HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP-21-CR-0001726-2017COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CHARGES: (1)
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
(2)
STRANGULATION APPLY
:
PRESSURE TO THROAT OR
NECK
(3)
TERRORISTIC THREATS
(4)
PROHIBITED OFFENSIVE
V.
WEAPONS (6 counts)
(5)
FALSE IMPRISONMENT
(6)
SIMPLE ASSAULT
(7)
SIMPLE ASSAULT
(8)
RECKLESSLY ENDANGERING
ANOTHER PERSON
(9)
INDECENT ASSAULT
MICHAEL PATRICK WOODS :
OTN: X091034-6 : CP -21 -CR -1726-2017
IN RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION OBJECTING
TO AMENDMENT OF INFORMATION
BEFORE OLER, S.J.
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, this 12'h day of June, 2018, upon consideration of Defendant's
Motion Objecting to Amendment of Information, following a hearing held on June 7,
2018, and for the reasons stated in the accompanying opinion, Defendant's motion is
denied.
BY THE COURT,
I /I/Lo
0 0�.
ffesley Ole r., S.J.
l
Michele H. Sibert, Esq.
Office of the Cumberland County District Attorney
For the Commonwealth
Sean M. Owen, Esq.
Office of the Cumberland County Public Defender
For the Defendant
COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CHARGES: (1)
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
(2)
STRANGULATION—APPLY
PRESSURE TO THROAT OR
NECK
(3)
TERRORISTIC THREATS
(4)
PROHIBITED OFFENSIVE
V.
WEAPONS (6 counts)
: (5)
FALSE IMPRISONMENT
(6)
SIMPLE ASSAULT
; (7)
SIMPLE ASSAULT
(8)
RECKLESSLY ENDANGERING
ANOTHER PERSON
(9)
INDECENT ASSAULT
MICHAEL PATRICK WOODS :
OTN: X091034-6 : CP -21 -CR -1726-2017
IN RE: DEFENDANT'S MOTION OBJECTING
TO AMENDMENT OF INFORMATION
BEFORE OLER, S.J.
OPINION and ORDER OF COURT
OLER, S.J., June 12, 2018.
In this criminal case, Defendant has been charged, inter alia, with strangulation of
a woman with whom he allegedly lived. For disposition at this time is Defendant's
pretrial motion objecting to the Commonwealth's amendment of the Information to
increase the grading of strangulation from that of a misdemeanor of the second degree to
a felony of the second degree.'
A hearing on Defendant's motion was held on June 7, 2018. For the reasons stated
in this opinion, the Defendant's motion will be denied.
' Defendant's Motion Objecting to Amendment of Information, filed May 17, 2018.
-1-
STATEMENT OF FACTS
A criminal complaint in this case charged Defendant with 16 counts of aggravated
assault, one count of robbery, five counts of terroristic threats, one count of theft by
unlawful taking or disposition, six counts of prohibited offensive weapon, 15 counts of
strangulation, one count of false imprisonment, 30 counts of simple assault, 15 counts of
recklessly endangering another person, 15 counts of harassment, and one count of
indecent assault, arising out of incidents during the period from January 1, 2017, to April
9, 2017.2 The strangulation counts were classified in the complaint as misdemeanors of
the second degree.3
Following a preliminary hearing on May 25, 2017, all charges were bound over
for court with the exception of six counts of aggravated assault, with the strangulation
counts being denominated misdemeanors of the second degree .4 The evidence of record
in the case tended to show that Defendant and the victim of the alleged physical offenses
had become romantically involved shortly after meeting in November or December of
2016,5 that they lived together from January, 2017, until Defendant's arrest in April,
2017,6 and that during this period Defendant had committed various forms of physical
abuse against her, including choking her with his arm across her windpipe until she lost
consciousness .7 The evidence further tended to show that the victim's extrication from
the abusive situation had been effected by state police as the result of a note she left at a
highway rest stop.$
' Criminal Complaint, accompanied by a probable cause affidavit dated May 18, 2017.
3 Id
a Magisterial District Judge Docket Transcript, filed May 25, 2017.
s N.T. 3, Preliminary Hearing, May 25, 2017 (Commonwealth's Ex. 1, Hearing, April 30, 2018)
(hereinafter N.T. __, Preliminary Hearing).
s N.T. 4, 11, 17-18, Preliminary Hearing.
'N.T. 4-5, 10-11, Preliminary Hearing.
8 N.T. 17-18, 22, 24-25, Preliminary Hearing.
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The initial Information filed by the Commonwealth was largely consistent with
the charges bound over for court, including the designation of the strangulation counts as
misdemeanors of the second degree.10 However, at a hearing on several pretrial matters
held on April 30, 2018, the Commonwealth indicated its intention to amend the
Information to reduce the number of counts of various charges, including the
strangulation charges; and to increase the grading of the strangulation charges to a felony
status. See Order of Court, dated April 30, 2018.
