J-S79025-14
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
NELSON JAMES SIMMONS,
Appellant No. 567 EDA 2014
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence of February 2, 2009
In the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-39-CR-0001338-2008
BEFORE: ALLEN, OLSON and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY OLSON, J.: FILED JANUARY 13, 2015
Appellant, Nelson James Simmons, appeals from the judgment of
sentence entered on February 2, 2009, as made final by the denial of his
post-sentence motion on February 11, 2009. We affirm.
The trial court accurately summarized the factual background of this
case as follows:
[On January 9, 2006, at 7:25 a.m.], the Pennsylvania State
Police w[ere] contacted by Jon Tyner [(“Tyner”)], a businessman
from Ohio, and dispatched to the Mobil[] Station[] on
Catasauqua Road in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Tyner
reported that at approximately 5:50 [a.m.], two [] men knocked
on his motel room door at the Red Roof Inn on Catasauqua Road
in Lehigh County, claiming that they had caused damage to his
rental vehicle that was parked directly outside of his motel room.
Tyner consequently opened the motel room door and [Appellant]
and [c]o-[d]efendant Alexander Lopez [(“Lopez”)] entered the
motel room. [] Lopez pointed a black semi-automatic handgun
with silver trim at [Tyner]. Tyner was placed face down on the
bed in the motel room, and his head was covered with a [t]-
* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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shirt. [Appellant] and [] Lopez then ransacked the motel room
and took $80.00 in cash and a cellular phone valued at
approximately $100.00 to $175.00. Neither [Appellant] nor
[Lopez] had permission to take the cell phone or the cash.
In an effort to obtain more money, [] Lopez took Tyner’s credit
cards. [Appellant] left with the credit cards to withdraw funds
from Tyner’s bank account. At one point, [] Lopez placed the
handgun to Tyner’s head and a brief struggle ensued. Tyner
realized that [] Lopez was becoming increasingly agitated and
consequently suggested that he would accompany [Lopez] to the
bank to withdraw money. [] Lopez wrote a note on the back of
one of Tyner’s business cards to inform [Appellant] of the new
plans. [Appellant] had Tyner place a knit hat over his head. As
[] Lopez and Tyner were leaving the motel room, [Appellant]
returned. Therefore, all three [] men drove in Tyner’s rental
vehicle to the Bank of America, also located on Catasauqua
Road. [Appellant] and Tyner unsuccessfully attempted to
effectuate a withdrawal at the bank. [Lopez] remained in
Tyner’s vehicle. While [Appellant] and [Lopez] were conversing
with each other and appeared to be distracted, Tyner seized the
opportunity to escape. Tyner fled to the Mobil[] gas station on
Catasauqua Road and contacted the authorities.
[Tyner]’s rental car, a Pontiac Gram Am, was subsequently
found in an alley behind the Red Roof Inn and a black and silver
B[e]rsa .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun was located on the
front passenger seat of the vehicle. In the motel room, the
authorities found [Tyner’s] business card with the note on it.
Fingerprints were lifted from Tyner’s business card on which
[Lopez] had written the note to [Appellant]. These fingerprints
matched those of [] Lopez. The authorities also recovered three
[] credit cards and a gray [t]-shirt. No latent fingerprints were
attained from the three [] credit cards. Additionally, the
surveillance tapes from the Bank of America were retrieved and
depicted [Appellant] and Tyner utilizing the bank’s ATM machine.
Furthermore, a knit hat was recovered from [Tyner].
On June 20, 2007, notification was received that the DNA profile
obtained from the knit hat matched that of [Appellant]. As a
result of this DNA match, the authorities attempted to locate
[Appellant]. On November 1, 2007, Trooper Raymond Judge of
the Pennsylvania State Police learned that [Appellant] was in
Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest Campus, Allentown, Lehigh
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County, as a result of being the victim of a shooting. Thereafter,
a search warrant was executed on November 14, 2007, ordering
that [Appellant] submit two [] vials of blood. The DNA obtained
from [Appellant]’s vials of blood matched the DNA found in the
knit hat. Consequently, after Mirandizing[1 Appellant,] and
with his consent, [Appellant] was interviewed on December 6,
2007. [Appellant] provided a verbal and written statement to
the police which implicated him in the [crime. Appellant] also
identified his [co-conspirator as] Lopez.
Trial Court Opinion, 3/11/14, at 1-2 (internal citations, honorifics, and
footnote omitted; first and third paragraph breaks added).
The procedural history of this case is as follows. On April 22, 2008,
Appellant was charged via criminal information with kidnapping,2 robbery,3
robbery of a motor vehicle,4 possession of a firearm by a prohibited person,5
theft by unlawful taking,6 receiving stolen property,7 simple assault,8 and
conspiracy to commit robbery.9 On November 20, 2008, Appellant was
convicted of kidnapping, robbery, robbery of a motor vehicle, and conspiracy
1
See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
2
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2901(a)(2).
3
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3702.
4
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3701(a)(1)(ii).
5
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6105(a)(1).
6
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3921.
7
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3925.
8
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2701(a)(3).
9
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 903.
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to commit robbery. He was subsequently sentenced to an aggregate term of
29 to 80 years’ imprisonment. Appellant’s sentencing guidelines were
calculated using the deadly weapon enhancement/possessed matrix.
Appellant filed a notice of appeal which this Court dismissed.
