Commonwealth v. Sami

243 A.3d 991

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant

v.Naseema SAMI

No. 252 EDA 2020

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted November 4, 2020

Filed December 22, 2020

Kevin R. Steele, District Attorney, Norristown, for Commonwealth, appellant.

Robert Martin Falin, Assistant District Attorney, Noristown, for Commonwealth, appellant.

Edward F. McCann, Assistant District Attorney, Norristown, for Commonwealth, appellant.

Carrie L. Allman, Public Defender, for appellee.

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., LAZARUS, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.^*

OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.E.:

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County denying the Commonwealth's motion in limine seeking to introduce prior bad act evidence in the prosecution of Appellee Naseema Sami ("Sami") in her upcoming double murder trial. The trial court's order prohibits the Commonwealth from presenting or attempting to elicit evidence regarding Sami's possession or use of any drug other than marijuana. The Commonwealth has certified that the trial court's ruling will terminate or substantially handicap the prosecution. See Pa.R.A.P. 311(d).

After careful review, we affirm the trial court's order.

The trial court compiled the following factual background from the parties’ pretrial motions and responses:

On Sunday, March 10, 2019, at 8:17 p.m., the West Norriton Township Police Department was dispatched to check the welfare of Lila Frost who resided in the first floor apartment at 10 West Indian Lane, West Norriton Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. An upstairs tenant had not seen Lila Frost for several days although her vehicle was parked at the property. On Sunday, March 10, a concerned neighbor called the police to request that they check on Lila Frost.

West Norriton Police Sergeant Dale Butler and Patrol Officers Nathan Landes and Brian Bishop arrived on location and found the front door to the first floor apartment secured. With the assistance of a family member, the officers gained access to the first floor apartment through the rear door. In the bedroom, officers observed a female, Naseema Sami, age 43, and her son, age 6, emerge from underneath a bed. Sergeant Butler observed what he believed to be dried blood on Naseema Sami's hands. In a tub in the bathroom, Sergeant Butler located a deceased female, later identified as Lila Frost, age 78. Sergeant Butler located a second deceased female underneath a table in the kitchen, who later was identified as Lorraine Gigliello, age 68.

On Sunday, March 10, 2019, Montgomery County Detective Gregory Henry and West Norriton Township Police Detective Charles Naber interviewed Naseema Sami, a resident of Ridley Township, Delaware County. Sami told detectives she drove to 10 West Indian Lane on Thursday, March 7, 2019, because she had once resided there twenty (20) years earlier and desired a safe place to go. Sami stated that Frost, her previous landlord at 10 West Indian Lane, told Sami she could contact her if she ever needed anything.

Sami and her six year old son entered an unlocked door to the rear of Lila Frost's first floor apartment. Sami told detectives that no one was in the residence at the time. While inside the residence, Sami answered a knock at the front door and recognized a woman known to Sami as Lorraine. Sami thought that Lorraine was going to call the police on her. Sami began to strike Lorraine with several blows to the face and chest. Sami stated that, while fighting with Lorraine, Lila Frost entered the apartment from the rear door. Sami stated that she cut Lorraine with a tomato sauce bottle. Sami stated that she kicked Lila Frost into the bathtub and struck her in the head and neck until she died. Sami and her son did not leave the residence and were present when the police arrived three days later.

Trial Court Opinion (T.C.O.), 3/12/20, at 1-3 (paragraph spacing added).

After Sami was searched incident to arrest and consented to a search of her vehicle, no contraband was recovered from her person or her vehicle. Sami was not required to submit to drug testing upon her entry to prison. Investigating officers did not apply for a search warrant for Sami's home.

Several days after Sami's arrest, on March 13, 2019, Sami's brother, Ibraheem Choudhry ("Ibraheem"),¹ gave a statement to the police, in which he disclosed that Sami was a marijuana user. He also indicated he had recently gone to Sami's house to retrieve clothes for Sami's son and made the following observations:

I saw a bottle of generic Prozac in [Sami's] name, it looked pretty old. I also saw drug paraphernalia, a marijuana pipe on her bedroom dresser. In a box in her closet there was [sic] empty baggies with residue, foil ball with something in it, marijuana grinder and different pipes.

