that the verdict is not
against the weight of the evidence?
Roberts’ Br. at 3-4 (suggested answers omitted).
I. Closing Argument Issues
In his first issue, Roberts contends that the prosecutor made improper
comments during his closing argument in violation of Roberts’ state and
federal constitutional rights. Specifically, Roberts argues that the prosecutor
made: (1) improper personal comments about defense counsel; (2) improper
arguments not based upon evidence of record; (3) improper arguments based
on the prosecutor’s own personal opinion; and (4) improper arguments that
the victim’s post-shooting statements were dying declarations. Roberts’ Br. at
3.
The Commonwealth argues that although Roberts made objections to
the prosecutor’s closing argument, he failed to preserve these issues for
appellate review since he did not request a mistrial. Commonwealth’s Br. at
17. “Even where a defendant objects to specific conduct, the failure to request
a remedy such as a mistrial or curative instruction is sufficient to constitute
waiver.” Commonwealth v. Sandusky, 77 A.3d 663, 670 (Pa.Super. 2013).
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While the Commonwealth is correct that Roberts’ counsel did not request a
mistrial, he did (with the exception of the fourth claim, as discussed below),
request a curative instruction on the first three claims. Therefore, we decline
to find waiver on Roberts’ first three claims of prosecutorial misconduct.
Our standard of review of a claim of prosecutorial misconduct is limited
to whether the trial court abused its discretion. Commonwealth v. Rivera,
939 A.2d 355, 357 (Pa.Super. 2007). “[P]rosecutorial misconduct is evaluated
under the harmless error standard.” Commonwealth v. Cousar, 928 A.2d
1025, 1042 (Pa. 2007).
A prosecutor’s statements in closing argument do not merit a new trial
unless they had the “unavoidable effect” of “prejudic[ing] the jury, forming in
their minds fixed bias and hostility toward the defendant so they could not
weigh the evidence objectively and render a true verdict.” Commonwealth
v. Jaynes, 135 A.3d 606, 615 (Pa.Super. 2016). The prosecution may employ
oratorical flair in arguing its version of the case to the jury and may advance
arguments and inferences so long as they are supported by the evidence. Id.
Moreover, the prosecutor may fairly respond to points defense counsel made
in closing. Id.
Roberts first contends that the prosecutor made improper personal
comments about defense counsel in his closing argument. Roberts argues that
the prosecutor was “making fun” of defense counsel when he said to the jury,
“And you watched him fumble with those pictures, apparently that he took,
what, the day of jury selection where he went down and he measured with
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some measuring tape. I think he actually has it here with him.” Roberts’ Br.
at 10, citing N.T., 2/18/16, at 253. Defense counsel objected, and the court
admonished the prosecutor at sidebar:
[Prosecutor]: What did I do?
Court: You personalized with [defense counsel]. You went
into [defense counsel’s] personal effects. You’re
representing certain things that have no basis in the trial’s
evidence. It is done and it is done now.
N.T., 2/18/16, at 254.
Roberts argues that despite the court’s warning, the prosecutor
continued to make improper remarks about counsel, namely stating that
defense counsel did not want to “grasp reality,” was “playing games,” and was
“speaking in hypotheticals.” Roberts’ Br. at 10-11, citing N.T., 2/18/16, at
263, 265. According to Roberts, these statements were personal attacks on
defense counsel and were designed to cause bias and prejudice against
Roberts. Roberts’ Br. at 11.
We disagree that these further comments amounted to prosecutorial
misconduct. The trial court explained in its Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion that
other than the first “barb,” the prosecution’s additional comments were a
proper response to defense counsel’s arguments in closing that the victim’s
testimony had changed over time. PCRA Court Opinion, 6/11/19, at 17-19.
We agree with the sound reasoning of the lower court. The prosecutor
was appropriately responding, albeit with permissible oratorical flair, to
defense counsel’s closing argument regarding the credibility of the victim. See
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Commonwealth v. Miller, 172 A.3d 632, 644 (Pa.Super. 2017); Jaynes,
135 A.3d at 615.
Furthermore, at the urging of Roberts’ counsel, the trial court gave a
curative instruction that counsel’s closing arguments are not evidence. N.T.,
2/18/16, at 271-272. We presume that the jury followed this instruction. See
Commonwealth v. Jemison, 98 A.3d 1254, 1263 (Pa. 2014). This was
sufficient to cure any alleged prejudicial effect from the prosecutor’s
statements. None of the comments had the “unavoidable effect” of
“prejudic[ing] the jury.”
