Commonwealth v. Williams

241 A.3d 1094

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania

v.Rashawn David WILLIAMS, Appellant

No. 1386 MDA 2019

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted June 15, 2020

Filed October 08, 2020

Helen A. Stolinas, State College, for appellant.

Martin L. Wade, Assistant District Attorney, Williamsport, for Commonwealth, appellee.

BEFORE: BOWES, J., OLSON, J., and MUSMANNO, J.

OPINION BY OLSON, J.:

Appellant, Rashawn David Williams, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on December 17, 2018,¹ following his jury trial convictions for first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, tampering with physical evidence, and obstruction of administration of law.² Upon review, we affirm.

We summarize the facts and procedural history of this case as follows. On June 22, 2017, at approximately 1:10 a.m., Williamsport City Police responded to an emergency call regarding a stabbing at the corner of Locust Street and Center Place in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. N.T., 10/15/2018, at 23-24. Police discovered "a white male, mid-30s laying on the sidewalk ... bleeding heavily." Id. at 24. The investigating officer performed CPR after not finding the victim's pulse. Id. at 29. Emergency medical personnel also responded, but the victim died later at the hospital. Id. at 33.

Three unrelated eyewitnesses on the scene told police that just prior to the stabbing they heard someone repeatedly yelling, "Stop it. You're killing me." Id. at 47-83. Each of the eyewitnesses ran toward the screams until they came upon the bleeding victim who was lying on the street. Id. One of the eyewitnesses, John Miller, who was approximately 50 feet away from the incident, described a "scuffle" wherein the victim was on the ground, with another man standing over him. Id. at 47-51. Another witness, Travis McCarthy, who was in his apartment on Locust Street watching a movie, ran outside and toward the screams. Id. at 54-56. Although he did not see a weapon, McCarthy saw a "person [ ] on top of another" swinging both arms. Id. at 57. McCarthy could not identify the alleged attacker, but saw him run into a residence, later identified as 321 Locust Street, where Appellant lived. Id. at 57-58. McCarthy saw the victim lying in a pool of blood and yelled at the purported attacker to come back outside. Id. Beth Luckner who was outside gardening nearby also responded to the screams and saw the victim lying in a pool of blood. Id. at 72-73.

She witnessed McCarthy yelling at the alleged attacker and pointing at the residence where he retreated. Id. at 73. Luckner called the police, waited for their arrival, and assisted with rendering aid to the victim. Id. at 74-75.

When police arrived, they surrounded the residence at 321 Locust Street. Id. at 81. Police apprehended Appellant on the back porch. Id. at 84. Appellant was visibly sweaty and dropped a cellular telephone when police arrested him. Id. at 85. When later told he was to be charged with homicide and related offenses, Appellant claimed the victim came into his home and that he had the right to defend himself and his family. Id. at 113.

In a subsequent search of Appellant's residence, police recovered a damaged knife from the kitchen sink. Id. at 163. The tip of the knife's blade was missing. Id. Police also testified that they smelled the strong odor of bleach and found a bucket of bleach water on the floor in the kitchen. Id. at 32 and 105. From the second floor, police recovered a man's slipper and white towels that appeared to be stained with blood. Id. at 158-163. Police additionally observed and collected samples of drops of blood on the living room television, inside and outside of the exterior front door threshold, and from the front porch. Id. at 164-165. There were broken spindles and traces of blood on the railing around the front porch. Id. at 123. In addition, police observed a plastic outdoor chair with bloodstains overturned in the yard. Id. at 124. Police also documented bloodstains on a wall leading to Locust Street where the victim was found. Id. at 127-129. The bloodstains were located approximately seven to eight feet from the ground, which police later described at trial as "cast off." Id.

In a subsequent autopsy, a forensic pathologist confirmed that the victim died as a result of 35 stab wounds to the face, neck, back, chest, arms, and hands. N.T., 10/17/2018, at 104-135. The pathologist recovered a knife tip lodged in the victim's cheekbone. Id. at 116. A microscopic comparison of that knife tip with the knife blade recovered from Appellant's sink revealed "one entity before being fractured." N.T., 10/16/2018, at 93. Subsequent testing revealed the presence of the victim's DNA on the recovered bloody slipper, a bloody white towel found in a second floor bathroom, the blood found on the living room television, as well as inside and outside the threshold to the front door. Id. at 62-83. There was no blood found on the knife recovered from the sink. Id. at 39.

