Commonwealth v. McKnight

1

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. DANTE MCKNIGHT Appellant

No. 649 MDA 2023

No. J-S07006-24

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

March 26, 2024

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered March 29, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Civil Division at No(s): CI-21-01914

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., KUNSELMAN, J., and COLINS J.^[*]

MEMORANDUM

LAZARUS, P.J.

Dante McKnight appeals from the judgment of sentence,^[1] entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County, following his conviction for six counts of indirect criminal contempt as a result of violating temporary and final Protection from Abuse (PFA) orders.^[2] See 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 6114. The trial court sentenced McKnight to a flat sentence of eighteen months' incarceration, followed by eighteen months of probation.^[3] After careful review, we affirm.

M.G.O. (victim) and McKnight were in a relationship for several years; the parties lived together, with the victim's children, N.G. and L.B. (collectively, Children), at 427 Locust Street in Lancaster. On March 29, 2021, the victim filed a PFA petition against McKnight, on behalf of herself and Children, alleging several recent incidents of abuse. See PFA Petition, 3/29/21, at ¶ 8 (alleging prior evening McKnight argued with victim, told her he knew she had been sleeping with various men from Facebook, broke property in the parties' home, yelled and threatened her life, showed her his handguns, and threatened to kill her); id. at ¶ 9 (alleging, couple months prior, McKnight placed gun to victim's head, said he would kill her and their family if she ever left him, and was "yelling and screaming"); id. (alleging, about one year ago, McKnight "beat the hell out of" the victim's son because he had "disrespected" McKnight); id. (alleging two years ago, after argument, McKnight slapped victim and threw her down on bed); id. (alleging "[o]ver the years, [the victim has] had black eyes, stitches in [her] head from being hit with a scale[,] and that every[ ]day [she and McKnight] fight and [h]e threatens to kill [her] and says he will kill [her] family").

On that same date, the court entered a temporary PFA order against McKnight that prohibited him from contacting abusing, harassing, stalking, threatening, or attempting to threaten to use physical force against the victim and Children. See Temporary PFA Order, 3/29/21, at 1. The temporary order also evicted and excluded McKnight from the parties' Lancaster residence. Id. at 2. A sheriff's return of service, included in the record, documents that on March 31, 2021, at 11:38 AM, the temporary PFA was served on McKnight "via Phone" and that the server "advised [McKnight] of all provision[s] of the [PFA] order along with the court date and time." Sheriff's Return of Service, 4/1/21. The server also indicated that he advised McKnight that he was evicted from the parties' residence and that McKnight "acknowledged that he understood all provisions along with the penalties of the [PFA] order." Id. In addition, a "Notice of Hearing and Order," dated March 29, 2021, included in the certified record, advised McKnight that he had been sued in court and that there would be a hearing on the matter at the Lancaster County Courthouse on April 20, 2021. See Notice of Hearing and Order, 3/29/21, at 1. The notice indicated that, in addition to other individuals, it was distributed to both McKnight and McKnight's attorney. Id. at 2.

On May 11, 2021, the court held a final PFA hearing, at which the victim and Officer Elliot Corado^[4] of the Lancaster Bureau of Police testified.^[5]McKnight was not present at the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court entered a final PFA order, effective for three years. The final order prohibited McKnight from abusing, harassing, stalking, threatening or attempting to threaten to use physical force against the victim and prohibited McKnight from contacting the victim "by telephone or by any other means, including through third persons." Final PFA Order, 5/11/21, at 1. The final order also indicated that McKnight was "served in accordance with Pa.[]R.C.P. [] 1930.4 and provided notice of the time, date, and location of the hearing scheduled in this matter." Id. at 2. The order stated that McKnight remained evicted from the parties' residence, was to stay away from the residence, and "prohibited [him] from having ANY CONTACT" with the victim. Id. (emphasis in original). The order also granted the victim temporary primary physical custody of Children, prohibited McKnight from possessing or acquiring any firearms, directed McKnight to relinquish any firearm in his possession, and prohibited McKnight from stalking or harassing the parties' son.^[6] Id. at 3.