Roberts next contends that the prosecutor made arguments not based
on evidence of record in his closing argument. Specifically, Roberts asserts
that it was improper for the prosecutor to refer to Roberts as a drug dealer
and state that the victim interfered with Roberts’ drug business when she
reported him to the police. Roberts’ Br. at 14.
We disagree. At trial, the victim testified that a group of young males,
including Roberts, would gather outside of her house every day and sell drugs.
N.T. 2/17/16, at 25-26. She stated that those individuals smoked marijuana
and regularly left trash and drug paraphernalia outside of her house. Id. at
27-29. The victim testified that Roberts and his associates would be
disrespectful and physically threaten her when she asked them to clean up
their trash. Id. at 32-37. The victim further testified that she regularly called
the police and the housing authority to complain about the drug activity and
the trash that Roberts and his group left behind. Id. at 38-39.
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In his closing argument, the prosecutor stated:
If you don’t think calling the cops, interfering in the drug
trade, getting their stashes taken, chasing them from their
corner, diminishing business, and otherwise drawing law
enforcement’s attention to everything that’s going out there
is not motive, I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, there
are people getting shot down in Chester for a lot less.
…
But why would she do it? Even this man. I can’t tell you. He
doesn’t want to say well, because she called the cops on me
every day, interfering with the drug trade, got the police
attention drawn to me. Certainly a valid motive.
N.T. 2/18/16, at 260-261; 266-267. Defense counsel made an objection
stating, “And the drug trade comments, again and again, there’s no evidence
here to this jury that [Roberts] was selling drugs, other than what [the victim]
said.” Id. at 270.
Roberts contends that the prosecutor’s comments were improper
because they went beyond the parties’ pre-trial stipulation limiting evidence
of Roberts’ alleged drug dealing to the victim’s testimony about her
observations and reports of his alleged drug dealing. Roberts’ Br. at 14. This
argument is a non sequitur. The pretrial stipulation related to evidence of his
alleged drug dealing; here, the prosecutor made a closing argument that
Roberts had a motive to shoot the victim, due to her reporting his drug
dealing. That argument was firmly based on the record evidence, and not
improper. Roberts’ complaint that the only evidence of such prior bad acts was
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the victim’s testimony does not somehow deprive the prosecutor’s argument
of a foundation in the record.
Moreover, the court gave the jury a limiting instruction that it was to
consider the evidence of Roberts’ prior bad acts solely as evidence of “intent
and/or motive,” and “to show the chain and sequence of events of these
purported facts which led to the filing of charges against Mr. Roberts.” N.T.,
2/18/16, at 294. The court added that the jury was not to consider it as
“evidence of Mr. Roberts having bad character and/or that Mr. Roberts has
criminal propensities from which you might be inclined to infer guilt.” Id. at
295. Thus, the record belies Roberts’ claim that “[t]he jury was not told that
… [Roberts] was not being tried for being a drug dealer and that they should
not consider that it determining his guilt in this case.” Roberts’ Br. at 15-16.
Accordingly, we reject Roberts’ assertion and discern no abuse of discretion
by the trial court.
Next, Roberts argues that the prosecutor made improper arguments
based his own personal opinion. The victim testified at trial that after Roberts
shot her and fled, she picked up Roberts’ gun that he had dropped and put it
in her car “for evidence.” N.T., 2/17/16, at 66-67. However, police later
confirmed through ballistic evidence that the gun was not the one used in the
shooting; the gun used in the shooting was never recovered. N.T., 2/18/16,
at 31-33. In his closing argument, the prosecutor stated:
I don’t give one shakes of a rat’s tail whether you go back
in that deliberation room and you all get together and you
deliberate and you finally come to the conclusion this is [the
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victim’s] gun. I don’t care. I really don’t. Because the reality
of the situation is hell, I wouldn’t blame her. What they were
doing to her on a daily basis, she was a young woman living
alone, scared, had to come down - if she had to squeeze the
trigger and popped him, with all - everything else at the
scene, no hesitation. She’s justified. Do you think she’s
trying to get out from, what, a misdemeanor violation of a
Firearm’s Act? So go back. I don’t care if you conclude it’s
her gun. Don’t care. But what I told you is I can’t say with
certainty it is or it isn’t. But what I can say she didn’t fire it.
