Commonwealth v. Saunders
Commonwealth v. Saunders
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OF THE COURT
Carolyn Saunders was convicted of murder in the second degree following a trial without a jury. Post-trial motions were denied and she was sentenced to two and one-half to ten years imprisonment at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy. This direct appeal followed. Miss Saunders has challenged the admissibility of an inculpatory statement which she gave the police and which was introduced intoaevidence, over objection, at trial; she also asserts that the sentence imposed was illegal. We affirm.
On the street outside the apartment Gypsy encountered a friend, Fred Jones, and the two stood talking on the sidewalk directly beneath the windows of Archie’s apartment, which was on the second floor at the front of the building. Jones then began arguing with Archie and the two women who were standing at the windows of the apartment. As the argument continued, Jones drew a pistol and fired.
Shortly after the shooting, appellant and Miss Tucker were seen fleeing the apartment building. That evening, at approximately 10:20 P.M., Carolyn Saunders was arrested and charged with Jones’ murder.- Upon being interrogated at the police administration building, she initially denied being the shooter. She later was given a polygraph test and after being told that she had failed it she gave the statement which was introduced at trial. This occurred between 6:15 and 6:45 o’clock on the morning following her arrest. In the statement appellant admitted firing the fatal shot but claimed that she was merely trying to hit the side of the car when she fired, and that the striking of Jones was accidental.
Carolyn Saunders herself took the stand at trial and gave almost verbatim the same version of the episode as that contained in the statement which was introduced into evidence. We have held a number of times that such corroborative testimony by a defendant disentitles him from claiming that an error in admitting a statement constitutes ground for reversal. Commonwealth v. Greene, 456 Pa. 195, 198, 317 A.2d 268 (1974); Commonwealth v. Collins, 436 Pa. 114, 121-122, 259 A.2d 160, 164 (1969); Commonwealth ex rel. Edowski v. Maroney, 423 Pa. 229, 223 A.2d 749, 752 (1966); Commonwealth ex rel. Adderley v. Myers, 418 Pa. 366, 211 A.2d 481 (1965). See also, Commonwealth v. Witherspoon, 442 Pa. 597, 277 A.2d 827 (1971); Commonwealth v. Diaz, 438 Pa. 356, 264 A.2d 592 (1970); Commonwealth v. Padgett, 428 Pa. 229, 237 A.2d 209 (1968). Furthermore, appellant freely admitted in her testimony that the statement was accurate and that she did not disagree with anything contained in it.
Appellant contends that she should not be foreclosed because had the statement been excluded, she would not have adopted the trial strategy that she did, namely, to admit the shooting as a scare device but to deny any intention to hit the decedent. In Commonwealth v. Greene, 456 Pa. 195, 317 A.2d 268 (1974), we rejected a similar argument in a comparable situation: “At the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s evidence, appellant took the stand and repeated the substance of her
The other assignment of error relates to appellant’s sentence. She points out, correctly, that the sentence of not less than two and one-half years and not more than ten years in the State Correctional Institution at Muncy was not in accordance with thq terms of the new Muncy Act,
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
. The evidence was conflicting as to whether he fired one or two shots and whether he fired at the windows or up in the air. In any case, no one was hit.
. Appellant’s testimony was amply confirmed by that of Gladys Mae Pearson (Gypsy) identifying Miss Saunders as the shooter and by testimony of two other persons, Helen Felder and Tina Kinard, as to non-custodial oral admissions made to them by the appellant. Additionally, a statement of Veronica Tucker, introduced into evidence by the appellant, confirmed both the details of Miss Saunders’ statement and her trial testimony.
. Act of July 16, 1968, P.L. 349, No. 171, § 1, 61 P.S. § 566.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
The majority’s opinion, in my judgment, creates an intolerable tension between two constitutionally-guaranteed rights under the Pennsylvania Constitution and I therefore dissent. Article 5, § 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides an absolute right of appeal.
The problem of the possibility of conflict between protections afforded under various constitutional provisions is not new. In an analogous situation, the United States Supreme Court refused to force defendants in possessory crimes to be faced with an election between the protections of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 390, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed. 2d 1247 (1968). In Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1959), the Supreme Court noted:
“. . . such a defendant has been placed in the criminally tendentious position of explaining his possession of the premises. He has been faced, not only with the chance that the allegations made on the motion to suppress may be used against him at the trial, . but also with the encouragement that he perjure himself if he seeks to establish ‘standing’ while maintaining a defense to the charge of possession [of narcotics] ”. 362 U.S. at 262, 80 S.Ct. at 731.
