Com. v. Johnson, B.

J-S25002-18
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee :
:
v. :
:
BRANDONE JOHNSON :
:
Appellant : No. 576 WDA 2017
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence March 9, 2017
In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0004903-2016
BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., PANELLA, J., and OTT, J.
MEMORANDUM BY GANTMAN, P.J.: FILED AUGUST 09, 2018
Appellant, Brandone Johnson, appeals from the judgment of sentence
entered in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, following his jury
trial convictions for second degree murder, robbery, and criminal conspiracy.1
We affirm.
The trial court opinion accurately set forth the relevant facts and
procedural history of this case. Therefore, we have no need to restate them.
Appellant raises one issue for our review:
DID THE [TRIAL] COURT ABUSE ITS DISCRETION IN
FINDING THAT THE VERDICT WAS NOT AGAINST THE
WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE INSOFAR AS THE TESTIMONY
FROM THE VICTIM AND THE CODEFENDANTS WAS
INHERENTLY UNRELIABLE AND INCREDIBLE THAT THE
FINDING OF GUILT IN THIS CASE WAS A PRODUCT OF
MERE CONJECTURE AND SURMISE?
____________________________________________
1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2501, 3701(a)(1)(i), and 903, respectively.
J-S25002-18
(Appellant’s Brief at 5).
After a thorough review of the record, the briefs of the parties, the
applicable law, and the well-reasoned opinion of the Honorable Donna Jo
McDaniel, we conclude Appellant’s issue merits no relief. The trial court
opinion fully addresses and resolves Appellant’s issue. (See Trial Court
Opinion, filed November 1, 2017, at 3-5) (finding: Commonwealth presented
evidence that in late evening hours of 5/27/15, Victim and his girlfriend were
walking home when 3 men approached them and demanded girlfriend’s purse;
tallest perpetrator punched Victim, who fell straight backwards, hit his head
on pavement, and died 59 days later from sustained injuries; Appellant’s
cohorts testified against Appellant at trial; cohorts’ agreements with
Commonwealth did not render their testimony “so unreliable or contradictory”
that resulting verdict was “pure conjecture,” particularly where surveillance
video evidence corroborated their testimony; Victim’s girlfriend also
corroborated cohorts’ testimony that Appellant threw fatal punches; Victim’s
girlfriend described man who threw fatal punches as tallest of perpetrators;
jury had opportunity to assess and compare height of Appellant and his
cohorts at trial and on surveillance video; co-defendant Moran’s initial
identification of someone else as third perpetrator, although quickly disproved
at trial, was understandable, given his reluctance to implicate Appellant, due
to Mr. Moran’s “significant personal safety concerns”; jury was free to credit
trial testimony; verdict was not against weight of evidence). The record
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J-S25002-18
supports the court’s decision to reject Appellant’s challenge to the weight of
the evidence, and we see no reason to disturb that decision. See
Commonwealth v. Champney, 574 Pa. 435, 444, 832 A.2d 403, 408
(2003), cert. denied, 542 U.S. 939, 124 S. Ct. 2906, 159 L. Ed. 2d 816 (2004)
(stating: where trial court has ruled on weight claim, appellate court’s role is
limited to whether trial court palpably abused its discretion in ruling on weight
claim). Accordingly, we affirm based on the trial court’s opinion.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 8/9/2018
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