Commonwealth v. Baker, 24 A.3d 1006

Background

Baker was charged in 2007 with possession of child pornography after a February 2007 search of his residence yielded images; he had prior related conviction in 2001 and completed an intermediate punishment in 2006.
Baker pled guilty in 2001 to 18 Pa.C.S. § 6312(d)(1) and received 60 months intermediate punishment; he later faced new charges and a suppression hearing.
A suppression motion to exclude evidence and statements from the search was denied by Judge Oler in March 2008.
A 2008 jury found Baker guilty on 29 counts of sexual abuse of children and 1 count of criminal use of a communication facility.
In 2009, Baker was found to be an SVP under Megan’s Law, and the court imposed mandatory minimum sentences (25 years to 50 years) for each § 6312(d)(1) conviction, plus additional DNA and Megan’s Law requirements.
Baker appealed raising multiple issues including suppression denial, sufficiency of the evidence, voluntariness of statements, and the SVP designation; the court affirmed all aspects of the judgment and sentence.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Suppression misstatement and custodial interrogation	Baker claims the affidavit contained a deliberate misstatement and his statements were made in custody without Miranda warnings.	Commonwealth contends misstatement was not deliberate/material and Baker was not in custody for Miranda requirements.	No reversible error; misstatement not shown deliberate/material and custodial status did not trigger Miranda warnings.
Sufficiency of evidence for 18 Pa.C.S. § 6312(d)(1)	Commonwealth failed to show Baker knowingly possessed contraband.	Evidence showed Baker’s possession and control of child pornography.	Evidence sufficient to support all 29 convictions under § 6312(d)(1).
Judicial instruction on voluntariness	Judge should have given 3.04D on voluntariness and Miranda.	Judge Ebert properly refused 3.04D but gave adequate voluntariness guidance; Rule 581 supports trial evidence.	No error; the jury instructions adequately conveyed voluntariness standards and Baker’s challenge is unpreserved or unsupported.
Constitutionality of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9718.2 mandatory minimum	Mandatory 25-year minimum punishment is cruel and unusual.	Recidivist statutes are constitutional; proportionality analysis not met here given the crime severity.	Section 9718.2 constitutional; no gross disproportionality shown under Pennsylvania/Eighth Amendment standards.
SVP designation sufficiency	No victim, no violence, and no pedophilia criteria supported.	Evidence showed pedophilia diagnosis and predatory risk under DSM-IV criteria and statutory factors.	SVP designation supported by substantial evidence; proper use of assessment factors under 9795.4.

Key Cases Cited

Commonwealth v. Jones, 605 Pa. 188, 988 A.2d 649 (2010) (standard of review for suppression rulings; credibility findings control)
Commonwealth v. D'Angelo, 437 Pa. 331, 263 A.2d 441 (1970) (probable cause and misstatements in affidavits; necessity of material misstatement review)
Commonwealth v. Tucker, 252 Pa.Super. 594, 384 A.2d 938 (1978) (material misstatements may invalidate warrants if deliberate and material)
Commonwealth v. Menginie, 312 Pa.Super. 293, 458 A.2d 966 (1983) (deliberate/materal misstatement standard for warrants)
Commonwealth v. Zimmerman, 282 Pa.Super. 286, 422 A.2d 1119 (1980) (misstatements in affidavits; materiality)
Commonwealth v. Hall, 451 Pa. (1973) (burden on suppression of evidence; due process review of findings)
Commonwealth v. Fletcher, 947 A.2d 776 (2008) (SVP assessment scope does not require instant-offense victim presence)
Commonwealth v. Fuentes, 991 A.2d 935 (Pa. Super. 2010) (standard for reviewing SVP designation sufficiency)
Parker, 718 A.2d 1268 (Pa. Super. 1998) (recidivist sentencing upholds on proportionality grounds under Harmelin/Solem framework)
Spells, 612 A.2d 458 (Pa. Super. 1992) (proportionality standard for mandatory minimum sentences; Solem framework adopted in PA)