Com. v. Woolard, A. ( 2016 )

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
ADONIOUS WOOLARD
Appellant No. 1301 EDA 2014
Appeal from the PCRA Order April 8, 2014
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0708191-2003
BEFORE: PANELLA, OLSON, JJ. and STEVENS, P.J.E.*
MEMORANDUM BY OLSON, J.: FILED JULY 14, 2016
Appellant, Adonious Woolard, appeals from the order entered April 8,
2014, dismissing his petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act
(PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546. We affirm.
On June 21, 2004, Appellant was convicted following a non-jury trial of
murder of the third degree, conspiracy to commit murder, recklessly
endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime, carrying
firearms without a license, and carrying firearms on the public streets of
Philadelphia.1 On August 19, 2004, the trial court sentenced Appellant to
serve an aggregate term of 15 to 40 years in prison.
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1
18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2502(c), 903, 2705, 907, 6106, and 6108, respectively.
*Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
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We affirmed Appellant’s judgment of sentence on April 19, 2006 and,
on September 13, 2006, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Appellant’s
petition for allowance of appeal. Commonwealth v. Woolard, 902 A.2d
984 (Pa. Super. 2006) (unpublished memorandum) at 1-11, appeal denied,
907 A.2d 1102 (Pa. 2006).
Appellant filed a timely, pro se PCRA petition on September 4, 2007
and the PCRA court appointed counsel to represent Appellant. Within
Appellant’s counseled, amended PCRA petition, Appellant raised a number of
ineffective assistance of counsel claims, including that trial counsel was
ineffective for “failing to call character witnesses for [Appellant,] who had no
prior convictions for violent offenses.” Appellant’s Amended PCRA Petition,
8/25/11, at 2. However, the petition did not identify any particular
character witnesses by name. See id.
On April 8, 2014, the PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s PCRA petition
without a hearing and Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. Appellant
raises one claim on appeal:
Did the PCRA [c]ourt err in dismissing Appellant’s PCRA
[p]etition without a hearing when trial counsel failed to call
character witnesses on Appellant’s behalf and when
Appellant had good character and was prejudiced because
no character testimony was presented?
Appellant’s Brief at 4.
We have explained:
[This Court’s] scope of review is limited by the parameters
of the [PCRA]. Our standard of review permits us to
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consider only whether the PCRA court’s determination is
supported by the evidence of record and whether it is free
from legal error.
Commonwealth v. Blackwell, 936 A.2d 497, 499 (Pa. Super. 2007).
In his sole claim for relief, Appellant contends that his conviction
resulted from the ineffectiveness of trial counsel in failing to present
character evidence. Appellant seeks remand for an evidentiary hearing.
Appellant’s Brief at 8.
On an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the standard a petitioner
must meet for PCRA relief is well settled:
A petitioner is eligible for PCRA relief only when he proves
by a preponderance of the evidence that his conviction or
sentence resulted from one or more of the circumstances
delineated in [42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9542]. One of the grounds
enumerated in [42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9542] involves claims
alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Thus, the PCRA
provides relief to those individuals whose convictions or
sentences resulted from ineffective assistance of counsel
which, in the circumstances of the particular case, so
undermined the truth-determining process that no reliable
adjudication of guilt or innocence could have taken place.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has interpreted that to
mean that in order to obtain relief on a claim alleging
ineffective assistance of counsel, a petitioner must prove
that: 1) the claim underlying the ineffectiveness claim has
arguable merit; 2) counsel’s actions lacked any reasonable
basis; and 3) counsel’s actions resulted in prejudice to
petitioner.
Commonwealth v. Cox, 983 A.2d 666, 678 (Pa. 2009). A reviewing court
presumes counsel to be effective. Commonwealth v. Martin, 5 A.3d 177,
183 (Pa. 2010). To overcome this presumption, Appellant’s burden is to
plead and prove each element of the test for ineffectiveness by a
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preponderance of the evidence. Id. Where it is clear that a petitioner has
failed to satisfy any one prong of the test, this Court may dispose of the
claim on that basis alone. Commonwealth v. Steele, 961 A.2d 786, 795
(Pa. 2008).
“Failure to present available character witnesses may constitute
ineffective assistance of counsel.” Commonwealth v. Harris, 785 A.2d
998, 1000 (Pa. Super. 2001). Appellant asserts that failure to present
character evidence is ineffectiveness per se. Appellant’s Brief at 9. This is
not the case. Commonwealth v. Treiber, 121 A.3d 435, 463 (Pa. 2015).
Defense counsel is necessarily ineffective for failing to introduce evidence of
defendant’s good character only when his or her credibility as a witness is
“of paramount importance.” Commonwealth v. Weiss, 606 A.2d 439,
442 (Pa. 1992) (“In a case such as this, where there are only two direct
witnesses involved, credibility of the witnesses is of paramount importance,
and character evidence is critical to the jury’s determination of credibility”).
Generally, a defendant’s character is only central to the truth-determining
process when the Commonwealth bases its case principally on the credibility
of its witnesses. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Keaton, 56 A.3d 1050,
1072-73 (Pa. 2012); Commonwealth v. Johnson, 966 A.2d 523, 538 (Pa.
2009); Commonwealth v. Morgan, 739 A.2d 1033, 1038 (Pa. 1999).
Rather, to support such an ineffectiveness claim for failing to proffer
character evidence, a petitioner must demonstrate: 1) the witness existed;
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2) the witness was available; 3) counsel knew of, or should have known of,
the existence of the witness; 4) the witness was willing to testify for the
defense; and 5) the absence of the testimony was so prejudicial to petitioner
so as to deny him or her a fair trial. Commonwealth v. Miner, 44 A.3d
684, 687 (Pa. Super. 2012).
In the context of ineffective assistance of counsel, prejudice requires a
petitioner to demonstrate that “there is a reasonable probability that, but for
counsel’s error, the outcome of the proceeding would have been different.”
Commonwealth v. Spotz, 896 A.2d 1191, 1226 (Pa. 2006).
Appellant fails to satisfy any element of this test. Appellant does not
identify any character witness and has not shown that the purported
witnesses were willing to testify or that trial counsel knew or should have
known to call them. See Appellant’s Brief at 1-10. Furthermore, Appellant
does not show how or why the testimony of character witnesses could have
altered the outcome of the proceeding. See id. Such an undeveloped
ineffective assistance of counsel claim does not entitle Appellant to relief.
Commonwealth v. Wharton, 811 A.2d 978, 986 (Pa. 2002) (“Claims of
ineffective assistance of counsel are not self-proving.”).
Moreover, this Court has acknowledged that the right to an evidentiary
hearing is not absolute in PCRA proceedings. See, e.g., Commonwealth v.
White, 647 A.2d 253, 256 (Pa. Super. 1996). A hearing may be denied
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when petitioner’s claim is “patently frivolous and without a trace of support
either in the record or from other evidence.” Id.
As Appellant has not pleaded any facts in the record to support his
ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the PCRA court did not err in
dismissing his petition without a hearing.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 7/14/2016
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