Com. v. Miller, L. ( 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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37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. :
:
:
LAFAYETTE MILLER :
:
Appellant : No. 1105 EDA 2018
Appeal from the PCRA Order March 29, 2018
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-51-CR-0007177-2013
BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and STEVENS*, P.J.E.
MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED FEBRUARY 21, 2019
Appellant, Lafayette Miller, appeals pro se from the order entered in the
Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County dismissing his first petition filed
pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA). We affirm.
The PCRA court sets forth the underlying facts and procedural history
and facts as follows:
In its January 8, 2016 Opinion, [the trial court] summarized the
relevant facts as follows:
Simon Tan owned and rented out apartments at 1239
Vine Street (“Vine Street property”). On April 5,
2013, William Dorsey, a second-floor tenant at the
Vine Street property, called Tan and arranged for Tan
to collect his rental payment. That same day, Tan met
Dorsey at the second-floor unit and collected $1,100
in cash.
After collecting the cash, Tan placed the cash in his
pocket and went downstairs to an empty first-floor
unit. While Tan read his mail on the first-floor, two
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* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
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males entered. The taller male (later identified as
Phonso Simmons) aimed a handgun at Tan’s head.
The shorter male, whom Tan identified at trial as the
Defendant, Lafayette Miller [hereinafter “Appellant”],
forced Tan to remove the rental money from his
pocket.
After Appellant took the rental money, Simmons
ordered Tan to remove his pants and jacket. Inside
Tan’s jacket were his cell phone and wallet, which held
an additional $1,000 in cash. Appellant also took
another $260 from Tan’s pocket. After Appellant
gathered Tan’s clothes, Simmons struck Tan in the
head with a gun, knocking him to the ground.
Appellant and Simmons then fled to Vine Street.
At the same time, Philadelphia Police Detective Robert
Conway, while driving on Vine Street, saw Simmons
wearing black sweatpants and a brown-hooded
sweatshirt, leaving the Vine Street property. Seconds
later, Detective Conway witnessed Tan, dressed in
just underwear and a t-shirt—his head, hands, and
chest covered in blood—fleeing from the same
property, shouting for help.
[Detective Conway decided to follow Simmons and
found him with Appellant. When the Detective
addressed the two with “Police, stop,” they fled on
foot. A building security guard witnessed the two men
dive through an opening to the building’s basement,
and he flagged Detective Conway when he saw the
Detective was in pursuit.
The security guard found Tan’s wallet lying on the
ground outside the basement opening. Detective
Conway, meanwhile, apprehended Simmons as he
walked up a ramp leading from the basement.
Responding officers later found Appellant hiding in the
building’s crawl space. Police brought Tan to the
apartment building, where he identified Simmons and
Appellant as his robbers.
A search of the basement recovered clothing
belonging to both the suspects and Tan. Also
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recovered was a .357 magnum revolver and Tan’s car
keys, cell phone, and cell phone case.].
Following Appellant’s arrest, police recovered a cell
phone and wallet from his person. The wallet
contained a Golden Nugget Casino card with
Appellant’s name, plus a list that included Dorsey’s
and Simmons’ phone numbers. A search warrant on
Appellant’s phone revealed a number corresponding
with Dorsey’s phone.
The search also revealed that right before the
robbery, at 5:28 p.m., Dorsey sent a text message to
Appellant’s cell phone that read “he here.” At 5:30
p.m., Appellant’s cell phone sent a text message back
that read, “okay, w[h]ere he at?” All told, on the day
of the robbery, Appellant and Dorsey communicated
by cellphone more than twenty-five times; Appellant
and Simmons communicated by cell phone four times.
Surveillance video from a building adjoining to the
Vine Street property showed Appellant and Simmons
entering the Vine Street property’s first-floor unit at
5:46 p.m. on the day of the robbery. In the video,
Simmons wore a dark-colored sweatshirt and a hood,
while Appellant wore a red jacket and a sweatshirt.
Approximately one minute later, the video showed
Appellant and Simmons leaving the Vine Street
property. Moments later, the video showed Tan,
without any pants, fleeing the same property.
Trial Court Opinion, 1/8/16, at *2-5.
On April 7, 2013, Appellant was arrested and charged with
Robbery, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, and related offenses.
