Commonwealth v. Terry
Commonwealth v. Terry
Concurring Opinion
I adhere to the view expressed in my dissenting opinion in Commonwealth v. Dutton, 453 Pa. 547 at 551, 307 A.2d 238 at 240 (1973), that our decision in Commonwealth v. Futch, 447 Pa. 389, 290 A.2d 417 (1972), should be applied prospectively only. Moreover, even if Futch is to be applied to render inadmissible evidence obtained in violation of Rule 118 before the date of that decision, this Court should not consider on direct appeal issues not properly presented to the court below. Commonwealth v. Bittner, 441 Pa. 216, 272 A.2d 484 (1971); Commonwealth v. Myers, 439 Pa. 381, 266 A.2d 756 (1970). In this case post-trial motions were waived. Hence any objection under Rule 118 to the admissibility of the confession, as well as the other points considered in the Court’s opinion, are not properly before the Court.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Appellant, Nelson Terry, was indicted on bills containing counts of conspiracy, forcible rape, burglary, aggravated robbery and murder. Prior to his trial, appellant filed a motion to suppress his confession which was denied. Appellant then proceeded to trial on December 6, 1971. After the jurors had been sworn, appellant changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. After he was examined on his guilty plea, it was accepted and the judge decided that a case of first degree murder had been made out by the Commonwealth. Thereupon, a three-judge panel found appellant guilty of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The other bills were nolle prossed. This appeal followed.
Appellant was then transferred to the Police Administration Building, presumably to be arraigned on the burglary and robbery charges which arose out of the Annin Street incident. At approximately 11:45 a.m., on September 13, 1970, appellant was taken to an interrogation room for questioning about the death of Lovey Connors, the decedent in the instant case. The police stated that they initially suspected appellant because the house where the decedent had been murdered was entered in the same manner as the burglarized home on Annin Street, and that the two homes were in the same neighborhood. Appellant was left in the interrogation room until approximately 1:00 p.m., when the questioning formally began. He was warned of his constitutional rights and waived them. Prior to his questioning, a strip search of appellant
After the initial statement was taken, appellant was allowed to use the wash room and was given a drink of water. He was then left alone until 2:15 p.m., at which time he was again interviewed until approximately 3:15 p.m. After the interview, appellant was given a meal and was allowed to rest until 5:00 p.m. At 5:00 p.m., appellant was again advised of his constitutional rights and then proceeded to give a formal statement, the admissibility of which he now challenges.
In Commonwealth v. Futch, supra, we held that a confession becomes inadmissible if it is the product of an unnecessary delay in arraignment. In the instant case, we do not find such a causal relationship between the delay in arraignment and the confession. Appellant confessed to the murder of the decedent within an hour after the questioning about that crime began. All delay before that time was necessarily related to the Annin Street robbery or to the period when appellant was asleep in the Police Administration Building. The time between 1:00 p.m., when appellant orally confessed to his crime, and 5:00 p.m., when his formal statement was prepared, was devoted solely to obtaining the names of possible accomplices and to giving appellant a meal and a period of rest. On the facts of this case, we do not believe that the confession challenged herein was the product of any unnecessary delay in arraignment.
Appellant next argues that he could not be found guilty of first degree murder, because the first degree conviction was based upon the felony-murder rule and
Appellant lastly argues that the Commonwealth violated a plea-bargain agreement because it was agreed that if appellant would enter a guilty plea, the felony indictments would be nolle prossed and that the breach occurred when the Commonwealth used the felonies for proposing the establishment of murder in the first degree. We cannot accept this argument. The Commonwealth, by using the felonies in question to establish murder in the first degree, did not breach the plea-bargain agreement. Appellant, by pleading guilty to murder generally, agreed to accept the decision of a three-judge panel as to his degree of guilt. The Commonwealth did no more than present the facts that surrounded the murder and left the final determination as to degree of guilt up to the court. There was no agreement of record to the effect that the crime in question rose no higher than second-degree murder.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Commonwealth v. Terry, Appellant
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published