Commonwealth v. Walley

Opinion by

Watkins, J.,

This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Criminal Division, by the defendant-appellant, Richard Walley, after conviction with two fellow defendants by the court below sitting without a jury, for the felonious possession of drugs under Section 4 of the Act of September 26, 1961, P. L. 1664, 35 P.S. Sec. 780-4(q); from the denial of a motion to suppress the evidence; and from the denial of post-trial motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment. He was sentenced to one to five years imprisonment and this appeal followed.

At about 4:30 p.m. on the afternoon of May 6, 1971, a number of police officers went to the Bartram Village Apartments at 5408 Eastwick Terrace to execute a search warrant in Apartment 3B. The search warrant was secured for that address and for the persons of Richard Walley, Ronald Allen and Brenda Stewart. Detective Vellucci and Corporal Hunt concealed themselves in the apartment building while the other two officers remained outside the building. The officers observed the appellant walk up to Apartment 3B and enter it using a key taken from his pant’s pocket. He remained in the apartment for approximately five minutes then left. He entered an automobile and was driven away by the co-defendant Allen.

At about 5:45 p.m., Allen and Walley returned and while Walley remained in the car, Allen entered the apartment by the use of a key taken from his pocket. Vellucci and Hunt went to the door and receiving no response from their knocking tried the door, found it open and entered. The defendant Allen was sitting in the kitchen talking on the telephone. The defendant Stewart was in the bedroom of the apartment. Shortly afterward, the appellant got out of the car and entered the building approaching the door of 3B and taking his key out of his pocket. He had been followed by the other two officers and was apprehended as he was putting the key back into his pocket.

A search of the premises was then made. On a shelf in a closet off the living room was found a lidless shoe box containing 271 glassine bags of heroin. The box also contained a green paper on which was written “Pony, I counted all three packs. They are all okay.” As the search was being conducted, all three defendants were conversing in the living room. Both the appellant Walley and defendant Stewart called the defendant Allen “Pony.” Keys to the apartment were found on Walley and Allen and the sum of $900.00 in various denominations on the appellant.

The apartment in question was a four-room apartment. The testimony showed that the apartment was owned by the defendant Brenda Stewart and that the other two defendants had free access to it by means of keys. They were seen using them to obtain entry and the keys were on their persons at the time of the search. There was also evidence of the surveillance of the premises on March 3, 4, and 5 immediately preceding the arrest at which time the officer testified he observed the defendant Allen and appellant Walley entering and leaving the apartment numerous times.

The question raised by this appeal is whether the evidence established that the appellant had possession and control over the 271 bags of narcotics. This is clearly a question of whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain this conviction. The evidence, of course, must be read in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth is entitled to every reasonable inference arising from the peculiar facts of the individual case. Commonwealth v. Rankin, 441 Pa. 401, 272 A. 2d 886 (1971).

The appellant was convicted on the theory of joint possession. The Act does not provide that the narcotics be found on the defendant’s person. A person may share a common source of narcotics where the circumstances indicate the power of control and the intent to exercise joint control over it. Commonwealth v. Townsend, 428 Pa. 281, 237 A. 2d 192 (1968); Commonwealth v. Santiago, 223 Pa. Superior Ct. 493, 305 A. 2d 378 (1973).

A careful examination of the facts in this case clearly shows that even though ownership was in one defendant the others had equal access to the apartment to which each had a key with their name tags on them and as each was seen entering and leaving the apartment for sometime prior to arrest so that dominion and control was exercised over the premises.

The note found in the box with the drugs indicated a partnership in the control and possession of the drugs. The quantity and type of drug involved eliminates any idea of a private hoard. The “Pony” indicated in the note was applied to the defendant Allen and establishes the involvement and indicates the need for the partners to seek knowledge of the exact amount of the cache.

The Commonwealth does not contend that the mere proximity of the contraband is enough to sustain a conviction. Commonwealth v. Tine, 221 Pa. Superior Ct. 318, 292 A. 2d 483 (1972); Commonwealth v. Davis, 414 Pa. 11, 280 A. 2d 119 (1971) ; Commonwealth v. Tirpak, 441 Pa. 534, 272 A. 2d 476 (1971) ; Commonwealth v. Schulhoff, 218 Pa. Superior Ct. 209, 275 A. 2d 835 (1971).

The leading case and the one on whose rationale the others depend is Tirpak, supra. In that case, the daughter of a house owner had a “pot party” and pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of marijuana. The convictions of the guests of the party in the house were reversed. It was held that the evidence was legally insufficient to convict the guests of possession and control. It was emphasized that the four appellants were among a group of seven guests and that police surveillance disclosed that a “party of some sorts was going on in the house” with numerous people “entering and leaving” throughout the night. In such circumstances, certain people present in the room may not have been smoking and may not have been aware of the presence of marijuana so that as the court said at page 537: “Under the particular facts and circumstances of this case, this is not sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these defendants were guilty of . . . the possession and control of the drugs.”

By contrast, in the instant case, the evidence was clearly sufficient to show the power in the appellant as well as the co-defendants to control the supply of heroin found in the shoe box, as manifested by their movements and their access to the apartment by individual keys, which together with the note, indicated concert of action. Add to this the large sum of money found on the appellant. The trier of fact had ample evidence to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Apartment 3B was used as a base of drug operations and the appellant guilty of the possession and control of the drugs in the open shoe box. See Commonwealth v. Shaffer, 447 Pa. 91, 288 A. 2d 727 (1972).

Judgment of sentence affirmed.