On March 3, 2015, Appellant appeared before [the trial court] and
elected to be tried by a jury.[ ] The Commonwealth proceeded to
trial on the Robbery, Burglary, Aggravated Assault, Conspiracy,
PIC, and Possession of Firearm Prohibited charges. On March 10,
2015, the jury returned a verdict of guilty to Conspiracy and
verdicts of not guilty to PIC and Aggravated Assault. The jury
hung on the Robbery and Burglary counts and a mistrial was
declared for those charges. On this same date, the
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Commonwealth nolle prossed the charge of Possession of a
Firearm Prohibited.
Sentencing was deferred until June 15, 2015, for completion of
mental health and pre-sentencing reports. The case was
rescheduled for trial on the Robbery and Burglary counts before
the Honorable Susan Schulman, but the Commonwealth decided
to drop the remaining charges. At sentencing, on June 15, 2015,
the Commonwealth moved to nolle pros the Robbery and Burglary
counts, which [the trial court granted]. This same date, [the trial
court] imposed a term of imprisonment of eight and a half to
twenty years for Conspiracy to Commit Robbery. On June 23,
2015, Appellant filed a Motion for Reconsideration of Sentence,
which this Court denied on June 25.
On November 3, 2016, the Superior Court affirmed Appellant’s
judgment of sentence. On February 22, 2017, the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania denied his Petition for Allowance of Appeal.
On October 11, 2017, Appellant filed a timely pro se [PCRA]
petition. On February 7, 2018, PCRA counsel filed a no-merit
letter pursuant to Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213(Pa.Super. 1988) (en banc) and a Motion to Withdraw. On
February 15, 2017, upon independent review, this Court agreed
that the instant petition was meritless and issued a Notice of
Intent to Dismiss under Pa.R.Crim.P. 907. On March 6, 2018,
Appellant filed his Response to Counsel’s Finley letter [asserting
the merit to each of his pro se issues. Upon the PCRA court’s
independent review of both the pro se petition and counsel’s
Finley letter, the PCRA court denied Appellant relief, granted
counsel’s request to withdraw, and advised Appellant of his right
to proceed pro se or with retained counsel.].
PCRA Court Opinion, 3/29/18, at 1-4, 10.
Appellant filed a timely pro se notice of appeal, and he has submitted a
pro se brief in which he raises the following questions for our consideration.
1. Was trial counsel ineffective for failing to seek pre-trial
suppression of the evidence obtained from the Appellant’s cell
phone without a search warrant?
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2. Was trial counsel ineffective for failing to request a jury
instruction for conspiracy based on multiple objectives?
3. Was trial counsel ineffective for failing to object to the improper
calculation of the Appellant’s prior record score?
Appellant’s brief, at 4-5.
Initially, we outline our standard of review of a PCRA order.
Under the applicable standard of review, we must determine
whether the ruling of the PCRA court is supported by the record
and is free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Marshall, 596 Pa.
587, 947 A.2d 714, 719 (2008). The PCRA court's credibility
determinations, when supported by the record, are binding on this
Court. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 600 Pa. 329, 966 A.2d 523,
532, 539 (2009). However, this Court applies a de novo standard
of review to the PCRA court's legal conclusions. Commonwealth
v. Rios, 591 Pa. 583, 920 A.2d 790, 810 (2007).
Commonwealth v. Spotz, 18 A.3d 244, 259 (Pa. 2011).
Appellant’s issues all center on allegations that trial counsel provided
ineffective assistance. When considering an allegation of ineffective
assistance of counsel, we presume that counsel provided effective
representation unless the PCRA petitioner pleads and proves that: (1) the
underlying claim is of arguable merit; (2) counsel had no reasonable basis for
his action or inaction; and (3) petitioner was prejudiced by counsel's action or
omission. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 179 A.3d 1105, 1114 (Pa. Super.
2018). An ineffective assistance of counsel claim will fail if the petitioner's
evidence fails to meet any one of the three prongs. Commonwealth v.
Simpson, 66 A.3d 253, 260 (Pa. 2013). Because courts must presume that
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counsel was effective, the burden of proving ineffectiveness rests with the
petitioner. Commonwealth v. Montalvo, 114 A.3d 401, 410 (Pa. 2015).
