Commonwealth v. Becker

192 A.3d 106

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania

v.Matthew Scott BECKER, Appellant

No. 784 MDA 2017

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted February 7, 2018

Filed June 26, 2018

Edward J. Rymsza, Williamsport, for appellant.

Travis S. Anderson, Assistant District Attorney, Lancaster, for Commonwealth, appellee.

BEFORE: STABILE, J., NICHOLS, J., and RANSOM, J.^*

OPINION BY NICHOLS, J.:

Appellant Matthew Scott Becker appeals from the order denying his first Post Conviction Relief Act¹ (PCRA) petition seeking relief from his convictions for first-degree murder and third-degree murder of an unborn child.² Appellant claims that the PCRA court erred in rejecting his ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) claims. We affirm.

Appellant's conviction arises from the shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend, Allison Walsh (Walsh), in the evening of August 12, 2011. Earlier that day, Appellant purchased the firearm used in the shooting, a semiautomatic .22 caliber pistol. The shooting occurred inside the bedroom Appellant and Walsh were sharing in the home of Appellant's parents. Walsh, who was lying in bed, died instantly from a single .22 caliber gunshot wound to her head. Appellant's and Walsh's unborn child died later from traumatic asphyxiation.

First responders arrived and asked Appellant for the gun. Appellant ultimately retrieved it from underneath the bed. The weapon did not have a magazine inserted. However, when a first responder pulled back on the slide, an unfired cartridge came out of the handle of the pistol.

Appellant gave two statements to Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) investigators in charge of the case.³ Appellant, shortly after the shooting, gave his first statement in the early morning hours of August 13, 2011, after waiving his Miranda⁴ rights. Appellant asserted that he intended to clean the .22 caliber pistol, but did not know a round was chambered. According to Appellant, he loaded the pistol and began ejecting unfired cartridges from the magazine by operating the pistol's slide. He then removed the magazine from the gun and was attempting to ease the hammer down with his thumb when the weapon accidentally discharged. Appellant also indicated that at some point in the evening, Walsh began to ignore him and read her book, and that he intended to "devil" her, which he clarified, meant to make her talk to him instead of reading her book.

After Appellant gave his first statement, Appellant was involuntarily committed to a mental health institution for suicidal thoughts based on statements made to the investigator. The investigation into the shooting continued while Appellant was committed. In addition to the one unfired cartridge recovered from the firearm on the night of the incident, one fired .22 caliber casing and a magazine loaded with eight rounds were found in the room in which the shooting occurred. One unfired .22 cartridge was found on an armchair in the same room. A box of .22 caliber ammunition, which was missing eleven cartridges, was near the armchair.

Investigators also received information that the safety features of the pistol should have prevented it from firing if the magazine was removed and the shooter did not have a full grip on the handle. Additionally, Appellant's former girlfriend Danielle Detweiler and her sister Devon Detweiler contacted the investigators. The Detweilers described incidents in which Appellant pointed a firearm at Danielle and shot her with a gun that shot plastic "airsoft"⁵ pellets.

Investigators subsequently asked Appellant to be re-interviewed, and Appellant agreed. On August 18, 2011, Appellant's father drove Appellant to the PSP barracks. Appellant was advised of his Miranda rights and gave a second statement. During this second interview, investigators confronted Appellant with information that the pistol's safety features should have prevented the accidental discharge. Appellant continued to assert that the weapon accidentally fired, stating it was "dumb fuck luck." N.T. Trial, 3/7/13, at 2538. However, he acknowledged that he could have placed the magazine into the weapon to release the hammer. Appellant also admitted that he and Walsh had arguments and that, in one instance, she became afraid because he either was holding a firearm or there was a firearm near him. He also acknowledged that people could be cruel when they get angry.

While Appellant was giving his second statement on August 18, 2011, Appellant's family retained Robert Bacher, Esq., to represent Appellant. Attorney Bacher attempted to see Appellant at the PSP barracks while Appellant was being interviewed. However, troopers prevented Attorney Bacher from contacting Appellant.

Appellant was charged with homicide and murder of an unborn child, and the Commonwealth sought the death penalty. Appellant retained Dennis G. Charles, Esq., and Gavin P. Holihan, Esq. was appointed as co-counsel (collectively, trial counsel).