Commonwealth v. Simmons, 4 A.3d 198 (Pa. Super. 2010) (per curiam)
(unpublished memorandum), appeal denied, 14 A.3d 827 (Pa. 2011). On
January 5, 2012, Appellant filed a pro se petition pursuant to the Post-
Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546. Counsel was
appointed and, on April 12, 2012, the PCRA court granted Appellant’s
petition and reinstated his direct appellate rights nunc pro tunc. Appellant
filed his nunc pro tunc appeal and, on March 20, 2013, this Court affirmed
Appellant’s judgment of sentence. Commonwealth v. Simmons, 69 A.3d
1297 (Pa. Super. 2013) (unpublished memorandum).
On April 24, 2013, Appellant filed a second pro se PCRA petition.
Counsel was appointed and, on January 16, 2014, the PCRA court granted
Appellant’s second PCRA petition and once again reinstated his direct
appellate rights nunc pro tunc. This timely appeal followed.10
Appellant presents one issue for our review:
Whether the [t]rial [c]ourt erred in sentencing [Appellant] under
the [d]eadly [w]eapon [e]nhancement/[p]ossessed [m]atrix
10
On February 18, 2014, the trial court ordered Appellant to file a concise
statement of errors complained of on appeal (“concise statement”). See
Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). On March 3, 2014, Appellant filed his concise statement.
On March 11, 2014, the trial court issued its Rule 1925(a) opinion.
Appellant’s lone issue on appeal was included in his concise statement.
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without the jury finding [Appellant] did [p]ossess a [d]eadly
[w]eapon during the commission of the crime[?]
Appellant’s Brief at 4.11
Appellant argues that his right to a jury trial, as guaranteed by the
Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, was infringed when he
was sentenced pursuant to the deadly weapon enhancement without a
factual finding by the jury that he possessed a deadly weapon during the
commission of the crime. Such a claim challenges the legality of his
sentence. See Commonwealth v. Akbar, 91 A.3d 227, 238 (Pa. Super.
2014) (citation omitted). As such, our standard of review is de novo and our
scope of review is plenary. Commonwealth v. Gentry, 101 A.3d 813, 817
(Pa. Super. 2014) (citation omitted).
As this Court has recently explained:
In Apprendi [v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000)], the
Supreme Court of the United States held that other than the fact
of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a
crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be
submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stated another way, it is unconstitutional for a legislature to
remove from the jury the assessment of facts that increase the
prescribed range of penalties to which a criminal defendant is
exposed. It is equally clear that such facts must be established
by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Subsequently in Alleyne v. United States, 133 S.Ct. 2151
(2013), the [Supreme Court of the United States] held that any
fact that increases the mandatory minimum sentence for a crime
11
To the extent that Appellant challenges the discretionary aspects of his
sentence, that claim is waived for failure to include it in his statement of
questions presented and failure to develop that position in the argument
section of his brief. See Pa.R.A.P. 2116; 2119(a).
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is an element that must be submitted to the jury and found
beyond a reasonable doubt. The Alleyne majority reasoned that
while Harris v. United States, 536 U.S. 545 (2002), limited
Apprendi to facts increasing the statutory maximum, the
principle applied in Apprendi applies with equal force to facts
increasing the mandatory minimum. This is because it is
impossible to dissociate the floor of a sentencing range from the
penalty affixed to the crime, and it is impossible to dispute that
facts increasing the legally prescribed floor aggravate the
punishment. Thus, this reality demonstrates that the core crime
and the fact triggering the mandatory minimum sentence
together constitute a new, aggravated crime, each element of
which must be submitted to the jury.
Commonwealth v. Conaway, 2014 WL 6678948, *6 (Pa. Super. Nov. 26,
2014) (internal alterations, ellipses, quotation marks, and citations omitted).
In this case, Appellant argues that the deadly weapon enhancement
must be considered an element of the offense and, therefore, must be found
beyond a reasonable doubt by the jury. Under the Sentencing Code, “When
the [trial] court determines that [an] offender possessed a deadly
weapon during the commission of the current conviction offense, the [trial]
court shall consider the [deadly weapon enhancement/p]ossessed
[m]atrix[.]” 204 Pa.Code § 303.10(a)(1) (emphasis added). The deadly
weapon enhancement/possessed matrix provides longer guideline sentences
than the basic sentencing matrix but does not change the statutory
maximum sentence or impose a mandatory minimum sentence. Under well-
settled Pennsylvania law, sentencing guidelines – in contrast to minimum
sentencing provisions – are not mandatory in nature. See Commonwealth
v. Newman, 99 A.3d 86, 95 (Pa. Super. 2014) (en banc). Therefore, as
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with all sentencing guidelines, a trial court may sentence outside of the
guidelines, i.e., either above or below, as calculated using the deadly
weapon enhancement/possessed matrix.
This Court has explicitly rejected the same argument advanced by
Appellant and held that a trial court may find that the deadly weapon
enhancement applies without offending Alleyne or Apprendi.
Commonwealth v. Buterbaugh, 91 A.3d 1247, 1270 (Pa. Super. 2014)
(en banc); see Commonwealth v. Valentine, 101 A.3d 801, 813 (Pa.
Super. 2014) (Gantman, P.J., concurring)12 (citation omitted) (“The
sentencing court[ ] could apply a deadly weapon enhancement . . . without
running afoul of [this Court’s Alleyne jurisprudence.]”). Accordingly,
Appellant’s right to a jury trial was not infringed by the trial court’s finding
that the deadly weapon enhancement applied in this case.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 1/13/2015
12
All three panel members joined President Judge Gantman’s concurring
opinion.
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