Regarding the prejudice prong, a petitioner must demonstrate
that there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the
proceedings would have been different but for counsel's action or
inaction. Commonwealth v. Dennis, [ ], 950 A.2d 945, 954
[(Pa. 2008)]. Counsel is presumed to be effective; accordingly, to
succeed on a claim of ineffectiveness the petitioner must advance
sufficient evidence to overcome this presumption.
[Commonwealth v.] Sepulveda, 55 A.3d [1108, 1117 (Pa.
2012)].
We need not analyze the prongs of an ineffectiveness claim in any
particular order. Rather, we may discuss first any prong that an
appellant cannot satisfy under the prevailing law and the
applicable facts and circumstances of the case. Id. at 1117–18;
Commonwealth v. Albrecht, [ ] 720 A.2d 693, 701 [(Pa.
1998)]. Finally, counsel cannot be deemed ineffective for failing
to raise a meritless claim. Commonwealth v. Jones, [ ] 912 A.2d
268, 278 [(Pa. 2006)].
Commonwealth v. Johnson, 139 A.3d 1257, 1272 (Pa. 2016).
In Appellant’s first issue, he maintains counsel ineffectively failed to
seek suppression of evidence allegedly obtained by means of a post-arrest,
warrantless search of information stored in his cell phone. Specifically,
Appellant argues that, on the evening of his April 5, 2013 arrest, detectives
illegally scrolled through his cell phone and obtained text messages exchanged
between a co-defendant and himself.
Evidence of this illegal warrantless search, Appellant claims, is found in
Detective Earl Martin’s April 6, 2013, affidavit of probable cause supporting
the Commonwealth’s application for a search warrant, where the detective
states Appellant possessed a cell phone “and through investigation it is
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believed that other perpetrators made (sic) be involved in planning and
facilitating this home invasion robbery.” Appellant’s brief, at 8 (emphasis
added). The “investigation,” Appellant argues, can only refer to an unlawful
search of his phone.
Appellant also alleges “it is equally clear via electronic records that [his]
cell phone was illegally accessed on April 5, 2013, prior to the warrant
issuing.” Id. In this regard, he appears to reference Commonwealth trial
exhibits C-55(A) and (B), which consisted of photographs of two separate
screens on his cell phone. The first photograph depicted the “Messaging”
screen providing a log of seven contacts who recently text messaged his cell
phone. While most of the contact entries are obscured by a large window
providing more information for contact “W J”, who became a subject of the
investigation, the entry for an unrelated contact named “Nacta” was still
visible at the bottom of the screen. On the same line across from the “Nacta”
entry was the date “Apr 5 2013.” Appellant claims this was the date on which
the photograph the phone’s screen was taken, thus proving authorities
unlawfully accessed his phone.
The Commonwealth counters that the certified record fails to support
Appellant’s bald assertion that police accessed information from the cell phone
prior to receiving a search warrant. Instead, the Commonwealth posits, trial
exhibits of record show that authorities immediately applied for a search
warrant to access texting and other transmission information in Appellant’s
cell phone because their investigation placed several persons under suspicion
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for robbing and assailing Mr. Tan. Pursuant to a search warrant issued just
after midnight of April 7, 2013, the Commonwealth claims, it executed its
search of the cell phone’s contents at 1:30 a.m., April 7, 2013
Moreover, the Commonwealth continues, it was not until execution of
the first warrant that authorities discovered a text exchange between
Appellant’s cell phone and a phone belonging to contact “W J” suggesting an
attempt to synchronize their actions just minutes before their assault of Mr.
Tan. Detective Martin then applied for a second warrant on April 9, 2017, to
access subscriber information for the “W J” cell phone, which turned out to
belong to co-defendant William Dorsey.
Finally, the Commonwealth argues that Appellant erroneously infers
from Commonwealth Exhibits C-55(A) and (B) that the photographs of his cell
phone screens were taken on April 5, 2013. The Commonwealth contends,
instead, that the date visible on the first exhibit clearly corresponds to the text
message exchange itself and not to when the photograph of phone screen was
taken.
