Com. v. Steadman, N. ( 2015 )

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P 65.37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. :
:
NAVON STEADMAN, :
:
Appellant : No. 769 WDA 2013
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence February 5, 2013,
Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County,
Criminal Division at No. CP-02-CR-0015975-2011
BEFORE: DONOHUE, SHOGAN and STABILE, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY DONOHUE, J.: FILED JANUARY 20, 2015
Navon Steadman (“Steadman”) appeals from the judgment of
sentence entered following his convictions of carrying a firearm without a
license and criminal trespass. On appeal, Steadman challenges only the trial
court’s denial of his motion to transfer his case to juvenile court. Following
our review, we affirm.
The relevant factual and procedural histories may be summarized as
follows. On December 16, 2011, sixteen-year-old Steadman and another
male knocked on the door of Mae Fox’s residence in East Pittsburgh,
Allegheny County. Jacquarry Benzo opened the door, at which time
Steadman and his compatriot burst past Mr. Benzo and entered the
residence. A brief struggle ensued, in which both Steadman and the other
assailant brandished firearms. Ms. Fox, who was upstairs, heard this
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struggle. She began to yell and both intruders fled from the residence. As
the result of an investigation, the police apprehended Steadman the next
day. They found an operable firearm in his possession.
Steadman was charged as an adult with robbery, burglary, aggravated
assault and conspiracy. He filed a motion seeking to have his case
transferred to juvenile court, as his was a minor at the time of the offense.
Following a hearing, the trial court denied Steadman’s motion. Steadman
ultimately pled guilty to carrying a firearm without a license and criminal
trespass. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of one year less one
day to two years less two days, followed by three years of probation.
Steadman filed a post-sentence motion asking the trial court to reconsider
the sentence imposed as well as its prior determination to deny the motion
to transfer to juvenile court. The trial court denied Steadman’s post-
sentence motion and this timely appeal followed.
As noted above, on appeal Steadman challenges only the trial court’s
decision not to grant his petition for decertification and to transfer his case
to juvenile court. Steadman’s Brief at 4. Our review of this issue is guided
by our standard of review, which provides that “decisions of whether to
grant decertification will not be overturned absent a gross abuse of
discretion.” Commonwealth v. Smith, 950 A.2d 327, 328 (Pa. Super.
2008) (citation omitted). An abuse of discretion is not simply an error of
judgment, but a misapplication or overriding of the law, or the exercise of
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manifestly unreasonable judgment based on partiality, prejudice or ill will.
Id.
Pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6322(a), when a juvenile
has committed a crime, which includes murder, or
any of the other offenses listed under paragraph
(2)(ii) or (iii) of the definition of “delinquent act” in
42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302, the criminal division of the
Court of Common Pleas is vested with jurisdiction.
Likewise, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6355(e) explains that
charges of murder, or any of the other offenses
listed under paragraph (2)(ii) or (iii) of the definition
of “delinquent act” in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302, requires
that the offense be prosecuted in the criminal
division. “Robbery,” when committed with a deadly
weapon, is one of the offenses listed which requires
jurisdiction to vest in the criminal division. 42
Pa.C.S.A. § 6302.
When a case goes directly to criminal division, the
juvenile has the option of requesting treatment
within the juvenile system through a transfer process
of “decertification.” [Commonwealth v.] Aziz, 724
A.2d [371,] [] 373 [Pa Super. 1999)]. In
determining whether to transfer such a case from
criminal division to juvenile division, “the child shall
be required to establish by a preponderance of the
evidence that the transfer will serve the public
interest.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6322(a). See also, Aziz,
724 A.2d at 373.
Commonwealth v. Sanders, 814 A.2d 1248, 1250 (Pa. Super. 2003).
When determining whether the juvenile has established that a transfer
to juvenile court will serve the public interest, § 6322 of the Juvenile Act
requires the trial court to consider factors set forth in § 6355(a)(4)(iii). 42
Pa.C.S.A. § 6322(a). These factors are as follows:
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(A) the impact of the offense on the victim or
victims;
(B) the impact of the offense on the community;
(C) the threat to the safety of the public or any
individual posed by the child;
(D) the nature and circumstances of the offense
allegedly committed by the child;
(E) the degree of the child's culpability;
(F) the adequacy and duration of dispositional
alternatives available under this chapter and in
the adult criminal justice system; and
(G) whether the child is amenable to treatment,
supervision or rehabilitation as a juvenile by
considering the following factors:
(I) age;
(II) mental capacity;
(III) maturity;
(IV) the degree of criminal sophistication
exhibited by the child;
(V) previous records, if any;
(VI) the nature and extent of any prior
delinquent history, including the success or
failure of any previous attempts by the
juvenile court to rehabilitate the child;
(VII) whether the child can be rehabilitated
prior to the expiration of the juvenile court
jurisdiction;
(VIII) probation or institutional reports, if
any;
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(IX) any other relevant factors[.]
