Com. v. Fletcher

861 A.2d 898

580 Pa. 403

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Lester FLETCHER, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted April 1, 2004.

Decided November 18, 2004.

Douglas Lee Dolfman, Esq., Chestnut Hill, for Lester Fletcher.

Hugh J. Burns, Esq., Amy Zapp, Esq., Philadelphia, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN and BAER, JJ.

OPINION

Justice NEWMAN.

Lester Fletcher (Appellant) brings this direct appeal¹ from the Judgment of Sentence imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (trial court), which sentenced him to death following two convictions for first-degree murder.² After reviewing the claims raised by Appellant, we affirm the convictions and sentences of death.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

As part of our independent review of the record, we summarize the evidence presented at trial. On the evening of Friday, February 23, 2001, Appellant, and his friend, Bernard Mathis (Mathis), drove to the residence of David Otto (Otto), located at 2061 Orleans Street in the City of Philadelphia, to deliver a substantial quantity of crack cocaine. Otto, along with his girlfriend, Marlo Panvini (Panvini), rented the upstairs middle bedroom of the house from its owner, Kenneth Schofield (Schofield). On a regular basis, Appellant supplied Otto with crack cocaine, which Otto would then sell from inside the house.

After arriving at 2061 Orleans Street, Appellant and Mathis were informed that Otto was not home. While they waited for Otto to return, Appellant, Mathis, and several other individuals inside the house began smoking the crack cocaine that Appellant intended to deliver to Otto. These individuals included Kimberly Stinger (Stinger) and Kenneth Daehling (Daehling), who together rented the upstairs back bedroom of the house, Frank Mawson (Mawson), who sold crack cocaine for Otto and occasionally stayed at the house, and Schofield. By the following morning, Appellant and the others had completely consumed the crack cocaine that Appellant brought to the house.

When Otto returned the next day, he was annoyed to learn that Appellant and the others had consumed the entire delivery of crack cocaine. In his defense, Appellant responded that the crack cocaine belonged to him and that he could dispose of it how he pleased. Appellant then asked Otto to provide him and the others with additional crack cocaine to smoke. As a result of this inquiry, an argument erupted between Appellant and Otto. In the end, Otto agreed to supply Appellant and the others with more crack cocaine and, therefore, the group continued to smoke throughout the remainder of the day.

Later that day, several witnesses inside the house at 2061 Orleans Street observed Appellant with a pearl-handled .25 caliber pistol. The witnesses testified that, on several occasions, Appellant pulled out the handgun and displayed it to the other individuals in the house. In addition, Panvini, Stinger, Daehling, and Mathis testified that they observed Otto with a chrome.380 caliber pistol concealed in the waistband of his pants.

On Saturday evening, Appellant's wife, Lisa King (King), appeared at the house in search of her husband. To avoid detection by King, Appellant disappeared into the upstairs middle bedroom of the house with Panvini. While hiding, Appellant informed Panvini that he could not see King while high. Appellant also told Panvini, "I'm broke. I got to rob somebody. I can't go home broke to my old lady." (Notes of Testimony (N.T.), June 26, 2002, page 76). After being told by Schofield and Otto that Appellant was not at the house, King proceeded to wait for Appellant inside his car, which was parked along Orleans Street. King remained inside Appellant's vehicle for several hours; however, Appellant never left the house. Some time later, Otto and Mawson provided King with a ride home in Appellant's car. Once again, Appellant and Mathis spent the night at 2061 Orleans Street, continuing to smoke crack cocaine into the early morning hours.

On the morning of Sunday, February 25, 2001, Appellant and Otto again became engaged in a heated argument over drugs. Appellant wanted Otto to supply him with more crack cocaine, or, in the alternative, with money to purchase additional crack cocaine. As the argument escalated, the men also quarreled as to the whereabouts of Appellant's car keys, which, according to Daehling, Otto had in his possession.³ Also, both men bickered over bullets allegedly missing from Appellant's.25 caliber handgun.

Later that morning, Appellant and Mathis left the house at 2061 Orleans Street and went for a short drive in Appellant's car. As Appellant and Mathis drove for approximately ten minutes, the two men smoked the remainder of the crack cocaine that Otto had supplied the previous day. While in the car, Appellant told Mathis that "he couldn't go home to [his wife] broke; that he had to get some money." (N.T., June 27, 2002, page 173). Upon returning to Schofield's residence, Appellant parked his car and entered the house; meanwhile, Mathis lagged behind to smoke a cigarette.

