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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP-21-CR-1993-2006 (2) COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : V. : : SHANE ALVIN GEEDY : CP-21-CR-1993-2006 IN RE: OPINION PURSUANT TO PENNSYLVANIA RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 1925 Bayley, J., April 9, 2008:-- September 13, 2007 On , a jury convicted defendant, Shane Alvin Geedy, of October 9, 2007 murder in the first degree for killing Toni Myers. On , defendant was sentenced to pay the costs of prosecution and undergo imprisonment in a state October 19, 2007 correctional institution for life, to date from July 16, 2006. On , defendant filed a post-sentence motion in which he sought a new trial on a claim that February the verdict of first degree murder was against the weight of the evidence. On 11, 2008 , an order was entered, supported by a written opinion, denying the motion for March 11, 2008 post-trial relief. On , defendant filed a timely appeal to the Superior 1 Court of Pennsylvania. In a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal, defendant avers: 1. The verdict was against the weight of the evidence as was more fully set out in Defendants [sic] Post Sentencing Motion which is incorporated hereby reference as the basis for this challenge. 2. There was insufficient evidence of the specific intent to kill; while a deadly weapon was used to a vital part of the body, it was not clear from the evidence under what circumstance this happened, and allowing a jury to draw an inference of the specific intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon to a vital area of the body violates due process and fundamental fairness insomuch as it allows the jury to base its verdict on speculation. Therefore because of the lack of sufficient evidence of __________ 1 Pa.R.Crim.P. 720(2)(a). CP-21-CR-1993-2006 the specific intent to kill, the conviction of murder in the first degree must fail. 3. The Trial Court erred in failing to give an instruction on voluntary manslaughter. Under the facts of the case, and based on the defense which was argued and presented, a charge to the jury [sic] voluntary manslaughter was an appropriate charge which should have been given to the jury for their consideration. The failure to so instruct was error. I. The verdict of murder in the first degree was not against the weight of the evidence. Incorporated herein, and made a part of this opinion, is the opinion filed in support of the order of February 11, 2008, denying the post-sentence motion of defendant for a new trial on a claim that the verdict of first degree murder was against the weight of the evidence. II. Defendant maintains (1) that there was insufficient evidence of a specific intent to kill in order to support the verdict of murder in the first degree, and (2) that permitting a jury to draw an inference of a specific intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon to a vital part of the body violates due process and fundamental fairness. The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict winner, is whether the jury reasonably could have concluded that all the elements of the crime were established beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Robinson, 721 A.2d 344 (Pa. 1998). The evidence at trial included the following. Toni Myers had a romantic relationship with Shane Geedy that started in the spring of 2004. They had homes that were close to each other on Marion Avenue in North Middleton Township, Cumberland County. Geedy often stayed at Myers’ home -2- CP-21-CR-1993-2006 where she lived with her daughter Jordyn Myers, who at trial was age 12. On July 15, 2006, Myers brought some groceries into her home. She told Jordyn that she was going to Geedy’s house to get some of her things and that she would be home in approximately ten minutes. Jordyn never saw her mother again. Officer Danny Fiber, a police officer in North Middleton Township, was a friend of Geedy. On July 15, 2006, Geedy phoned Fiber several times and finally was able to arrange to meet him. Fiber drove his police car to the designated location at approximately 9:00 p.m., and Geedy drove up next to him. Geedy told Fiber that he was in big trouble, that he had pulled a weapon, fired and hit Toni Myers, and was going to go to jail for life. Geedy said that Myers was in the basement of his home, and that the front door was locked. He told Fiber that the gun was on the floor of his car behind the front passenger seat. Fiber saw it there. Fiber took Geedy into custody. After another officer arrived, Fiber took Geedy to the police station. Fiber noticed an odor of alcohol about Geedy but no overt signs of intoxication. Knowing that Geedy liked to drink beer, he asked him if he was drunk and had been drinking all day. Geedy said “no.” Geedy asked Fiber to call his ex-wife and tell her what happened, which Fiber did. Officer Peter Cassell of the North Middleton Township Police went to Geedy’s home at 210 Marion Avenue, pushed the front door in, and found Toni Myers in the basement. She was lying flat on the floor, was shot in the neck, and was dead. Toni Myers had recently broken up with Geedy. Ryan Myers, who at trial was age 15, another daughter of Toni Myers, had heard Geedy say around the end of June -3- CP-21-CR-1993-2006 or the beginning of July, 2006, that he would kill himself if her mother broke up with him. On July 14, Geedy called Shelby Metzger, a friend of both he and Myers, and said that he had a date in mind when this would be all over and that he was leaving and becoming an over-the-road truck driver. On July 15, Metzger and Myers were together at a pool. Metzger last saw Myers at about 6:00 p.m. when Myers said that she had to go home, talk to Geedy and get her things. She said Geedy had called her and asked her to come down for about ten minutes, saying that he owed her $5,000 for a loan. Metzger knew that Geedy kept a gun in a case in an end table next to the front door of his home. At 8:46 p.m. on July 15, 2006, Geedy called his former wife, Christie Geedy. He