42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6355 (a)(4)(iii). The Juvenile Act is silent as to the weight to
be assessed to each factor by the court, as the ultimate decision whether to
grant decertification is within the trial court’s sole discretion.
Commonwealth v. Jackson, 722 A.2d 1030, 1033-34 (Pa. 1999). “A
decertification court must consider all of the factors set forth in Section 6355
of the Juvenile Act, but it need not address, seriatim, the applicability and
importance of each factor and fact in reaching its final determination.”
Sanders, 814 A.2d at 1251.
In the present case, there is no dispute that Steadman was charged
with an offense that properly vested jurisdiction in the criminal court.1
Steadman challenges only the trial court’s application of the § 6355(a)(4)(iii)
factors and subsequent denial of his petition seeking to transfer his case to
juvenile court. The trial court explained its decision at length both at the
decertification hearing and in its opinion issued pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.
1925(a). In its written opinion, the trial court stated,
In this case, [Steadman] did not demonstrate by a
preponderance of evidence that transferring this case
to juvenile court would serve the public interest.
This [c]ourt considered all of the evidence offered at
the transfer hearing. The record reflects that
[Steadman] was adjudicated delinquent in two prior
1
See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302 (providing that the definition of delinquent act
excludes “[r]obbery as defined in 18 Pa.C.S.[A.] § 3701(a)(1)(i), (ii) or (iii)”
when a deadly weapon was used in the commission of the offense).
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juvenile cases. [Steadman] demonstrated a history
involving the possession of firearms. The offense of
conviction in this case involved a robbery in which
[Steadman] participated in a home invasion with a
firearm. [Steadman] did present the testimony of a
psychiatrist who testified that he had interviewed
[Steadman] and reviewed some records relating to
[Steadman] and he opined that [Steadman] was
amenable to treatment in the juvenile system. The
psychiatrist conceded on cross-examination that he
did not review a number of records relating to the
prior criminal cases involving [Steadman]. After
hearing the testimony and reviewing the exhibits
submitted by the parties, this [c]ourt stated,
The testimony at the preliminary hearing —
again — it's only prima facie — but the
testimony supported that he actually was the
aggressor and the other stood by. That is
significant to the Court because as Ms.
Mantella argues, it's more than just
amenability to treatments … . It's the
dangerousness to the community and the
impact on the community, the impact on the
victim.
Home invasions are about as bad as you can
get. People are home minding their own
business and people burst in with guns. You
can't get much more dangerous than that. It
can't undermine the security of people in the
community such as that.
***
The Court is very troubled by the defendant's
penchant for possession of firearms. He was
adjudicated in the past. He was adjudicated
of possessing a firearm the date after this
event along apparently with controlled
substances.
***
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I think a society that doesn't recognize the
future consequences of how you treat a
juvenile isn't a very enlightened one and that
being said, I try to lean as much as I can
towards a juvenile doctor in trying to be
treated as a juvenile but Mr. Steadman in this
case won't quit involving himself with
firearms and in this case he is using firearms
to rob people in their own homes and the
conduct is so dangerous, that in my view, in
balancing the interest of Mr. Steadman and
his amenability to treatment, which I found
counsel has given evidence that he is
amendable [sic], balancing that with society's
interest, I have to lean in this case to keeping
this case in adult court due to the
dangerousness in the community, the
ongoing involvement with the defendant in
firearms and in escalating involvement with
firearms and the impact on the community.
Based on the foregoing comments, the public
interest would not be served by transferring this case
to juvenile court.
Trial Court Opinion, 9/18/13, at 6-7.
Steadman first argues that it was manifestly unreasonable for the trial
court to find that he is amenable to treatment but ultimately conclude that
decertifying the case to juvenile court did not serve the public interest. In
making this argument, Steadman highlights testimony offered by his expert
witness, Ronald Neeper, M.D., Ph.D., that there is a correlation between
amenability to treatment and reduction in recidivism. Steadman’s Brief at
16, 18. He argues that in light of this testimony, the trial court’s decision
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not to transfer the case to juvenile court is logically incompatible with its
conclusion Steadman is amenable to treatment. Id. at 16.