Once inside the house, Appellant and Otto again became engaged in an intense argument over drugs. Shortly before 10:00 a.m., on February 26, 2001, the argument became stronger and gunshots erupted. First, Mawson testified, Appellant shot Otto at point-blank range with his .25 caliber handgun. Mawson further testified that Appellant then proceeded to shoot him in the head at point-blank range with the same .25 caliber pistol. Finally, Appellant shot Schofield in the head at close range with Otto's.380 caliber handgun.

Panvini and Daehling, who were both in the upstairs back bedroom at the time, testified that they heard three gunshots emanating from inside the house. Daehling testified that, after hearing the gunshots, he woke up Stinger so that the three tenants could attempt to escape through the bedroom window. Instead of escaping, however, Panvini rushed downstairs to find Otto seated in a living room chair with a gunshot wound to the head. Panvini also noticed Mawson falling backwards with his hand pressed against his head. On the living room couch, Panvini observed the limp body of Schofield with a gunshot wound to the head. A short time later, Daehling and Stinger followed Panvini downstairs to see Otto with a bullet wound to the side of his head. At this point, Stinger called the police and Panvini reported the incident to the dispatch operator.

While waiting for the police to arrive at the scene, Panvini and Daehling searched Otto for potential drugs and money. Panvini testified that, prior to the shootings, Otto had $1,000.00 of personal money in his coat pocket, and $100.00 in proceeds from drug sales in his back pants pocket.⁴ After searching Otto, however, Panvini discovered that the $1,000.00 was missing from Otto's coat pocket. Likewise, Panvini and Daehling noticed that Otto's .380 caliber handgun had been removed from the waistband of his pants. When Panvini and Daehling stepped outside of the house, they also noted that Appellant's car was no longer parked along Orleans Street.

Mathis testified that, no more than a few minutes after Appellant entered the house, he heard the sound of gunshots. Mathis further testified that, approximately five to ten minutes after watching Appellant enter the house, Appellant quickly exited the house "walking real fast" toward his car. (N.T., June 27, 2002, page 251). Appellant then instructed Mathis to "get in the car, don't say nothing." Id. at 178. Once inside Appellant's car, Mathis watched as Appellant stuffed a handgun into one pants pocket and a large bundle of cash into another. Appellant then proceeded to drive to a friend's house on Collom Street, which was near his own residence.

Inside the house on Collom Street, Mathis observed Appellant count the money that he had previously stuffed in his pocket, which amounted to $1,000.00. Thereafter, Appellant's wife, King, arrived at the house. Mathis testified that Appellant informed King that "he just did a job" and that "the people in the house on Orleans Street were trying to hold us hostage." Id. at 184. Mathis testified that, moreover, Appellant was bragging to everyone in the house about the shootings, emphasizing that he had to "bust them mother-fuckers, leave no witnesses." Id. at 255. According to Mathis, Appellant instructed everyone in the house to "say nothing. You didn't see nothing." Id.

Within minutes after the shootings, police and rescue personnel responded to 2061 Orleans Street. When emergency personnel arrived, Otto and Mawson were still alive, but in serious condition. Both men were immediately transported to the hospital for further treatment. In the meantime, at 10:09 a.m., fire rescue medics pronounced Schofield dead at the scene. Later that same day, at 2:10 p.m., Otto was pronounced dead at the hospital. The cause of death for both victims was determined to be a single gunshot wound to the head. Remarkably, Mawson survived the gunshot wound to his head.⁵ After securing the scene at 2061 Orleans Street, the police investigated the house and found neither signs of a struggle nor signs of forced entry. In the living room area, the police recovered two .25 caliber fired cartridge casings and one.380 caliber fired cartridge casing. The police also found one .25 caliber live round and one .380 caliber live round in this same area. In addition, the police uncovered a note on an end table. The name "Manny," which is Appellant's acknowledged nickname, was transcribed on the piece of paper, along with the telephone number of Appellant's Collom Street residence. (N.T., June 26, 2002, pages 21-22).

The police also recovered bullet fragments from each of the victims. Specifically, .25 caliber bullet fragments were recovered from the heads of Otto and Mawson, and a .380 caliber bullet fragment was recovered from the neck of Schofield. All...