Commonwealth v. PelzerCommonwealth v. Pelzer
- Reporters:
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- Before:
- Nix
ORDER
PER CURIAM.The court being unanimous as to the conviction and equally divided as to the sentence, the conviction and sentence of the court of common pleas are affirmed.
PAPADAKOS, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case. FLAHERTY, J., files an opinion in support of affirmance joined by LARSEN and McDERMOTT, JJ. NIX, C.J., files an opinion in support of vacating sentence of death. ZAPPALA, J., files an opinion in support of vacating sentence of death joined by CAPPY, J.OPINION IN SUPPORT OF AFFIRMANCE
FLAHERTY, Justice.Appellant, Kevin Pelzer, was sentenced to death following his conviction of kidnapping and murdering Alexander Porter. In this direct appeal, he alleges various errors in his trial, jury instructions, and sentencing hearing. Following a meticulous review of the proceedings and the legal arguments, we affirm the judgment of sentence.
Appellant was tried jointly with three co-conspirators, all of whom were convicted of murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, and other felonies. Evidence at the trial revealed that the murder occurred under the following circumstances.
The victim was sixteen-year-old Alexander Porter. It was allegedly “common street knowledge” that his father was a
The plan was placed in action on Friday night, September 1, 1988, around 10:00 p.m. Appellant and Daniels met the victim and Torrance, purportedly to consummate the drug deal, and went to appellant’s house, where Daniels was also living. Daniels and Torrance left appellant’s house as if to pick up the cocaine. When they returned to appellant’s basement, Daniels was escorting Torrance, bound with ropes, pretending that Torrance had blundered and the deal had gone haywire. This charade was to justify an assault on Porter. They held a gun on him, forced him to he on the floor, hog-tied him, gagged him, then placed him in the trunk of his own car, pretending that they considered him a participant in Torrance’s purported bungling of the deal. While Porter was being bound, Torrance was led outside, supposedly to be punished, but actually to be released. Porter was later told that the conspirators had killed Torrance, and that the same thing would happen to Porter if he did not cooperate with the kidnappers.
Faced with such threats, Porter yielded the keys and telephone numbers of both of his estranged parents’ separate apartments and information as to where they kept their valuables. In response to the kidnappers’ questioning, he predicted that his father would probably pay whatever amount of ransom the kidnappers demanded. Twice during the next twenty-four hours while Porter was kept in the car trunk, the kidnappers used Porter’s car on excursions, returning each time to McClure’s garage which was five doors away from appellant’s house. First, they used the vehicle to get to
The jury found appellant guilty of first degree murder and, following a sentencing hearing, returned a verdict of death. This direct appeal followed.
Appellant raises seven allegations of trial errors, improper jury instructions, and errors during the sentencing phase. First, he claims error in the admission of certain evidence whose prejudicial effect allegedly outweighed its relevance. Three photographs, seized from the basement of appellant’s house, were admitted into evidence. The photos depicted five young men, including appellant and co-defendant Daniels, dressed in army fatigues. Appellant argues that the only reason to introduce these pictures was to imply to the jury that appellant and Daniels were part of a paramilitary group. He claims that the prejudicial effect of such an implication far outweighs the relevance of the photographs.
The photographs, however, though introduced in evidence, were never shown to the jury. It is therefore unlikely that they could have engendered prejudice in the minds of the jurors. The Commonwealth introduced the photos through the testimony of the police sergeant who had seized them pursuant to a warrant in the basement of appellant’s house, for the purpose of showing the association between appellant and Daniels.
See Commonwealth v. Wilson,
431 Pa. 21, 244 A.2d 734 (1968),
cert. denied,
393 U.S. 1102, 89 S.Ct. 901, 21
Because army fatigues are common attire, it is unlikely that the jury would have drawn the inference that appellant and Daniels were part of a “paramilitary group.” To forestall such a possibility, however, the court permitted the defense to introduce a magazine photograph of the rap group, Public Enemy, dressed in fatigues, to substantiate that the defendants’ dress style merely imitated the group which, according to testimony at trial, advocated nonviolence. The photographs of appellant and his friends were relevant to show his association with Daniels, and would not have created a bias in the minds of the jurors which would have deprived appellant of a fair trial.
Appellant argues similarly that it was error to admit into evidence a .380 automatic pistol seized from appellant’s house, due to its alleged irrelevance and prejudicial impact. The pistol was introduced to substantiate the Commonwealth’s proof that the conspirators had access to and used a second weapon during their criminal venture, in addition to the murder weapon, which was a .25 caliber handgun. Appellant’s defense to his admission that he shot the victim was that Daniels held a gun to his head and forced him to shoot Porter; he argues that Daniels’ gun was a .38 caliber revolver, not an automatic, and that the two bear no resemblance to each other. Thus, he concludes that the .380 automatic admitted in evidence was irrelevant, and that it was clearly prejudicial.