She picked it up. It’s her blood on the gun.
N.T., 2/18/16, at 264.
Roberts contends that it was improper for the prosecutor to express his
personal opinion that the victim “was justified in lying to the jury about whose
gun it was that she picked up and put on the seat of her car,” thereby urging
the jury to disregard contradictory evidence. Roberts’ Br. at 16. We disagree.
As the lower court correctly noted, the prosecutor was merely
responding to defense counsel’s closing argument that the gun the victim
found was not the gun used in the shooting and was not associated with
Roberts. N.T., 2/18/16, at 226. “It is well settled that the prosecutor may
fairly respond to points made in the defense closing.” Id. It was therefore
proper for the prosecutor to address this evidence. We also note, yet again,
that the trial court instructed the jury that closing arguments were not
evidence and we presume that the jury followed this instruction. Jemison, 98
A.3d at 1263.
Roberts next argues that the prosecutor made improper arguments that
certain statements the victim made were dying declarations. The victim
testified that she repeatedly told people shortly after the shooting that Roberts
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had shot her, and explained that she did so because she wanted them to know
in case she died from her wounds:
[Prosecutor]: Why did you want to keep telling everyone
that you encountered [that Roberts] shot you?
[The Victim]: “To -- just so if I die -- because I asked [the
physicians at the hospital] if I was going to die and they told
me they couldn’t tell me that. They didn’t know. They would
have to get in there to see. And so I asked them if I die,
could you please, please just let somebody know that
[Roberts] shot me.”
N.T., 2/17/16, at 71. There was no objection to this testimony.
In his closing argument, the prosecutor stated that the victim’s post-
shooting statements identifying Roberts as her shooter constituted dying
declarations, and were admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule.
According to Roberts, this argument impermissibly bolstered the credibility of
the victim’s trial testimony. Roberts’ Br. at 19.
It is clear that the dying declaration exception to the hearsay rule did
not apply to the victim’s post-shooting statements, as the victim was available
to testify, and, in fact, did testify at trial. See Pa.R.E. 802(b)(2). Therefore,
the prosecutor incorrectly told the jury in his closing argument that the
victim’s post-shooting statements were dying declarations.
However, although defense counsel objected, he did not request a
mistrial or a curative instruction on this particular issue. Indeed, defense
counsel did not seek any relief on this issue, and as a result, the trial court
did not make a ruling. Therefore, this claim is waived. Sandusky, 77 A.3d at
670.
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Even if this claim were not waived, the prosecutor’s incorrect statement
would not be grounds for a new trial. He was attempting to liken the victim’s
statements to dying declarations in order to argue that the jury should find
them credible because the victim believed she might not “make it.” See N.T.,
2/18/16, at 258. This had a basis in the victim’s testimony, and his
mischaracterization of that testimony as a “dying declaration” was not so
inflammatory as to unavoidably prejudice the jury. Roberts is therefore due
no relief on his claims of prosecutorial misconduct.
II. Admissibility of Evidence
In his second issue, Roberts contends that the trial court erred in
permitting the victim to testify about her house being “robbed” after the
shooting. Roberts’ Br. at 20. Roberts asserts that this testimony was irrelevant
and “irreparably prejudicial.” Id. at 21. We disagree.
At trial, the victim testified, over objection, that her house was
burglarized after the shooting, and that certain items, including her TV, were
missing. N.T., 2/17/16, at 97. She then said that she was Facebook friends
with “Neek,” who was the girlfriend of Meechy Roberts, one of the males who
regularly gathered outside of her house with Roberts. Id. at 99-100. The
victim stated that she saw a picture on Facebook of Neek and Meechy Roberts’
young son with her stolen TV in the background. Id. at 100. The victim
responded with a Facebook post accusing Roberts and his associates of the
burglary and theft:
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Been living in my crib for 14 years with no incident. A week
ago, they robbed my crib, turned around and shoots me,
then these same cowards, all men, little Damon Thurwar
[phonetic] and [Roberts] and his team of cowards goes back
and ransacks my crib and steals some TVs, then gets mad
because I call the cops and they call me a cop. No, I’m a
woman who lives alone. Cowards. And then people try and
justify it, weak followers.