told her that he was out driving. He told her that Toni Myers was at his place and “she said something that made me mad and I hurt her.” Knowing that he had a weapon, Christie asked him if he shot Toni. He answered “yes,” and told her that she was dead. He told her not to call anybody and that he would call right back. A couple of minutes later Officer Fiber called her and said that he had Geedy in custody. Detective David Lively, a North Middleton Township Police Officer, started an interview with Geedy at the North Middleton Township Police Station at 9:40 p.m. on July 15, 2006. Defendant had glassy eyes and an odor of alcohol about him. The longer the interview took place the stronger the odor became. Lively thought Geedy was under the influence, but his speech was fine and Lively could understand him clearly. Defendant told the detective that he had been drinking beer all day and that -4- CP-21-CR-1993-2006 when Toni Myers came to his house they argued about life in general. They were downstairs; he went upstairs to get his gun, then went back downstairs and shot her in the neck while she was sitting on the floor. He said he made a big mistake because he was drinking, and knew that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. There was blood on the front of Geedy’s Gluck semi-automatic pistol that was recovered from his vehicle. A discharged cartridge case from that pistol was found in the hair of Toni Myers. The trigger pull on the pistol was six and one-half pounds. A firearms examiner could not get the pistol to discharge accidentally. A forensic pathologist performed an autopsy on Toni Myers on July 17, 2006. There was a gunshot wound at the midline of the neck with an exit wound at the top of the head. This was a contact gunshot wound caused when the gun was fired when it was held tightly against the neck when she was lying down. The trajectory of the bullet went straight into the neck and out through the top of the head, creating a near instantaneous death. There was no other injury. There were no signs of a struggle, or any signs that the body was moved before it was discovered. In order to sustain a finding of first degree murder, the evidence must establish that a human being was unlawfully killed, that defendant did the killing, and that the Commonwealth killing was done in an intentional, deliberate and premeditated way. v. Mitchell, 528 Pa. 546 (1991). Specific intent to kill can be inferred by the use of a Commonwealth v. Speight, deadly weapon upon the vital part of the body. 677 A.2d 317 (Pa. 1996). Clearly, there was evidence for a jury to reasonably conclude that all -5- CP-21-CR-1993-2006 of the elements of the crime of first degree murder, including a specific intent to kill, were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant further maintains that allowing a jury to draw an inference of a specific intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon to a vital area of the body violates due process and fundamental fairness. The court charged the jury, without objection, that “a specific intent to kill can be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of another’s body.” The issue raised by defendant for the first time on appeal is waived. III. Defendant maintains it was error not to charge the jury on voluntary 2 manslaughter. A defendant is entitled to a voluntary manslaughter charge only when Commonwealth v. the evidence adduced at trial would support such a charge. BrowdieCommonwealth v. Williams , 543 Pa. 337, 349, 671 A.2d 668, 674 (1996); , 537 Pa. 1, 640 A.2d 1251 (1994). Voluntary manslaughter is defined at 18 Pa.C.S. Section 2503: (a) General Rule— A person who kills an individual without lawful if at the time of the killing justification commits voluntary manslaughter he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation by: the individual killed (1) ; or (2) another whom the actor endeavors to kill, but he negligently or accidentally causes the death of the individual killed. (b) Unreasonable belief killing justifiable.— A person who intentionally or knowingly kills an individual commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he believes the circumstances to __________ 2 The defense submitted a written point for a charge on voluntary manslaughter. Prior to the charge the point was rejected on the basis that there was no evidence to support it. Following the charge, the defense again objected to the charge on the same basis. -6- CP-21-CR-1993-2006 be such that, if they existed, would justify the killing under Chapter 5 of this title, but his belief is unreasonable. (Emphasis added). Commonwealth v. McCusker, In 448 Pa. 382 (1972), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania stated: In making the objective determination as to what constitutes sufficient provocation reliance may be placed upon the cumulative impact of a series of related events. The ultimate test for adequate provocation remains whether a reasonable man, confronted with this series of events, becomes impassioned to the extent that his mind was “incapable of cool reflection.” (Footnotes omitted). sub judice In the case , the evidence showed that defendant and Toni Myers had a romantic relationship, they were breaking up, and Myers went to his house on July 16, 2006, to get some of her things. In the statement defendant made to Detective Lively, defendant said that when Myers came to his house they were downstairs and arguing about life in general. He then went upstairs, got his gun, went back downstairs 3 and shot her in the neck while she was sitting on the floor. There is not an iota of evidence of provocation, much less serious provocation, by Toni Myers to support a charge of voluntary manslaughter. What the evidence does show is that defendant was distraught about their breakup, he was contemplating suicide, but instead he executed Myers. (Date) Edgar B. Bayley, J. -7- CP-21-CR-1993-2006 Michelle Sibert, Esquire Assistant District Attorney Karl Rominger, Esquire For Defendant :sal 3 There was other evidence that defendant kept his gun upstairs. -8-