We cannot agree. The record reveals that in March 2011, Steadman
received an adjudication of delinquency regarding the possession of a
firearm. N.T., 3/23/11, at 5, 29. When he committed the offense
underlying this appeal, he not only possessed a weapon but brandished it in
the course of the break-in. When arrested by the police for that incident,
Steadman was again found to be in possession of a firearm.2 Id. at 5. In
light of this evidence, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s
conclusion that transferring the case to juvenile court would not serve the
protection of the public, despite its finding that Steadman was amenable to
treatment. In essence, the trial court found that the history of gun
possession and the nature of the offense outweighed Dr. Neeper’s testimony
that Steadman was amendable to treatment. All three of these
considerations can be found in the § 6355 (a)(4)(iii) factors. The statute is
silent as to the weight to be afforded each factor, as that is left to the
discretion of the trial court. Jackson, 722 A.2d at 1034. Steadman’s
argument is really that he is dissatisfied that the trial court ascribed more
weight to the nature of the offense with which Steadman was charged and
Steadman’s history of possession firearms than to Dr. Neeper’s testimony
2
Steadman was subsequently adjudicated delinquent for possessing a
firearm on the date of his arrest, as well. N.T., 3/23/12, at 5.
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that Steadman was amenable to treatment. As an appellate court, we may
not reweigh the § 6355(a)(4)(iii) factors. See Com. v. E.F., 995 A.2d 326,
333 (Pa. 2010); Sanders, 814 A.2d at 1252. Accordingly, this argument
cannot succeed.3
Next, Steadman argues that the trial court misapplied the law when it
concluded that decertification would not serve the public interest. Steadman
makes this argument by distinguishing his case, on the facts, from other
cases in which this Court has affirmed the denial of a petition seeking
transfer to juvenile court. See Steadman’s Brief at 19-20. Specifically,
Steadman cites to Commonwealth v. Ramos, 920 A.2d 1253 (Pa. Super.
2007) and Commonwealth v. Ruffin, 10 A.3d 336 (Pa. Super. 2010), to
argue that a need to protect the public arises when the juvenile has
committed a string of criminal offenses and/or when the juvenile is close to
the age of majority such that he would age out of the juvenile system before
3
Steadman also argues that the trial court’s fixation on Steadman’s
adjudications for possession of a firearm was unreasonable in light of Dr.
Neeper’s testimony that Steadman feels the need to possess a firearm
because “he substantially believes that his safety is at risk due to the violent
attacks on his family and friends” that Steadman has witnessed. Id. at 17.
This argument, too, is truly a complaint regarding the weight the trial court
gave to Steadman’s history of possession of firearms, and so it cannot
succeed. See E.F., 995 A.2d at 333. Additionally, we point out this
argument ignores the fact that Steadman was not merely found to be in
possession of a firearm in the present case; rather, he used this gun in the
course of his violent break-in of an occupied home. It also ignores Dr.
Neeper’s concession that his impression that Steadman carries firearms only
out of fear for his own safety was inconsistent with the fact that he used a
firearm to commit a violent crime. N.T., 3/23/12, at 26.
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he could be meaningfully rehabilitated, and then points out that “th[e]
present case lacks … these elements.” Steadman’s Brief at 20. Steadman is
wrong. There is no bright-line rule to determine when decertification will
serve the public interest; rather, the trial court is required to consider the
factors contained in § 6355(a)(4)(iii) to make this determination.
42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6322(a); Sanders, 814 A.2d at 1251. Each case that comes
before a trial court is unique, and the trial courts have discretion to take the
unique circumstances into consideration, weigh the factors accordingly and
render individualized decisions. As discussed above, we found no abuse of
discretion in the trial court’s decision to deny Steadman’s petition to transfer
to juvenile court; the absence of certain factors present in other cases does
not change our determination. This argument fails, as well.4
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 1/20/2015
4
Here, Steadman again complains of the weight the trial court attributed to
his history with firearms and Dr. Neeper’s testimony regarding the
underlying psychological reason that Steadman carries firearms and the
chance for rehabilitative treatment services available in the juvenile system.
Id. at 21-22. Yet again, Steadman is in effect asking us to reweigh the §
6355(a)(4)(iii) factors, which we cannot do. Com. v. E.F., 995 A.2d at 333;
Sanders, 814 A.2d at 1252.
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