A six-day jury trial commenced on October 15, 2018 wherein the Commonwealth presented the aforementioned evidence. Appellant testified in his own defense. In his appellate brief, he summarizes his testimony as follows:

The defense asserted that [Appellant] suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [ (PTSD) ] and had been the victim of sexual assaults as a minor. He testified that [the victim] entered his home without his permission, grabbed [Appellant's] groin, and attempted to sexually assault him. [Appellant] grabbed a knife to scare him, but [the victim] kept coming at him. Then [Appellant] said he blacked out or went into a rage and did not recall stabbing [the victim] but acknowledged doing so.

Appellant's Brief at 8.

More specifically, Appellant avers he testified as follows:

With respect to the events of the evening, Appellant testified that the decedent came through an unlocked door into his apartment [and] touched his thigh and [buttocks] without his permission. [Appellant] repeatedly asked the decedent to leave the residence, but he refused to do so, saying, "Pussy, I'm not leaving here until I get what I want." After saying this, the decedent touched [Appellant's] groin and when [Appellant] tried to swat his hand away, [the victim] sprayed mace at [Appellant], while repeatedly saying, "I'm not leaving until I get what I want." A struggle ensued with the decedent touching [Appellant] in his "private area." When [Appellant] went to the kitchen, the decedent threw a chair at [Appellant], and in response, [Appellant] picked up a knife to scare the decedent, but it didn't work and [Appellant] kept trying to push him away. They continued to struggle when the decedent maced [Appellant] in the neck and chest, and a third time in the face. It was at this point that [Appellant] stabbed the decedent for the first time.

Eventually, they ended up outside, because [Appellant] wanted the decedent out of the house, but when [Appellant] attempted to get back into the apartment, the decedent pulled on [Appellant's] shirt and he fell to the bottom of the steps, where the decedent threw a chair at him. [Appellant] tried to ascend the stairs to get back into the apartment. At that point, the decedent was grabbing [Appellant] by his lower half and had hold of his groin, and [Appellant] blacked out, and stabbed the decedent to get him away from him. By this time, the two had fallen over the bannister of [Appellant's] front porch, and the decedent got up and walked across the street and collapsed, with [Appellant] following to make sure he didn't get up and come back after him.

Id. at 9-10 (record citations omitted).

To rebut Appellant's defense, at trial, the Commonwealth also presented evidence of a secret romantic relationship between Appellant and the victim. The victim's mother testified that her son was openly gay. N.T., 10/15/2018, at 38. The victim often wore women's capris pants, lipstick, and women's perfume and he regularly carried a purse. Id. at 38-39. Police recovered two cellular telephones from the victim—one on the street in a pool of the victim's blood and the other from inside the victim's purse. N.T., 10/16/2018, at 122-123. The victim's mother confirmed one of the victim's cellular telephone numbers. N.T., 10/15/2018, at 38. As previously mentioned, police also recovered a cellular telephone that Appellant dropped on the back porch when he was apprehended. N.T., 10/16/2018, at 123. In an interview with police, Appellant confirmed his cellular telephone number. N.T., 10/17/2018, at 30-31. Police served search warrants on the cellular telephone service providers and obtained the records for all three cellular telephone numbers for the month prior to the stabbing. N.T., 10/16/2018, at 28-34. At trial, the Commonwealth presented evidence of specific text messages between Appellant and the victim. Id. at 47-55. During the month leading up to the incident, Appellant and the victim contacted each other 363 times. Id. at 44-45. The Commonwealth also presented records indicating that Appellant initiated lengthy, late-night conversations with the victim almost daily. N.T., 10/18/2018, at 58-60. The Commonwealth confronted Appellant with evidence of the internet browsing history from the cellular telephone associated with him, which showed searches for "shemale porn videos," "transvestite porn," "free gay porn," and "hermaphrodite porn." Id. at 80-82. Appellant denied conducting those internet searches and claimed that another roommate staying with him at the time had access to his cellular telephone. Id. at 67-68 and 80-82. Appellant, however, confirmed that audio call records showed that there were telephone calls from Appellant's cellular telephone to the victim immediately after the aforementioned internet searches. Id. at 80-82. Appellant denied having photographs depicting partially naked men stored on his cellular telephone. Id. at 68. Upon cross-examining Appellant, the Commonwealth presented evidence of a photograph of a man in a jock strap...