Commonwealth v. Carter

320 A.3d 140

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania

v.Paris Elias CARTER

No. 432 WDA 2023

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued March 5, 2024

Filed: July 25, 2024

Appeal from the Order Entered April 10, 2023, In the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, Criminal Division, at No(s): CP-10-CR-0000935-2021, William R. Shaffer, J.

Robert M. Zanella Jr., District Attorney, Butler, for Commonwealth, appellant.

Matthew T. Ness, Pittsburgh, for appellee.

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., PANELLA, P.J.E., and BECK, J.

OPINION BY LAZARUS, P.J.:

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appeals from the order,¹ entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, granting Defendant Paris Elias Carter’s motion in limine to preclude "other bad acts" evidence from being admitted in Carter’s criminal homicide trial.² After careful review, we affirm in part and reverse in part. Specifically, we affirm that portion of the trial court’s order excluding evidence showing that, while in Atlanta, Georgia, Carter non-fatally shot his brother, Dante Carter,³ in the back of the head in a rideshare vehicle and we reverse that portion excluding evidence of Carter’s flight to Atlanta.

The facts of this case are as follows. On May 17, 2021, around noon, four individuals—Tashane Henry, David Hines,⁴ Dante,⁵ and Carter,⁶—shared drinks at a bar in New Castle, Pennsylvania. See N.T. Preliminary Hearing, 6/30/21, at 7. Henry testified that, on that date, he was aware that Hines owned two firearms, and, while at the bar, Henry observed that Hines possessed one firearm while Carter possessed the other. Id. at 23. Henry saw the firearms in both Hines’ and Carter’s waistbands at the bar. Id. After leaving a second bar—where the group continued to eat and drink—the four men returned to Hines’ girlfriend’s⁷ house, where everybody was "smokin’ " and "chillin’." Id. at 7.

At some point, Hines told the group that he wanted to drive to Pittsburgh that day and wanted the others to join him on the ride. Id. at 8. There was a "little dispute" between Hines and Carter on the porch, but Henry testified that it "wasn’t deep at all," and everyone was "chillin’," "rappin’," "shaking hands, [and] smokin’ [a marijuana blunt] together."⁸ Id. at 8, 25-26. On cross-examination, Henry testified that both Carter and Hines, during their brief argument, each told the other, "[I’m] like you[, too]." Id. at 27. Henry further detailed—though perhaps not very clearly— the brief encounter, which, he said, lasted less than one minute, as follows:

And I [(Henry)] was like: ["]What you all talking about?["] He’s like[,] "it was like nice." Kept saying that, ["]I’m like you and you’s like me.["] And I’m like[, "]What you all talking about?["] Like, ["T]his my man, this my cousin, and that’s that. It ain’t nothing." They shook hands and went back to smokin’ and chillin’ and talkin’.

Id.

At some point that afternoon, Henry agreed to join Hines on the proposed trip to Pittsburgh. Id. at 8. After an hour or so at Hines’ girlfriend’s house, at approximately 3:00 p.m., the four men left in Hines’ girlfriend’s silver Jeep and headed for Pittsburgh. At some point during their trip, the group "smoked a blunt," id. at 29, and after leaving a gas station, Henry was driving, Hines was in the front passenger seat, Dante was seated behind Hines, and Carter behind Henry. Id. at 9. Henry testified that Hines and Carter continued to possess firearms at this point. Id. at 29. Further, Henry explained that while driving on the highway after leaving the gas station, seemingly unprompted and without warning, Carter fired three shots at Hines’ head, missing with the first shot but hitting Hines twice thereafter, killing Hines instantly. Id. at 9-10, 31, 35. Henry testified that he was blinded by the gunpowder from the shots fired. Id. at 35. Henry further testified that, immediately after the shooting, Carter stated, "I heard you was about this, [ ] you bitch," which Henry took to mean that Carter was stating that Carter was "a gangster." Id. at 36, 39.

Henry explained that he was unaware of any conflict between Carter and Hines at that point. Id. at 10, 31, 33-35. Henry further described that, within seconds of the shooting, he was shaking and pulled over the car, id. at 10-11, 39, and asked why Carter had shot his friend, Hines. Carter then demanded to drive and took over driving the group for a short period, speeding down the highway, before exiting it. Id. at 11, 39. Henry testified that Carter drove for approximately fifteen minutes before pulling over "on a weak part of the rocks," id. at 11, that gave way under the weight of the car, causing the Jeep to tilt and become stuck at that location. See id.

Henry explained that, once the silver Jeep became stuck, Carter, with a hand in his pants, urged the men to run away through the woods. Id. at 11. Henry, Dante, and Carter, left the vehicle on foot, leaving Hines deceased in the passenger seat of the Jeep. The men eventually arrived at a campground. Id.