Our review of the record supports the Commonwealth’s position, as a
careful examination of the exhibits shows Appellant’s theory is flawed. First,
with respect to the photograph of the “Messaging” page in Exhibit C-55(A),
we conclude the date “Apr 5 2013” appearing on the same line opposite the
contact “Nacta” refers not to the real-time date as it existed when
investigators photographed the cell phone screen but, instead, to the date on
which “Nacta” text messaged Appellant’s cell phone. This conclusion becomes
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inescapable when one observes that the “3” in the year “2013” as it appears
on the “Nacta” line aligns perfectly in the same column with six other “3”s
above it appearing at the end of their respective contact lines.
As explained above, the photograph in Exhibit C-55(A) depicts the cell
phone screen display after investigators opened a new window to view
additional information for listed contact “W J,” whom they suspected to have
played a role in Mr. Tan’s robbery. The window predominates on the screen
and, thus, obscures most of the information pertaining to the other six text
messages appearing on the message log. Remaining visible at the far right
end of each contact’s line, however, is the number “3.” When each “3” is
viewed in light of the completely visible “Nacta” text message date at the end
of its line, the only reasonable inference is that each “3” is the last digit of the
year 2013, which in turn is part of the date on which that corresponding text
message was received.
Further undermining Appellant’s contention that the exhibits prove
investigators searched his cell phone on April 5, 2013 is Exhibit C-55(B), which
consists of a photograph depicting the cell phone screen displaying the actual
text message exchanges between Appellant and “W J.” Significantly, the texts
include not only the incriminating April 5, 2013, exchange of “he here” and
“Ok, w[h]ere he at?” between the two men just minutes before the time Mr.
Tan was robbed, but also two unanswered texts from WJ received on the
following afternoon of April 6, 2013. Therefore, contrary to Appellant’s
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assertion, this screen offers no proof that investigators accessed his phone on
April 5, 2013.
Finally, the exhibits strongly suggest that investigators took the two
photographs just one minute apart. Specifically, the cell phone screen
depicted in Exhibit C-55(A) bears the time of “9:27 PM” at the very top right
margin, while the screen depicted in Exhibit C-55(B) bears the time of “9:28
PM” in the same location. There is no indication that the time display was
manipulated in any way, and Appellant makes no such argument. Therefore,
as we have already established that the photo in Exhibit C-55(B) could not
have been taken on April 5, 2013 as alleged by Appellant, it follows that the
photo in Exhibit C-55(A), taken one minute beforehand, also could not have
been taken on April 5, 2013.
Hence, Appellant has identified no evidence to support his accusation
that investigators accessed his cell phone information on the night of his arrest
on April 5, 2013. He, therefore, has not met his burden of demonstrating
arguable merit to his claim that trial counsel ineffectively failed to seek
suppression of incriminating evidence obtained from his cell phone. As
counsel may not be deemed ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim,
see Johnson, supra, we discern no error in the PCRA court’s denial of relief
on this claim.
In Appellant’s second issue, he contends trial counsel ineffectively failed
to object to the court’s jury instruction for conspiracy that was limited to
conspiracy to commit robbery even though he was charged with conspiracy
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generally and other lesser offenses besides robbery. PCRA counsel declined
to present advocacy on this claim after his review of the record satisfied him
that the jury instruction properly tracked the Commonwealth’s theory of the
case that the criminal objective to commit robbery was the sole objective of
the co-defendant’s conspiracy
According to Appellant, because “the victim testified that one of the
perpetrators left the area, and only then did the second person commit the
assault and robbery[,] it can be inferred from this evidence that Appellant did
not conspire with anyone to assault or rob the victim.” Appellant’s brief at 15.
Appellant maintains, therefore, that the instruction became confused where
the trial court’s instructions for conspiracy failed to distinguish the
individual counts. Of additional significance, the criminal
information’s charging the conspiracies did not differentiate as
objectives the specific offenses, instead, listing, inter alia,
conspiracy generally as an objective. While each of the above
factors represents a potential, serious flaw in the manner in which
trial was conducted, counsel failed to object to the instruction on
general conspiracy. This was clear error.
In this regard, viewing the record in the light most favorable to
the Commonwealth, there is inadequate support in the record for
the jury’s verdict. . . . The prejudice suffered is clear: the jury
returned a vague verdict in which they did not find the Appellant
guilty of any specific charge under the conspiracy statutes.
