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HomeMy WebLinkAbout97-1836 and 97-1837 criminalCOMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : : NO. 97-1836 CRIMINAL TERN v. : CHARGE: (1) HARASSMENT (SUMMARY) : (2) STALKING : (3) DEFIANT TRESPASS : AFFIANT: PTL. JAMES PETERSON :NO. 97-1837 CRIMINAL TERM : CHARGE: (1) HARASSMENT (SUMMARY) (2) STALKING SATIRA MAHALIA QUARLES : AFFIANT: PTL. PETER CASTLE IN RE: OPINION PURSUANT TO PA, R,A,P, 1925 OPINION HOFFER, J.: This opinion, filed pursuant to Pa. R.A.P. 1925, sets forth the reasons for the findings in the above captioned case. On January 13, 1998, Defendant, Satira Mahalia Quarles, was convicted, after a jury trial held January 12 and 13, 1998, of two counts of stalking and one count of defiant trespass. On the same day, the Court found Defendant guilty of two counts of summary harassment. On March 3, 1998, the Court sentenced Defendant to pay the costs of prosecution for all five counts and to two years less one day in the Intermediate Punishment Program for the stalking counts. Compliance with the Intermediate Punishment Program required that Defendant remain in counseling, under supervision of the Probation Office, until discharged in writing by the therapist. The primary purpose of the sentence was to insure that the Defendant cease her 97-1836 CRIMINAL harassing and stalking tactics in regard to her victims, who are Defendant's husband and seventeen year old daughter. Defendant has appealed her convictions claiming that the evidence was insufficient to convict her of the crimes charged. We will address the trial record to show that there was in fact sufficient evidence to convict the Defendant on all counts charged. A picture of the family history became clear during trial. Defendant's husband, Robert Quarles, testified that he and the Defendant married in 1971. They had two children, Sefia, now a member of the military, and Roberta, a seventeen year old high school senior at the time of trial. During the marriage, Mr. Quarles was in the United States Army. Defendant and Mr. Quarles apparently separated more than ten years earlier while Mr. Quarles was stationed in California. The children stayed with Mr. Quarles and a California court gave him official custody in 1994 or 1995. In 1988, Mr. Quarles and his family moved to the U. S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks. In 1993, during their stay at the Carlisle Barracks, Defendant was banned from the base for destroying government property. In 1994, Mr. Quarles was transferred to a base in Brooklyn, New York, and he lived with his two children on a military post in Bayonne, New Jersey. While in New Jersey, a 2 97-1836 CRIMINAL permanent restraining order was issued to keep the Defendant away from Mr. Quarles and the two children. The Defendant received notice of this restraining order while in the New Jersey court. Mr. Quarles and his daughter Roberta moved back to the Carlisle area in July of 1997. Mr. Quarles immediately contacted the local police and the District Attorney's Office concerning the restraining order and its effectiveness in Pennsylvania because he and his daughters had endured eight years of harassment at the hands of the Defendant. The incidents which gave rise to the charges filed against the Defendant occurred on July 23, 1997, and August 6, 1997. Mr. Quarles, Roberta Quarles and Patrolmen Peter Castle and James Peterson of the North Middletown Township Police Department testified about the events. The facts concerning the July 23 incident, as testified to at trial, are as follows: Mr. Quarles and his daughter Roberta were at home in their apartment on the evening of July 23, 1997. Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. the Defendant arrived at the apartment door.1 Roberta looked through the peep hole and saw her mother. She did not open the door; she immediately told her father so he could ~ The record reflects that for the Defendant to reach the door of her husband's and daughter's apartment she had to enter a lobby marked with a sign that said "For Residents and Guests of Pheasant Run." 3 97-1836 CRIMINAL call 911. The Defendant was yelling and calling Mr. Quarles names through the door. Both Mr. Quarles and Roberta testified that seeing the Defendant greatly distressed them. Mr. Quarles suffers from an ulcer that was aggravated by the arrival of the Defendant. Roberta testified that she did not want to see her mother, she did not like it when her mother had lived with them as a family and that seeing her mother now makes her so upset that she cries and vomits. The police arrived at the scene and encountered the Defendant. Patrolman Castle testified that the Defendant seemed to believe that she belonged there. She told him that she wanted to be arrested so that she could get her claims of child abuse, kidnapping and alcoholism into court. The Patrolman repeatedly told her that she needed to stay away from her husband and her daughter. The Patrolman also spoke with Mr. Quarles and his daughter and testified that both appeared nervous with the arrival of the Defendant and that Roberta appeared visibly scared. At the preliminary arraignment, held July 24, 1997, to set bail for the charges in the first incident Defendant was told that a condition of her release on her own recognizance was that she was to stay away from her husband and her daughter. The facts of the second incident on August 6, 1997, are as follows: between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. that morning, the Defendant arrived at Mr. Quarles' door. 4 97-1836 CRIMINAL When he realized it was the Defendant he immediately called the police. Roberta never woke up. When the police arrived, they found the Defendant outside the apartment building and she claimed she was out on a walk? The Defendant then apologized to Patrolman Castle for lying to him about returning to the apartment. Patrolman Peterson testified that he interviewed Mr. Quarles that night and he appeared quite upset about the arrival of his wife. The record reflects that the Defendant came to the apartment of her husband and daughter on July 23, 1997, despite a restraining order issued in New Jersey. She returned to the apartment on August 6, 1997, after receiving numerous warnings not to approach her husband and daughter from local law enforcement and a district justice. The facts on the record support her convictions for summary harassment, stalking and defiant trespass. 2Testimony was taken that the Defendant lived in downtown Carlisle, about three miles from her husband's and daughter's apartment. 5