At the time of their arrests, appellant and all three co-defendants gave written statements, redacted versions of which were introduced at trial. Co-defendant Torrance described the abduction of Porter, in which Porter was made to lie on the floor while threatened with what Torrance thought was a .38 revolver. Appellant’s statement alleged that Daniels later told him to shoot the victim while pointing “a gun” at his head, but appellant did not describe the weapon. Thus, instead of testimony definitely identifying the second weapon as a .38 revolver, which, appellant argues, “does not remotely
Appellant’s next allegation of trial error concerns the Commonwealth’s display of a chart throughout the trial in order to outline police testimony identifying numerous items of evidence and the locations from which they were seized. Appellant claims that the use of the chart was tantamount to note-taking by the jury, an activity not permitted in Pennsylvania.
The chart in question was exhibit C-15. It listed across the top the five addresses from which relevant evidence was seized, and under each address, the evidence seized from that location, grouped according to eleven different property receipts. Visual aids may be used to assist the jury in understanding the evidence in appropriate cases, and permission to do so is within the sound discretion of the trial judge. Commonwealth v. Crawley, 514 Pa. 539, 552, 526 A.2d 334, 340-41 (1987). Use of such visual aids is not equivalent to jury note-taking, and appellant does not allege that the trial judge abused his discretion nor suggest that his right to a fair trial was prejudiced in any way. Accordingly, we reject this argument.
Appellant’s next two arguments relate to allegedly improper jury instructions. The first claim is that the trial judge improperly expressed his opinion that the victim died of gunshot wounds, taking away the fact-finding function of the jury, which might otherwise have found that the victim died of strangulation prior to the shooting. Appellant supposes that, without this expression of opinion, the jury would have found him guilty of the lesser offense of second degree murder.
Appellant fails, however, to identify any statement in the record where the court expressed an opinion as to the cause of death. In the jury instructions, which we have reviewed in
Appellant also claims that the court improperly refused to give an instruction on duress. His defense was based in part on his post-arrest statement, read into evidence at the trial, which contained his account of shooting the victim. He admitted firing the shots wounding Porter’s neck and back, but claimed that he did so only because Daniels pointed a gun at his head and told him to shoot Porter. Appellant requested a charge on duress based on
§ 309 . Duress
(a) General rule. — It is a defense that the actor engaged in the conduct charged to constitute an offense because he was coerced to do so by the use of, or a threat to use, unlawful force against his person or the person of another,which a person of reasonable firmness in his situation would have been unable to resist.
(b) Exception. — The defense provided by subsection (a) of this section is unavailable if the actor recklessly placed himself in a situation in which it was probable that he would be subjected to duress....
The trial court refused to charge the jury on this defense, holding that the exception of
The relevant portion of appellant’s statement is as follows:
Question: How did he tie the boy up?
Answer: He used a rope and he tied the boy’s feet and hands behind his back and around his neck. I told him to take the rope off the boy’s neck. He told me to shut up. Then I went upstairs. I was going to tell my mom about what was happening downstairs but I didn’t. I came downstairs a few minutes later and I didn’t see the boy. I asked him where was the boy. He said don’t worry about it, the boy is taken care of. The other guy is downstairs too. He wasn’t tied up at this time. And me and the other guy got into the boy’s car, the black shiny one to drive one of the guys home. I drove the car. We dropped him off and returned to my house.
Question: What happened after you and he parked the dark shiny car?
Answer: Then me and him walked to a guy’s house. I’ve been knowing him for about three years. When me and him get to the other guy’s place, he told him and two others what we was up to. Then I told them I’m going to my house for a few minutes. I went home and I went back a few minutes later....
We went back to the other guy’s house. I leave and go to my house. I come back a few minutes later and the boy Alex still tied up and he is lying on the sofa in the garage. One of them was talking to the boy and asked the boy if his parents would pay to keep him alive. The boy said yeah. One of the guys was upstairs in the house. The other guyput the boy back into the trunk and closed the trunk. Now it’s daylight. And me and one of the guys go to my house. Me and him went to bed and slept a couple of hours. While he was eating in my house I got the car keys from his jacket pocket and I slipped out and went to open the trunk and the boy was stiff and I shook him but couldn’t wake him. I saw the sofa cushion in the trunk. I went to my house, I put the keys by his jacket. Then he and me go, the two of us and open the trunk and he can’t wake the boy. He and I get in the car and he drives to the lot or park like area. It was late Friday night when we pulled over and he took the boy from the car and put him on the ground.
Question: What happened next?