Appellant’s brief at 17.
Problematic for Appellant is that this Court has already determined on
direct appeal that the trial court’s jury instruction was appropriately tailored
to the Commonwealth’s prosecution of the case, and that the jury’s verdict
was, therefore, anything but vague. In Commonwealth v. Miller, No. 2272
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EDA 2015, unpublished memorandum at 5 (Pa. Super. filed 11/3/16), we
reviewed whether the evidence admitted at trial and the court’s instruction
were such that Appellant’s conspiracy conviction could be construed as a
conspiracy to commit one of the lesser crimes with which he was charged.
This Court reviewed the record and determined “the trial court correctly
concluded that the jury found Appellant guilty of conspiring to commit
robbery.” Id. at 5.
In making this determination, we observed:
the Commonwealth pursued only the charge of conspiracy to
commit robbery. This is evidenced by the assistant district
attorney’s closing argument. During argument the
Commonwealth made clear that the aim of prosecution was to
convict Appellant of conspiracy to commit robbery, not conspiracy
to commit trespass or conspiracy to commit assault. See N.T.
3/9/15, at 47, 62. Most importantly, the jury instructions
addressing conspiracy only discussed conspiracy to commit
robbery.” See N.T., 3/9/15, at 92 (Appellant “is charged with
conspiracy to commit robbery.”) There is no mention in the jury
instructions of conspiracy to commit trespass or conspiracy to
commit assault. Viewed in its entirety, the record indicates that
the jury found Appellant guilty of conspiring to commit robbery.”
Id.
Appellant now couches this previously failed argument within an
ineffective assistance of counsel claim and contends, inter alia, that he
suffered prejudice from counsel’s failure to object to a jury instruction that
promoted a vague verdict of conspiracy. As explained above, however, this
Court has already rejected the notion of a vague conspiracy verdict, thus
undermining the predicate to Appellant’s prejudice prong argument herein.
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Having failed to establish that he was prejudiced by trial counsel’s election
against objecting to the jury instruction, Appellant cannot prevail on his
second issue.
Finally, in his third issue, Appellant contends trial counsel ineffectively
failed to object to an improper calculation of his offense gravity score (“OGS”)
that, he claims, led to an enhanced sentence.1 Specifically, Appellant argues
that whereas the jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit robbery, threat
of bodily injury, which carries an OGS of 10 and a standard range sentence of
60 to 72 months, the court erroneously calculated his sentence as if the jury
convicted him of conspiracy to commit robbery, causing serious bodily injury,
which carries an OGS of 12 and a standard range sentence of 84 to 102
months.
Initially, we note Appellant fails to develop a meaningful argument with
references to the record and discussion of pertinent authority supporting his
position, as he, instead, simply asserts summarily that the jury convicted him
of conspiracy to commit robbery, threat of bodily injury. To develop an issue
for our review, Appellant bears the burden of ensuring that his argument
section includes citations to pertinent authorities as well as discussion and
analysis of the authorities. See Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a); Commonwealth v.
Hardy, 918 A.2d 766, 771 (Pa.Super. 2007) (“[I]t is an appellant's duty to
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1 In the heading to Appellant’s third argument, he refers to an alleged mistake
in the calculation of his “prior record score.” It is apparent from his argument,
however, that he actually challenges counsel’s failure to object to an allegedly
improper calculation of his “offense gravity score.”
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present arguments that are sufficiently developed for our review. The brief
must support the claims with pertinent discussion, with references to the
record and with citations to legal authorities.” (citations omitted)). As this
Court has made clear, we “will not act as counsel and will not develop
arguments on behalf of an appellant.” Id. (citation omitted). Where defects
in a brief “impede our ability to conduct meaningful appellate review, we may
dismiss the appeal entirely or find certain issues to be waived.” Id. (citations
omitted).
We decline to find Appellant has sustained his appellate burden where
he fails to discuss how both the evidence and controlling authority together
show how it was ineffective of trial counsel to object to a sentence calculation
based on conspiracy to commit robbery, causing serious bodily injury.
Accordingly, we deem Appellant’s final issue waived.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 2/21/19
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