Angelina Lopez, Henry’s girlfriend at the time, testified at the preliminary hearing that she picked up the three men from that campground in her gold minivan.⁹ Id. at 11, 54-55. Lopez testified that no one wanted to talk during the drive back from the campground and the men told her that Henry and Carter had gotten into an argument. Id. at 56. Once back at Henry’s residence, Henry testified that he showered, and he and Carter then abandoned their clothes in a nearby dumpster. Id. at 11.

About thirty minutes after arriving at Henry’s residence, Lopez testified that there was a conversation in the backyard wherein Carter admitted to the shooting, as follows:

[ ] [Carter] came outside. [Carter] started shaking his head. And I said[, "]What happened, what really happened, why were you arguing[?"] And he said[, "]Man,["] and he just kept shaking his head. And he said[, "]I had to get him out of here, I had to down him.["] And I said[, "D]own who[?] What are you talking about[?"] I kept asking what he was talking about. I said, ["W]hat, did you drop somebody?["] … And he said[, "N]o.["]

And he said, ["M]an, man," and he kept going like this. And I said[, "]What happened, what happened[?"] And he said[ ] [Henry] told him to come outside and to talk to me about what happened. And then [Henry] comes outside, and he said[, "]Tell her, tell her, tell her what really happened. Tell her that you killed my man.["] And I ran[, and said, "W]ho the ‘f’ did you kill?["] And he said[, "]Tell her that you killed Chop, tell her you killed Chop.["] And I took my food in the house and I put the chicken that I was going to put on the grill and I put it in the refrigerator.

Id. at 56-57, 66. When asked to elaborate on the statements relating to "downing] his man," Lopez testified as follows:

He said … he had to ["]down him.["] And I said[, "D]own who? Who are you talking about?["] That’s what I said[, "]What did you do?["] And then he said[, "]Man,["] and then I said[, "]What did you do?["] And he said[, "]I had to down him. I had to get him, get him going, get him outta here,["] or something like that. And I said[, "Did you fuckin’ kill somebody?["] And he said[, "]Man,["] - and [Henry] said[, "]Tell her, tell her you killed my man, you killed my man."

Id. at 57. Lopez further testified that, during that conversation, although he never expressly admitted to the shooting, Carter stated, "He had to go. He had to go." Id. at 67. After that conversation, Dante was crying on the floor and told Carter, "Man[,] you’re so young, you got so much potential." Id. at 58. Thereafter, at Henry’s residence, Carter informed Henry that he wished to be brought to Philadelphia so he could then proceed to Atlanta. Id. at 12.

The following day, at approximately 9 a.m., Henry, Lopez, their four children,¹⁰ Carter, and Dante, drove to Philadelphia in Lopez’s gold van. Id. at 44. At some point during the drive, police pulled the van over, and Henry and Lopez both testified that, as the officer approached the stopped van, Carter let a gun fall under the baby seat and retrieved it immediately after the officer left. Id. at 46, 59, 68-69. Henry and Lopez dropped off Carter and Dante in Philadelphia and eventually reported the murder to police.

From Philadelphia, the Commonwealth alleges that Carter and Dante made their way to Fulton County, Georgia. On May 20, 2021, police had Henry place a recorded call to Dante, in which he discussed why Carter shot Hines. The Commonwealth alleges that forty minutes later, Carter shot Dante in a ride-share vehicle, which shooting was recorded by surveillance cameras in the car. The Commonwealth also alleges that, during the investigation of that shooting, the ride-share driver told police that, while driving Carter and Dante, he heard a person on the other end of the phone with Dante tell Dante to hand Carter the phone, and the ride-share driver remembers Dante complying with that request. See N.T. Motion for Reconsideration/Clarification Hearing, 4/10/23, at 12.

The Commonwealth charged Carter with criminal homicide on August 24, 2021, in connection with Hines’ murder. On December 30, 2021, the Commonwealth filed notice of its intent to admit evidence of the Georgia shooting against Carter in the Hines murder case, pursuant to Pa.R.E. 404(b). Specifically, the Commonwealth sought to introduce evidence that: (1) following Hines’ shooting, Carter and Dante fled to Atlanta; (2) while in Atlanta, Carter shot Dante in the back of the head;¹¹ and (3) Dante survived the Georgia shooting. See Commonwealth’s Pa.R.E. 404(b) Notice, 12/30/21, at 1.

On February 15, 2023, Carter filed a motion in limine, seeking to prevent the Commonwealth from introducing the evidence it identified in its Rule 404(b) notice. On April 3, 2023, the court issued an order finding it premature to rule on the motion in limine. The following day, the Commonwealth sought reconsideration and/or clarification of the court’s decision. After a hearing, on April 10, 2023, the...