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Commonwealth v. Sexton
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
October 28, 2019
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
v.
SEAN SEXTON Appellant
Appeal
from the Judgment of Sentence December 14, 2017 In the Court
of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-51-CR-00007512016
BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., KUNSELMAN, J., and STEVENS [*] , P.J.E.
OPINION
STEVENS, P.J.E.
Appellant
Sean Sexton appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in
the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on December
14, 2017, following his convictions of Intimidation of
Witnesses or Victims, Terroristic Threats with Intent to
Terrorize Another and Stalking.[1] We affirm.
The
trial court aptly set forth the relevant procedural history
and facts herein as follows:
PROCEDURAL
HISTORY
Between May of 2015 and May of 2016, [Appellant] was arrested
and charged with various offenses under four separate Bills
of Information. At CP-51-CR-0005229- 2015, [Appellant] was
arrested on May 4, 2015, and charged with, inter-alia, Rape
by Forcible Compulsion1 and numerous other related
offenses. At CP-51-CR-0011605-2015, [Appellant] was arrested
on August 5, 2015, and charged with Simple
Possession.2 At CP-51-CR-0000751-2015, [Appellant]
was arrested on November 17, 2015, and charged with 1)
Intimidation of Witnesses or Victims, 3 2)
Terroristic Threats with Intent to Terrorize
Another4, and 3) Stalking.5 At
CP-51-CR-0010608-2016, [Appellant] was arrested on May 16,
2016, and charged with Forgery.6
On May 18, 2017, by agreement of counsel, 7
[Appellant] proceeded to trial only on the two bills of
information relating to the charges of rape and witness
intimidation.8 At the conclusion of his waiver
trial, on May 19, 2017, [Appellant] was found guilty on the
charges of witness intimidation, terroristic threats and
stalking. [Appellant] was found not guilty on all rape
related charges.
Prior to the commencement of his sentencing hearing on
September 21, 2017, [Appellant] entered into non-negotiated
pleas of guilty on the remaining open charges of simple
possession and forgery.9 At the conclusion of his
sentencing hearing, [Appellant] was sentenced to a period of
confinement in a state correctional facility of 7 to 15 years
on the charge of witness intimidation followed by five
years['] probation. On charges of terroristic threats,
stalking, simple possession and forgery [Appellant] was
sentenced to concurrent periods of probation of 5 years each,
to be served consecutively to his period of confinement, for
an aggregate period of confinement of 7 to 15 years followed
by 5 years['] probation.
On September 25, 2017, [Appellant] timely filed a Motion for
Post Sentence Relief pursuant to the Pennsylvania Rules of
Criminal Procedure, Pa.R.Crim.P. 720(A)(1), seeking an arrest
of judgement, [sic] a new trial, or, in the alternative, a
reconsideration of his sentence pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P.
720(B)(1)(a)(ii), (iv) and (v). The [c]ourt, after a hearing
held on December 14, 2017, denied [Appellant's] motions
seeking a new trial. However, on considering
[Appellant's] argument, the [c]ourt modified
[Appellant's] sentence, imposing an aggregate sentence of
6 ½ to 13 years['] incarceration followed by 5
years['] probation.
On January 2, 2018, [Appellant] timely filed the instant
appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.10 On
January 8, 2018, this [c]ourt filed and served on [Appellant]
an Order pursuant to Rule 1925(b) of the Pennsylvania Rules
of Appellate Procedure, directing [Appellant] to file and
serve a Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal, within
twenty-one days of the [c]ourt's Order. On January 15,
2018, [Appellant] timely filed his statement of "Matters
Complained of on Appeal."