The final PFA order was filed on May 11, 2021. The docket indicates that the order was filed with the Prothonotary of Lancaster County, that Pa.R.C.P. 236 notice was sent, and that the following parties were copied: "PSP, LCPD, Plaintiff via Atty M. Bleecher, [and] Defendant." Lancaster County Prothonotary Docket, Entry "6," 5/11/21 (emphasis added).

In April, September, November, and December of 2021, the victim alleged that McKnight violated the PFA orders by contacting her through Facebook Messenger and sending her seven threatening handwritten letters and notes from prison.^[7] As a result of allegedly violating the PFA orders, McKnight was charged with committing indirect criminal contempt, at four separate reference numbers.^[8] On September 7, 2022, the court held an indirect criminal contempt hearing during which the trial judge took judicial notice of the temporary PFA order and the final PFA order. See N.T. Contempt Hearing, 9/7/22, at 7. McKnight, who was present at the hearing, engaged in the following exchange with the trial judge:

Trial Judge: I just want to be clear on the record.

Mr. McKnight, looking at the contents of these letters is very disturbing. There are threats of death in here. There are threats of death to the [victim,] but also others in here.

The Facebook messages are also threatening to the [c]ourt. It's also concerning to the [c]ourt what you wrote in these letters, not just that you sent them, but what was written in here. I'm looking specifically at the one statement that I saw that - - this one especially: Every last one of you will die in the worst way, getting burned alive, snitches get stitches, nobody going to stop me.

I find that extremely disturbing. The fact that you had an order against you and not only did you violate it, but you violated it with threats of death to what I assume are family members of yours. You threatened her and threatened some of the children that everyone is going to die. You even said burning and that nobody is going to stop you.

Based on that I find you to be a danger, not only to [the victim], but to the rest of the family. Based on that, I'm going to sentence you on each count to three to six months in prison. Each one is going to be consecutive to each other. I have to protect each individual from your threats to extreme violence against them.

McKnight: Okay.

* * *

Trial Judge: Any questions regarding the sentence.

McKnight: No, ma'am. I apologize to you for having to look at those letters.

Id. at 33-35 (emphasis added).

McKnight timely filed a notice of appeal and court-ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) concise statement of errors complained of on appeal. On appeal, McKnight presents the following issue for our consideration:

Was the evidence presented by the Commonwealth insufficient to prove[,] beyond a reasonable doubt[,] that [] McKnight committed any of the indirect criminal contempts for which he was charged, where the Commonwealth produced no evidence that [] McKnight had been given notice of the [t]emporary and [f]inal PFA [o]rders which he had allegedly violated?

Appellant's Brief, at 5.

"When reviewing a contempt conviction . . . we are confined to a determination of whether the facts support the trial court decision. We will reverse a trial court's determination only when there has been a plain abuse of discretion." Brumbaugh, supra at 109-10.

Indirect criminal contempt "is committed by obstructive conduct that occurs outside the court's presence." Commonwealth v. Perkins, 292 A.3d 1144, 1147 (Pa. Super. 2023) (citation omitted).

Where a PFA order is involved, an indirect criminal contempt charge is designed to seek punishment for violation of the protective order. . . . To establish indirect criminal contempt, the Commonwealth must prove: 1) the [o]rder was sufficiently definite, clear, and specific to the contemnor as to leave no doubt of the conduct prohibited; 2) the contemnor had notice of the [o]rder; 3) the act constituting the violation must have been volitional; and 4) the contemnor must have acted with wrongful intent.

Brumbaugh, supra at 110 (emphasis added) (citations and quotation marks omitted).

Here, McKnight argues that the Commonwealth failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he had notice of either the temporary or final PFA orders because he was not present for the final PFA hearing in May 2021, the method of service on the final PFA order is not specified, and the mere fact that McKnight "was served with previous [indirect criminal contempts] was not sufficient to prove that he had notice of the [t]emporary or [f]inal PFA [o]rder[s] where the orders 'did not explain what the PFA prohibited, or the consequences of violating it.'" Appellant's Brief, at 10. Finally, McKnight contends that his reference "to the courts in his letters to [the victim]" also fails to prove that he received notice of the PFA orders. Id. at 10-11.

In Commonwealth v. Stevenson, 283 A.3d 196 (Pa. 2022) our Supreme Court held that "to...