Appellant filed an omnibus pretrial motion on May 30, 2012. Appellant sought to suppress his statements to the PSP investigators claiming that he "did not knowingly, intelligently, voluntarily and/or explicitly waive his Miranda rights[.]" Omnibus Pretrial Mot. for Relief, 5/30/12, at 4.

The trial court held suppression hearings on August 15 and 16, 2012. The trial court entered an order denying Appellant's suppression motion on January 11, 2013. The trial court found that Appellant was not in custody during the first or second interviews and did not invoke his right to silence during the second interview. Trial Ct. Mem. Op. & Order, 1/11/13, at 3 (unpaginated).

At trial, the Commonwealth asserted that Appellant shot Walsh with the specific intent to kill her. Of relevance to this appeal, the Commonwealth elicited testimony from PSP Corporal Robert Courtright that Appellant appeared to offer his first statement voluntarily. The jury heard an audio recording of Appellant's first statement and both the Commonwealth and the defense questioned Corporal Courtright using transcriptions of Appellant's second statement.

The Commonwealth also presented the following evidence of Appellant's prior bad acts: (1) testimony from his former girlfriend Danielle Detweiler that Appellant previously pointed a firearm at her and shot her with an "airsoft" pellet gun when they dated; (2) testimony from Devon Detweiler corroborating Danielle's testimony; (3) testimony from Gregory Miller, Appellant's friend, that Appellant verbally abused and threatened Walsh with violence in 2011; and (4) a July 2011 Facebook exchange between Walsh and her sister Megan stating that Walsh wanted to leave Appellant, but Walsh was fearful of Appellant's reaction and believed Appellant would pull a gun on her.

Appellant did not testify, but called his parents to testify about their observations on the night of the shooting. Appellant also called a PSP trooper to testify about favorable statements Appellant made during his two interviews.

During closing arguments, the Commonwealth asserted that the objective evidence belied Appellant's statements regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting and that Appellant changed his story when confronted with evidence during the second interview. According to the Commonwealth, Appellant's prior bad acts indicated that when he became angry, he would brandish firearms or shoot "airsoft" guns. N.T. Trial, 3/11/13, at 2931. The Commonwealth argued that Appellant, in his second statement, indicated that he could become cruel when he was angry. In short, the Commonwealth emphasized that Appellant, having deliberately shot Walsh in the head during a dispute, "lied" in an attempt to cover up the murder. See N.T. Trial, 3/11/13, at 2936–37.

On March 13, 2013, the jury found Appellant guilty of first-degree murder and murder of an unborn child. The jury deadlocked during the penalty phase, and on March 28, 2013, the trial court sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment for murder and a consecutive twenty to forty years' imprisonment for the murder of an unborn child.

Appellant took a direct appeal. This Court affirmed the judgment of sentence on March 11, 2015. Commonwealth v. Becker , 1801 MDA 2013, 2015 WL 7433059 (Pa. Super. filed Mar. 11, 2015) (unpublished mem.).

In affirming Appellant's conviction, this Court adopted the trial court's opinion that Appellant voluntarily waived his Miranda rights at the second interview. Id. at 1–2; see also Trial Ct. Mem. Op. & Order, 1/11/13, at 3 (unpaginated). This Court also concluded that the trial court properly admitted Danielle and Devon Detweilier's prior bad acts testimony that Appellant previously brandished a firearm and shot Danielle Detweiler with an "airsoft" gun, as well as Miller's testimony regarding Appellant's relationship with Walsh. Specifically, we concluded those matters were "probative to the issue of accident and mistake and degree of guilt in this case" and rebutted Appellant's "characterization of the relationship [with Walsh] and the shooting." Becker , 1801 MDA 2013, at 6, 8.

However, this Court questioned the admissibility of Walsh's Facebook message to her sister under the state of mind exception to the rule against hearsay. Id. at 9–14. Nevertheless, we determined that the admission of the message was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of Appellant's guilt. Id. at 13–14. This Court, in particular, emphasized that there was a live round in the gun after it was fired, which refuted Appellant's contention that he believed the gun was unloaded when he attempted to ease the hammer to a safe position. Id. Appellant did not seek allowance of appeal in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.⁶

On April 6, 2016, Appellant timely filed the counseled PCRA petition giving rise to this appeal. The PCRA court held an evidentiary hearing at which both trial counsel testified. Appellant also called Attorney Bacher to testify regarding his attempt to see Appellant during Appellant's second interview with investigators on August 18, 2011.

On ...