Answer: He had two guns down his pants, he handed me the gun. I think it was a .25 automatic. He took out the other gun and then he said dump.
Question: What does the word dump mean?
Answer: Shoot.
Question: What happened next?
Answer: Then he pointed his gun at my head and said go ahead. And I fired at the boy three or four times.
(Emphasis added.)
The emphasized portions of the statement make it abundantly clear that appellant had frequent opportunities to withdraw from the conspiracy if that had been his intent, but he repeatedly returned voluntarily to continue the criminal operation. His self-serving statement also implies that throughout the episode he was being coerced into participating in brutal acts which were repugnant to his kinder nature. Nothing, however, can be more obvious than that he knowingly placed himself a situation in which it was probable that he would be subjected to duress. As a matter of law, then, the defense of duress was not available to appellant. His own assertions defeated any claim of duress, and there was no other evidence supporting the defense, so it was proper for the trial court to refuse to charge the jury on duress.
See Commonwealth v. Capitolo,
508 Pa. 372, 379, 498 A.2d 806, 809-10 (1985) (court
Appellant cites
Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt three of the four aggravating circumstances found by the jury during the sentencing phase of the prosecution. His first argument is directed against the finding that the offense was committed by means of torture,
Torture is “the infliction of a considerable amount of pain and suffering on a victim which is unnecessarily heinous, atrocious, or cruel manifesting exceptional depravity.”
Com
The record in this case includes sufficient evidence from which the jury could have determined that the conspirators intentionally inflicted injuries far beyond those necessary to carry out their larcenous intentions and kill the victim, and could thus have concluded, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the offense was committed by means of torture. The medical examiner testified that Porter suffered more than forty abrasions on his face, forehead, abdomen, ankle, and calf before he died. He also testified that death was caused by both the strangulation and gunshot wounds. He gave his opinion, however, that after the strangulation, Porter remained alive until he was shot. The killers had several guns at their disposal. Rather than simply killing Porter, they chose to lock him in the trunk of his car for twenty-four hours, suffocating and terrorizing him, to drive him around, battering him, and to strangle him. Only then did appellant finally put an end to his pain and suffering by shooting him. In Commonwealth v. Holloway, 524 Pa. 342, 355, 572 A.2d 687, 694 (1990), we stated: “Since they came armed with a shotgun, the jury could find that the strangulation was but a cruel prelude to an intended denouement by that gun. It was not unreasonable for the jury to infer from the evidence presented that it was the intent of both the appellant and co-defendant to first torture the victim.” In this case, the barbarous treatment of the victim was more protracted and pronounced than in Holloway, and the evidence manifestly supports the jury’s finding that the offense was committed by means of torture.
This aggravating circumstance encompasses the killing of a potential prosecution witness, even when no criminal proceeding is pending at the time of the murder, if the killer’s intention to eliminate the victim as a potential witness is established through direct evidence. Commonwealth v. Henry, 524 Pa. 135, 152, 569 A.2d 929, 937 (1990), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 1338, 113 L.Ed.2d 269 (1991); Commonwealth v. Strong, 522 Pa. 445, 457, 563 A.2d 479, 485 (1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1060, 110 S.Ct. 1536, 108 L.Ed.2d 775 (1990); Commonwealth v. Appel, 517 Pa. 529, 537-38 n. 2, 539 A.2d 780, 784 n. 2 (1988). The Commonwealth presented evidence that appellant decided to eliminate Porter because he could identify appellant’s house where the criminal episode began. Daniels, appellant’s co-defendant, testified that appellant told him they “got to get rid of him because he knows my mom’s house.” Proof of appellant’s intention to eliminate the victim as a potential witness was thereby established through direct evidence.
Appellant’s third challenge of the aggravating circumstances is directed against the finding that the victim was being held for ransom or reward,
Nevertheless, abundant evidence supports the finding that Porter was held for ransom, and that the conspirators acted on that plan. Whether or not they communicated a ransom demand or received a ransom payment is irrelevant. The co-defendants’ statements and testimony established that part of the plan was to seek ransom from Porter’s parents, that the plan was communicated to Porter, and that Porter was or
Appellant’s next contention is that the prosecutor made improper remarks during his argument in the sentencing phase of trial. He objects to the prosecutor’s argument that the defendants shot Porter and then “left him lying out there like a piece of trash,” and that the jurors should “show [the defendants] the same mercy they showed Alexander Porter.”
Generally, the remarks of a prosecutor in closing argument do not constitute reversible error unless the unavoidable effect would be to prejudice the jurors, creating in their minds fixed bias and hostility toward the defendant so that they could not weigh the evidence objectively and render an impartial verdict.