In Simmons v. United States, supra 390 U.S. at 393-394, 88 S.Ct. at 976, the Supreme Court observed:
“Those courts which have allowed the admission of testimony given to establish standing have reasoned that there is no violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Self-Incrimination Clause because the testimony was voluntary. As an abstract matter, this may well be true. A defendant is ‘compelled’ to testify in support of a motion to suppress only in the sense that if he refrains from testifying he will have to forgo a benefit, and*685 testimony is not always involuntary as a matter of law simply because it is given to obtain a benefit. However, the assumption which underlies this reasoning is that the defendant has a choice: he may refuse to testify and give up the benefit. When this assumption is applied to a situation in which the ‘benefit’ to be gained is that afforded by another provision of the Bill of Rights, an undeniable tension is created.” (Footnotes omitted).
The United States Supreme Court recognized that “Although a defendant may have a right, even of constitutional dimensions, to follow whatever course he chooses, the Constitution does not by that token always forbid requiring him to choose.” McGautha v. California, 402 U. S. 188, 212-213, 91 S.Ct. 1454, 1470, 28 L.Ed.2d 711 (1971). The Court in McGautha indicated that the crucial question is whether compelling the election impairs to an appreciable extent any of the policies behind the rights involved.
In my judgment there is no basis in law or policy that justifies the election of rights the majority is now requiring. The ruling for which the appellant seeks appellate review is the refusal to suppress a confession because of an alleged violation of our procedural rule 118 (now Pa.R.Crim.P. 130).
I fail to comprehend why the majority has now determined that testimony at trial by appellant which reiterates the challenged statement, and at best merely attests to its accuracy, should provide an adequate basis for effectively denying appellate review of the question of the propriety of the police conduct that initially elicited this piece of evidence. The use of the doctrines of “trial strategy” and “harmless error” in this context creates a misapprehension that an election of options in fact exists. In practice, however, we are well aware that in many instances the need for the accused to offer his testimony was occasioned by the challenged admission by the Commonwealth of the statement.
. “§ 9. Right of appeal
There shall be a right of appeal in all cases to a court of record from a court not of record; and there shall also be a right of appeal from a court of record or from an administrative agency to a court of record or to an appellate court, the selection of such court to be as provided by law; and there shall be such other rights of appeal as may be provided by law.”
. “Sec. 9. Rights of accused in criminal prosecutions
In all criminal prosecutions the accused hath a right to be heard by himself and his counsel, to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witnesses face to face, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and, in prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage; he cannot be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor can he be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land.”
. Pa.R.Crim.P. 118 provided:
“Rule 118. Proceedings Initiated by Arrest Without Warrant
When a defendant has been arrested without a warrant, he shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the proper issuing authority where a complaint shall be filed against him.
(a) If the complaint charges a court case, the defendant shall be given an immediate preliminary arraignment.
(b) If the complaint charges a summary offense, the defendant shall be given an immediate trial or upon his request, the defendant shall be given the opportunity of posting security for his appearance at trial on a date which shall be not less than three nor more than ten days after his appearance, unless extended for cause shown, or unless the issuing authority fixes an earlier date upon request of the defendant or his attorney with the consent of the police officer.” Adopted January 31, 1970. Effective May 1,*686 1970. Effective January 1, 1974, Pa.R.Crim.P. 118 was renumbered in pertinent part as Pa.R.Crim.P. 130.
. Commonwealth v. Hancock, 455 Pa. 583, 317 A.2d 588 (1974); Commonwealth v. Dixon, 454 Pa. 444, 311 A.2d 613 (1973); Commonwealth v. Wayman, 454 Pa. 79, 309 A.2d 784 (1973); Commonwealth v. Dutton, 453 Pa. 547, 307 A.2d 238 (1973); Commonwealth v. Tingle, 451 Pa. 241, 301 A.2d 701 (1973).
. In support of this position the majority cites a number of our earlier decisions. Upon analysis, the cases relied upon do not provide support for the position sought to be advanced. In both Commonwealth v. Greene, 456 Pa. 195, 317 A.2d 268 (1974) and Commonwealth v. Collins, 436 Pa. 114, 259 A.2d 160 (1969), only three members of this Court joined in the opinion; thus the statements appearing therein are not representative of the thinking of the majority of the members of this Court and these decisions therefore provide no precedential value. Further, the cases of Commonwealth ex rel. Edowski v. Maroney, 423 Pa. 229, 223
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Carolyn SAUNDERS, Appellant
- Cited By
- 38 cases
- Status
- Published