Commonwealth v. Dennis, 17 A.3d 297

Dennis was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy, and related offenses for the Fern Rock Station shooting of Chedell Williams; the jury found one aggravating and one mitigating circumstance and the death sentence was imposed.
Appellant raised ineffective assistance claims and Brady claims on post-conviction review; the PCRA court denied relief, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court remanded for further consideration on two issues.
On remand, evidentiary hearings were held; the court again denied relief, finding Anissa Bane not to be a viable alibi witness and rejecting the Brady claim about the police activity sheet.
Key defense theory centered on an alibi through Anissa Bane, who allegedly placed Appellant at his father’s home around the time of the murder; trial and appellate counsel allegedly failed to investigate or call her.
The Commonwealth challenged Bane’s credibility and the sufficiency of the alibi, pointing to inconsistent statements and implausibilities in Bane’s testimony.
On Brady, the Commonwealth argued the activity sheet was a summary, not a statement, and that its disclosure would not have changed the outcome given other eyewitness identifications and cross-examination of Zahra Howard.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate Anissa Bane as an alibi witness	Dennis	Commonwealth	PCRA court’s credibility findings upheld; relief denied; Bane not credible; no ineffective-assistance error
Whether the police activity sheet was Brady material	Dennis	Commonwealth	Brady claim rejected; materiality not shown; trial fair notwithstanding nondisclosure

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (establishes the standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Commonwealth v. Pierce, 515 Pa. 153, 527 A.2d 973 (Pa. 1987) (three-prong test for ineffectiveness including prejudice)
Commonwealth v. McGill, 574 Pa. 574, 832 A.2d 1014 (Pa. 2003) (layered claim of appellate counsel ineffectiveness regarding underlying trial counsel ineffectiveness)
Commonwealth v. Clark, 599 Pa. 204, 961 A.2d 80 (Pa. 2008) (credibility determinations by PCRA court given deference)
Commonwealth v. Weiss, 604 Pa. 573, 986 A.2d 808 (Pa. 2009) (articulates Brady materiality standards)
Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 115 S. Ct. 1555 (U.S. 1995) (defining materiality for suppressed evidence)
Bagley v. Davis, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S. Ct. 3375 (U.S. 1985) (impeachment and exculpatory evidence within Brady)
Johnson v. Commonwealth, 556 Pa. 216, 727 A.2d 1089 (Pa. 1999) (impeachment relevance of withheld evidence requires reliability impact)
Dennis III, Commonwealth v. Dennis, 597 Pa. 159, 950 A.2d 945 (Pa. 2008) (remand and framing of issues on PCRA review)