Id. at 104-105.
The trial court permitted this testimony because it was “relevant to
address the victim’s post-shooting recovery, her state of mind, and dealings
with the individuals she believed plagued her neighborhood and caused harm.”
PCRA Court Opinion, 6/11/19, at 26.
“The admission of evidence is a matter vested in the sound discretion of
the trial court, whose decision thereon can only be reversed by this Court upon
a showing of an abuse of discretion.” Commonwealth v. Jones, 683 A.2d
1181, 1193 (Pa. 1996). “The threshold inquiry with the admission of evidence
is whether the evidence is relevant.” Commonwealth v. Stokes, 78 A.3d
644, 654 (Pa.Super. 2013). “Evidence is relevant if it logically tends to
establish a material fact in the case, tends to make a fact at issue more or
less probable, or supports a reasonable inference or presumption regarding
the existence of a material fact.” Id. (citation omitted). In assessing whether
to admit evidence that is logically relevant, the court must also “weigh the
relevance and probative value of such evidence against the prejudicial impact
of that evidence.” Jones, 683 A.2d at 1193.
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We agree with the Commonwealth that the court properly admitted the
evidence of the robbery of the victim’s home, the theft of her TV, and the
Facebook posting. All tended to show that the victim was not unreasonable in
her belief that Roberts and his friends were targeting her. The evidence also
supported the victim’s credibility regarding her ability to identify Roberts from
Meechy Roberts and the other males who regularly gathered outside of her
house. Furthermore, any alleged prejudicial effect from the admission of this
evidence was de minimis and would not have affected the outcome of the trial.
See Commonwealth v. Vucich, 194 A.3d 1103, 1110 (Pa.Super. 2018).
Accordingly, we discern no abuse of discretion.
III. Roberts’ Sentencing Issue
In his third issue, Roberts contends that the trial court abused its
discretion in sentencing him to 20 to 40 years of incarceration. This issue
challenges the discretionary aspects of Roberts’ sentence. “The right to
appellate review of the discretionary aspects of a sentence is not absolute,
and must be considered a petition for permission to appeal.” Commonwealth
v. Conte, 198 A.3d 1169, 1173 (Pa.Super. 2018), appeal denied, 206 A.3d
1029 (Pa. 2019). Before reviewing the merits of Roberts’ claim, we must
determine whether: “(1) the appeal is timely; (2) the appellant has preserved
his issue; (3) his brief includes a concise statement of the reasons relied upon
for allowance of an appeal with respect to the discretionary aspects of his
sentence; and (4) the concise statement raises a substantial question whether
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the sentence is inappropriate under the Sentencing Code.” Commonwealth
v. Green, 204 A.3d 469, 488 (Pa.Super. 2019).
Here, Roberts has complied with the first three requirements: his appeal
is timely, he preserved the issue in a post-sentence motion, and his brief
includes a statement of the reasons for allowance of appeal. We now turn to
whether Roberts has raised a substantial question.
A substantial question exists when the appellant makes a colorable
argument that the sentencing judge’s actions were either inconsistent with a
specific provision of the Sentencing Code or contrary to the fundamental
norms underlying the sentencing process. Commonwealth v. Moury, 992
A.2d 162, 170 (Pa.Super. 2010). Roberts’ Pa.R.A.P. 2119(f) statement asserts
that the sentencing court impermissibly double-counted factors in imposing
his sentence. Roberts’ Br. at 7. Such a claim raises a substantial question.
See Commonwealth v. Robinson, 931 A.2d 15, 27 (Pa.Super. 2007);
Commonwealth v. Goggins, 748 A.2d 721, 731 (Pa.Super. 2000) (en banc).
We thus proceed to the merits of the claim.
Roberts contends that the court improperly double-counted factors in
imposing his sentence, including his juvenile adjudications and placements,
his prior adult criminal record, and his lack of amenability to treatment.