On May 1, 2018, the Commonwealth filed an amended Information which, inter
alia, reduced the number of strangulation counts to two and increased their grading to
felonies of the second degree." On May 17, 2018, Defendant filed the Motion Objecting
to Amendment of information sub judice, contending that "a prima facie case was only
presented for misdemeanor strangulation charges" and requesting that the amended
information be quashed `with respect to the felony strangulation."12 On June 5, 2018, the
Commonwealth filed a further amended Information, reducing the number of
strangulation counts to one, inter alia. 13
As noted, a hearing on the motion was held on June 7, 2018.
DISCUSSION
Statement of the law. After a defendant has been held for court, the resulting
Information "shall be valid and sufficient in law if it contains[, inter alia,] a plain and
concise statement of the essential elements of the offense substantially the same as or
9 For some reason, 19 counts of aggravated assault were charged in the initial Information,
notwithstanding that only 16 counts had been charged in the criminal complaint and only ten of those had
been bound over for court. See Information, filed June 19, 2017. By order of court dated September 26,
2017, the number of aggravated assault counts was reduced to ten, pursuant to an agreement of counsel.
Order of Court, dated September 25, 2018.
10 Information, filed July 19, 2017.
" Information, filed May 1, 2018.
'Z Defendant's Motion Objecting to Amendment of Information, filed May 17, 2018.
" The second amended Information also decreased the number of charges in several other respects.
Information, filed June 5, 2018.
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cognate to the offense alleged in the complaint .... Pa. R. Crim. P. 560(A), (13)(5)
(emphasis added). "in examining whether [an offense] is `substantially the same as or
cognate to' any of the offenses held over for court we must analyze the essential elements
of each of the crimes and determine whether they share several elements and are of the
same class or category." Commonwealth v. Weigle, 2008 PA Super 69, 117, 949 A.2d
899, 905 (2008), aff'd, 606 Pa. 234, 997 A.2d 306 (2010).
In this regard, "[i]t is established law that, when a prosecuting officer is satisfied
from his investigations that a higher grade of offense, cognate to the one returned by the
committing magistrate, is properly chargeable against a defendant, he may draw the bill
accordingly." Maginnis's Case, 269 Pa. 186, 195, 112 A. 555, 558 (1921); see
Commonwealth ex rel. Tanner v. Ashe, 365 Pa. 419, 421, 76 A.2d 210, 211 (1950).
With .respect to amendments to Informations, under Pennsylvania Rule of
Criminal Procedure 564 it is provided as follows:
The court may allow an information to be amended, provided that
the information as amended does not charge offenses arising from a
different set of events and that the amended charges are not so
materially different from the original charge that the defendant would
be unfairly prejudiced. Upon amendment, the court may grant such
postponement of trial or other relief as is necessary in the interests of
justice.
Pennsylvania's criminal statute pertaining to the crime of strangulation provides,
in pertinent part, as follows:
(a) Offense def ned: A person commits the offense of strangulation
if the person knowingly or intentionally impedes the breathing or
circulation of the blood of another person by:
(1) applying pressure to the throat or neck; or
(2) blocking the nose and mouth of the person.
(b) Physical injury.—Infliction of a physical injury to a victim shall
not be an element of the offense. The lack of physical injury to a
victim shall not be a defense in a prosecution under this
section....
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(d) Grading.—
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), a
violation of this section shall constitute a
misdemeanor of the second degree.
(2) A violation of this section shall constitute a felony of
the second degree if committed
(i) against a family or household member as
defined in 23 Pa.C.S. 6102 (relating to
definitions); ....
18 Pa. C.S. §2718.
A "family or household member" in this context has been defined by the
legislature to include "current or former sexual or intimate partners." 23 Pa. C.S. §6102.
Application of law to facts. In the present case, strangulation as a misdemeanor of
the second degree and strangulation as a felony of the second degree are committed by
the same physical act, and are distinguished for present purposes only by the household
status of perpetrator and victim. The offenses as originally bound over and the offense as
charged in the current Information thus appear cognate and, where evidence of the
household status of Defendant and the alleged victim was clear as of .the preliminary
hearing, no unfair pzejudice to Defendant is discernible to the court from the amendment
of the Information to conform the grading of the offense to the statute.
On the basis of the foregoing authority, the following order will be entered:
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, this 12`h day of June, 2018, upon consideration of Defendant's
Motion Objecting to Amendment of Information, following a hearing held on June 7,
2018, and for the reasons stated in the accompanying opinion, Defendant's motion is
denied.
BY THE COURT,
. Wesle er, Jr., S.J.
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Michele H. Sibert, Esq.
Office of the Cumberland County District Attorney
For the Commonwealth
Sean M. Owen, Esq.
Office of the Cumberland County Public Defender
For the Defendant