Commonwealth v. Holloway,
524 Pa. at 353, 572 A.2d at 693;
Commonwealth v. Hardcastle,
519 Pa. 236, 254, 546 A.2d 1101, 1109-10 (1988),
cert. denied,
493 U.S. 1093, 110 S.Ct. 1169, 107 L.Ed.2d 1072 (1990). The remarks objected to were based on the evidence and were not the extreme types of statements which unavoidably create fixed bias and hostility. The assertion that the victim was treated like “a piece of trash” was a fair observation after appellant stated that the killers “dumped” Porter on the ground and that appellant “took the shit that was in the trunk and threw it on the ground” prior to shooting Porter. It was also proper to argue that the jurors should not base their verdict on mercy, but on the evidence before them, arguing that the defendants had shown no mercy to the victim.
See Commonwealth v. Hardcastle,
519 Pa. at 253-54, 546 A.2d at 1109 (prosecutor properly argued, based upon evidence, that the killing was without mercy);
Commonwealth v. Banks,
513 Pa. 318, 355, 521 A.2d 1, 19,
cert. denied,
484 U.S. 873, 108 S.Ct. 211, 98 L.Ed.2d 162 (1987) (prosecutor properly argued that jurors should not base
Appellant’s final argument is that the court’s instructions to the jury in the sentencing phase were improper. He argues that the court should have informed the jury orally of the consequences which would ensue if it failed to reach a unanimous verdict, and that the process of weighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances was to be a qualitative one. Failure to give the suggested instructions, he claims, violated the principle that: “It is the responsibility of the courts to channel the sentencer’s discretion by clear and objective standards that provide specific and detailed guidance, and that make rationally reviewable the process for imposing a sentence of death.” Commonwealth v. Nelson, 514 Pa. 262, 279, 523 A.2d 728, 737, cert. denied, 484 U.S. 928, 108 S.Ct. 293, 98 L.Ed.2d 253 (1987), quoting Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 428, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 1764-65, 64 L.Ed.2d 398, 406 (1980).
There was nothing erroneous in the challenged jury instructions. Appellant’s first assertion is factually incorrect. The jury was informed, both orally and in writing, that a verdict of death must be unanimous. The court stated:
The sentencing statute provides that the verdict must be a sentence of death if the Jury unanimously finds at least one aggravating circumstance and no mitigating circumstance, or if the Jury unanimously finds one or more aggravating circumstances which outweigh any mitigating circumstances. The verdict must be a sentence of life imprisonment in all other cases.
Remember again that your verdict must be unanimous; it cannot be reached by a majority vote or by any percentage, it must be the verdict of each and every one of you.
The printed verdict form sent out with the jurors also informed them, in accordance with
Although appellant does not allege that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict against him, this court is required in capital cases to review the sufficiency of the evidence. Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 26 n. 3, 454 A.2d 937, 942 n. 3 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). The applicable standard of review is whether, viewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, a jury could find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Bryant, 524 Pa. 564, 567, 574 A.2d 590, 592 (1990).
We have examined the record and find ample support for every element of the crimes for which appellant was convicted: first degree murder, kidnapping, robbery, conspiracy, and two counts of burglary. Appellant’s confession and Daniels’ testimony constitute incriminating evidence of the most damning nature. This was supplemented by extensive additional evidence of every aspect of the twenty-four hour criminal enterprise.
Finally, in accordance with our duty to review sentences of death from the standpoint of their proportionality to sentences imposed in similar cases,
Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer,
500 Pa. at 62, 454 A.2d at 961, and
Judgment of sentence affirmed. 1
LARSEN and McDERMOTT, JJ., join in this opinion. NIX, Chief Justice, in Support of Vacating Sentence of Death.
While I join in the result reached by the other members of the Court, that the evidence offered was sufficient to warrant the conviction of appellant, I strongly disagree with their finding that the Commonwealth’s evidence was sufficient to sustain one of the aggravating circumstances involved,
As this writer stated in
Commonwealth v. Nelson,
514 Pa. 262, 523 A.2d 728 (1987), implicit in subsection (d)(8) of
However, there was evidence offered to sustain the finding of the two additional aggravating circumstances challenged by Appellant, namely, Wiling a prosecution witness to prevent his testimony,
I agree with the majority that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict of murder in the first degree, kidnapping, conspiracy, and other felonies. I would vacate the death sentence and remand for a new penalty hearing, however, for the reasons stated in my concurring and dissenting opinion filed in Commonwealth v. Daniels, — Pa.-, 612 A.2d 395 (1992).
CAPPY, J., joins in this Opinion In Support of Vacating Sentence of Death.
Notes
. The Prothonotary of the Supreme Court is directed to transmit (he complete record of this case to the Governor pursuant to