Roberts’ Br. at 26. According to Roberts, if the court had not double-counted
these factors, it would have not been able to sentence him in the aggravated
range. Id. at 26-27.
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“Sentencing is a matter vested in the sound discretion of the sentencing
judge, and a sentence will not be disturbed on appeal absent a manifest abuse
of discretion.” Commonwealth v. Edwards, 194 A.3d 625, 637 (Pa.Super.
2018), appeal denied, 202 A.3d 41 (Pa. 2019) (citation omitted). An abuse of
discretion occurs where “the sentencing court ignored or misapplied the law,
exercised its judgment for reasons of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will, or
arrived at a manifestly unreasonable decision.” Id. In imposing a sentence,
the sentencing court must consider “the protection of the public, the gravity
of the offense as it relates to the impact on the life of the victim and on the
community, and the rehabilitative needs of the defendant.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. §
9721(b).
Courts may not double-count factors already included in the Sentencing
Guidelines when fashioning a sentence. Goggins, 748 A.2d at 732.
Nevertheless, the court must consider both “the particular circumstances of
the offense and the character of the defendant.” Moury, 992 A.2d at 171. The
court should refer to the defendant’s prior criminal record, his age, personal
characteristics and his potential for rehabilitation. Id. “Where the sentencing
court had the benefit of a presentence investigation report (“PSI”), we can
assume the sentencing court was aware of relevant information regarding the
defendant’s character and weighed those considerations along with mitigating
statutory factors.” Id.
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We do not agree that the trial court improperly double-counted certain
factors at sentencing. The court cited Roberts’ juvenile and criminal record in
concluding that Roberts was not amenable to rehabilitation:
From the presentence investigation I learned Mr. Roberts’
involvement with the juvenile court started at age
12....What also struck me in reviewing the delinquent
history was not as much the nature of the adjudications, but
their frequency in continuation in combination with
placements at Vision Quest, Glenn Mills, replacement at
Glenn Mills and finally placement at Summit Academy.
Having presided in juvenile court for five years, I know these
are not decisions any [j]udge undertakes lightly and in my
mind demonstrates that despite the therapeutic milieu of
the juvenile delinquency courts for whatever the reasons Mr.
Roberts just is not amenable for that treatment. That’s born
out ultimately when at age 17 the firearms matter is
transferred from the juvenile [c]ourt to the criminal
[c]ourts, which in part required a finding he was not
amenable to the therapeutic milieu of juvenile [c]ourt
treatments along with certain other considerations.
…
I’ve looked at the sentencing guidelines. I’m mindful of that
which the Pennsylvania Sentencing Code requires. I don’t
share [defense counsel’s] belief about rehabilitation, not on
the record I recited. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I believe
it’s improbable. Mr. Roberts had that opportunity starting at
age 12. He had it through a variety of both community
based and residential based programs. Yet for whatever the
reasons he didn’t invest, he wasn’t motivated, he’s in
criminal court by the age of 17. I struggle on this record and
that which I have reviewed to find that which suggests Mr.
Roberts has any desire of rehabilitation yet alone the
motivation necessary to complete what will be a challenging
task.…I think it’s a fair characterization of the evidentiary
presentation [that] because somebody contacted the police
and reported criminality to authorities they were targeted,
they were shot. The community of Chester struggles and in
large part it struggles because the majority of its honest,
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decent, hardworking, law abiding citizens are afraid. And it’s
cases like this that make them afraid.
Id. at 33-36.
The fact that the Sentencing Guidelines also use the defendant’s prior
juvenile and criminal record to suggest sentencing ranges does not preclude
the defendant’s record in determining whether the defendant is a likely
candidate for rehabilitation. The record is devoid of any alleged double-
counting of sentencing factors by the trial court. We discern no abuse of
discretion.
IV. Weight of the Evidence
In his last issue, Roberts challenges the weight of the evidence.
Although Roberts lists this issue in his Statement of Questions Involved, he
fails to develop the issue any further in his brief. “[W]here an appellate brief
fails to provide any discussion of a claim with citation to relevant authority or
fails to develop the issue in any other meaningful fashion capable of review,
that claim is waived.” Commonwealth v. Johnson, 985 A.2d 915, 924 (Pa.
2009). Accordingly, Roberts has waived his weight claim.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 12/31/19
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