Pre-trial Hearing, 11/22/19 at 40-42 (quoting Statement of Ibraheem Choudhry, 3/13/19, at 3).²

On March 14, 2019, officers interviewed Sami's parents, Charlotte Sami and Muhammed Choudhry. Sami's mother, Charlotte Sami, admitted that "[w]e suspected that [Sami] was using drugs in the early 90's, I don't know what kind of drugs. That was based on her appearance at the time. I don't know about drugs or alcohol recently." T.C.O. at 6 (quoting Statement of Charlotte Sami, 3/14/19, at 2). Muhammed Choudhry recalled that his daughter, Sami, got into trouble with alcohol about fifteen years earlier, but did not think she currently used drugs or alcohol. T.C.O. at 6 (citing Statement of Muhammed Choudhry, 3/14/19, at 2).

On July 23, 2019, the prosecution charged Sami with first-degree murder (two counts), third-degree murder (two counts), and other related charges. On October 23, 2019, Sami filed a notice of insanity defense and a report prepared by defense expert Dr. David DeMatteo, who concluded that Sami satisfied the diagnostic criteria for Delusional Disorder and opined that she was experiencing delusional beliefs and intense paranoia at the time of the instant offenses such that "her ability to understand the nature/ wrongfulness of her actions was significantly compromised due to her severe mental illness." DeMatteo Expert Report, at 25.

Dr. DeMatteo also specified that during his evaluation, Sami denied any significant history of substance abuse, but admitted to using marijuana "occasionally" due to pain from cramps and in her neck. DeMatteo Report, at 14. In addition, Dr. DeMatteo had also interviewed Sami's parents, who disclosed that they believed that Sami "hid" her alcohol use from them and likely used drugs, but they did not have firm evidence of her drug use. Id . Sami's parents revealed that they had found in Sami's bedroom "a hash pipe and drug paraphernalia, an e-cigarette with a ‘thick, syrupy liquid,’ and a cigar box that contained a razor blade, ‘white powder’ and a ‘tablet.’ " Id . at 14-15. Sami's father told Dr. DeMatteo that Sami's "face was changing and her attitude was changing ... like drug people." Id . at 15.

On November 21, 2019, during a witness preparation meeting, Ibraheem provided additional details about the drug paraphernalia found in Sami's bedroom after the crimes at issue. Ibraheem had observed glass straws or pipes that were scorched on one end, as well as plastic baggies containing a translucent, brown crystalline residue that "might have been" methamphetamine. Statement of Ibraheem Choudhry, 11/21/19, at 2-3.

Ibraheem's belief was based on training he received in criminal justice classes he attended at Lockhaven University and in his completion of the Delaware County Police Academy in 2005. Id . Ibraheem did not indicate that he had any experience as a police officer. Id . Ibraheem shared that he had twelve years’ experience as a volunteer firefighter but admitted that he had not encountered any illegal drugs in his capacity as a firefighter. Id .

Ibraheem further stated that after he told his parents and defense investigators about his discovery, defense investigators removed the paraphernalia from the home. Id . at 3. Ibraheem also shared that when he last saw Sami, he was startled by her appearance as Sami "seemed to have lost a significant amount of weight and appeared frail" as compared to when he last saw Sami five to six months earlier. Id .

On November 22, 2019, the Commonwealth filed a motion in limine to compel discovery of the drug paraphernalia recovered from Sami's residence. That same day, the trial court held a hearing on the parties’ pretrial motions, which included, inter alia , the Commonwealth's motion to compel discovery.

At that hearing, the prosecutor and lead detective admitted that, at the time that they were made aware in March 2019 that drug paraphernalia was discovered in Sami's home, the prosecution did not understand the relevance of that evidence as it related to the murder charges. Pretrial motion hearing, 11/22/19, at 16-18. The detective did not apply for a search warrant for Sami's residence as he did not believe there was probable cause to do so. Id . at 16-18, 42-45. However, the prosecution had since learned that evidence of Sami's past drug usage factored into the opinion of the prosecution's psychiatric expert witness, Dr. John O'Brien, who was still in the midst of preparing his expert report. Id . at 17-18.

Michael Dayoc, the chief investigator for the Montgomery County Public Defender's Office, testified that on July 9, 2019, Sami's parents insisted that defense investigators take various items of drug paraphernalia from Sami's bedroom in their home. Id . at 63-65. Dayoc indicated that Sami's parents were afraid that they would be prosecuted and "locked up for this little bit of [drug paraphernalia] in the residence." Id . at 65. Defense investigators recovered a marijuana grinder, a vape pen, a marijuana bud, plastic baggies, a prescription pill bottle, rolling papers, a wooden box, and a receipt. Id . at 65-66. Dayoc admitted to throwing away some of the items, as he felt these items had no bearing on the instant case. Id . at 67. Dayoc...