EVIDENCE AT TRIAL
The complaining witness, [A.Y.], [2] testified that she had been
best friends with [A.L.] since 2013, when they were both in
the ninth grade. Eventually, beginning in April of 2015, they
drifted apart when [A.L.] went to live with her aunt. During
their friendship, she frequently visited [A.L.] at her home
on Reed Street in the City of Philadelphia, which she shared
with [Appellant]. (N.T., 5/19/17, pgs. 13-17, 25)
[A.Y.] testified that, during their friendship, [A.L.]
confided in her stories of being sexually molested by
[Appellant]. (N.T., 5/19/17, pgs. 14-18) After [A.L.]
eventually reported the assaults, [A.Y.] became a witness
involving charges of rape and sexual assault against
[Appellant].11 On April 28, 2015, as part of their
investigation into the sexual assault charges, she gave a
formal statement to the Special Victims Unit of the
Philadelphia Police Department, with regard to their
conversations. (N.T., 5/19/17, pgs. 13, 14, 18, 40)
Subsequently, in October of 2015, [A.Y.] testified that, as
she approached her normal bus stop on her way to school, she
encountered "Graffiti" reading; "[A.L.] is
lying about rape." (N.T., 5/19/17, pgs. 21, 24, 46)
After this incident, a school friend texted her a picture of
"Graffiti" written on the bench at her bus stop,
again reading: "[A.L.] is lying about rape." In
addition to these two pieces of "Graffiti," she
encountered a third piece, written on a trashcan at the bus
stop, reading; "Kill Squill." She testified that
"Squill" is a "nickname me and [A.L.] had that
we called each other. It's in SpongeBob" and that
[Appellant] was aware of this. (N.T., 5/19/17, pgs. 21-23,
43, 44, 47, 48)
She also testified that this stop was known to [Appellant],
as he "did see me at the 25 bus stop before. He was
walking past. He said some of his friends lived near
there." (N.T., 5/19/17, pg. 42) She also testified that,
being scared by the "Graffiti," she told her
mother, who then called the police to report it. (N.T.,
5/19/17, pgs. 46, 49, 50)
[A.L.], testified that, after her father's death in 2010,
[Appellant] was appointed as a co-guardian and moved into the
family home to care for her and her brother. (N.T., 5/18/17,
pgs. 49-52, 96) She continued to live in the home with
[Appellant] until April of 2015, when she eventually told her
aunt that she had been sexually abused by [Appellant]. (N.T.,
5/18/17, pgs. 62, 65)
[A.L.] testified that, commencing in 2013, she began
confiding the details of this abuse, in [A.Y.]. (N.T.,
5/18/17, pgs. 61, 62) She also testified that [A.Y.] had been
to her house multiple times and was well known to [Appellant]
(N.T., 5/18/17, pg. 77)
Although she did not personally see the "Graffiti,"
she testified that [Appellant] "was big into
graffiti," they had "spray painted my walls"
and that she was familiar with and knew [Appellant's]
handwriting. Comparing the photographs of the
"graffiti" to a note previously written to her by
[Appellant], she identified the writing in the
"Graffiti" as that of [Appellant]. (N.T., 5/18/17,
pg. 72, 73, 75, 78, 135-137, 139)
She also testified that she did not use the bus stop where
the "Graffiti" was found, stating that it is used
by [A.Y.] every day to go to school. She also identified
"Squill" as "a term of endearment. It's a
nickname me and my friend had come up [with] for each other.
It's actually silly. We were really young, it was
freshman year. It's from SpongeBob, Squilliam." It
was a nickname she used frequently in her home, in referring
to [A.Y.]. (N.T., 5/18/17, pg. 72, 73, 75, 78)
1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §3121(a)(1)
2 35 Pa.C.S.A. §780-113(a)(16)
3 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 4952
4 18 Pa C.S.A. §2706(a)(1)
5 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2709.1
6 18 Pa.C.S.A. §4101
7 (N.T., 5/18/17, pgs. 9-12)
8 CP-51-CR-0005229-2015 and CP-51-CR-0000751-2015
9 CP-51-CR-0011605-2015 and CP-51-CR-0010608-2016
10 [Appellant] is only appealing his conviction at
51-CR-0000751-2015 on the charges of witness intimidation,
terroristic ...