J-S88037-16
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee :
:
v. :
:
ANTOINE WIDEMAN, :
:
Appellant : No. 568 EDA 2016
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence October 2, 2015
in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0011679-2014
BEFORE: OLSON, RANSOM, and STRASSBURGER*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Antoine Wideman (Appellant) appeals from the judgment of sentence
imposed following his convictions for aggravated assault, simple assault,
recklessly endangering another person, criminal conspiracy to commit
aggravated assault, robbery, possession of an instrument of crime, and
violations of the Uniform Firearms Act, 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 6101-6127. We affirm.
The trial court aptly set forth the relevant factual and procedural
history of this case as follows.
On July 15, 2014, at 4:30 Jane Piersall was taking several
bags out of her vehicle following a shopping trip. As she was
unloading her vehicle, Piersall observed [Appellant], another
male and two women walking toward her vehicle. Realizing that
that her wallet and cell phone were inside the vehicle, which had
its windows down, she yelled to the four people “to get the ‘F’
away from” her vehicle. The four persons — including [Appellant]
— “started being indignant” and “smart” to Piersall. The four
persons — including [Appellant] — also were trying to surround
*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-S88037-16
her. Piersall then said, “can y’all like move from in front of my
house.” In response, [Appellant] said, who the ‘F’ you talking to,
I ain’t ‘F’ing going nowhere.” Piersall replied, “I need you to
move from in front of my house.”
In response this exchange of words, the women started to
laugh. [According to Piersall, Appellant] then told the other male
that he was “about to stroll [her]; basically he about to beat
[her] up.” At this point, Piersall tried to defuse the situation. As
she was trying to “calm the situation down,” [Appellant]
snatched Piersall’s phone from her left hand. The four persons —
including [Appellant] — started to laugh at Piersall and then
walked off as a group. As they walked off, the other male told
her, “We going to see you again,” lifted up his shirt and made a
motion as if he was showing her a small handgun in his
waistband. Piersall observed a small bulge on the male’s waist.
Piersall returned to her house where her daughters were
inside. Piersall and her daughters then went outside to look for
the four persons so that she could make a full police report. A
few blocks from her house, Piersall observed [Appellant] who
was now standing across the street from her. [Appellant]
taunted Piersall, who started to call the police with her
daughter’s cell phone. In response, [Appellant] crossed the
street and hit her in the face with a small, black handgun. After
hitting her with the handgun, [Appellant] threw two punches
with a closed fist to her head. As [Appellant] was punching
Piersall, the other male and two women came from behind
[Appellant], rushed at Piersall and started to punch and kick her.
Piersall’s daughters were also assaulted by the group. The
assault ended only when [Appellant] and the three other persons
heard the sounds of police sirens. Following the assault, Piersall
went to Einstein Hospital where she was treated for injuries to
her face, wrist and arm.
Trial Court Opinion, 6/7/2016, at 1-2.
This case proceeded to a non-jury trial, after which Appellant was
convicted of 14 offenses. On October 2, 2015, Appellant was sentenced to
an aggregate term of 51 to 102 months of incarceration, followed by three
-2-
J-S88037-16
years of probation. The court also ordered Appellant to pay $150 in
restitution to Piersall. N.T., 10/2/2015, at 23-24.
The order of restitution was not included in the contemporaneous
written order filed on October 2, 2015. On October 5, 2015, the trial court
corrected this clerical error through an amended written sentencing order
which included the order of restitution. On October 13, 2015, Appellant,
through counsel, timely filed a post-sentence motion seeking reconsideration
of his sentence, which was denied by the trial court on January 15, 2016.
This timely-filed appeal followed. Both Appellant and the trial court have
complied with the requirements of Pa.R.A.P. 1925.
On appeal, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence
presented at trial to convict him of criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated
assault.1 Appellant’s Brief at 6. We address this issue mindful of our well-
settled standard of review.
In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we must determine
whether the evidence admitted at trial, and all reasonable
inferences drawn from that evidence, when viewed in the light
most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, was
1
In his brief, Appellant also challenges the discretionary aspects of his
sentence, Appellant’s Brief at 21-28; however, this issue does not appear in
his statement of questions involved or his summary of the argument,
Appellant’s Brief at 6, 15, and is, therefore, waived. Pa.R.A.P. 2116(b)
(stating that “An appellant who challenges the discretionary aspects of a
sentence in a criminal matter shall include any questions relating to the
discretionary aspects of the sentence imposed (but not the issue whether
the appellate court should exercise its discretion to reach such question) in
the statement required by paragraph (a). Failure to comply with this
paragraph shall constitute a waiver of all issues relating to the discretionary
aspects of sentence.”).
-3-
J-S88037-16
sufficient to enable the fact finder to conclude that the
Commonwealth established all of the elements of the offense
beyond a reasonable doubt. The Commonwealth may sustain its
burden by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. Further, the
trier of fact is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence.
Commonwealth v. Taylor, 137 A.3d 611, 614 (Pa. Super. 2016) (citation
omitted).
A person is guilty of conspiracy with another person or
persons to commit a crime if with the intent of promoting or
facilitating its commission he ... agrees with such other person
or persons that they or one or more of them will engage in
conduct which constitutes such crime ... or ... agrees to aid such
other person or persons in the planning or commission of such
crime[.]
18 Pa.C.S. § 903(a).
Circumstantial evidence [of criminal conspiracy] can include, but
is not limited to, the relationship between the parties, the
knowledge of and participation in the crime, and the
circumstances and conduct of the parties surrounding the
criminal episode. These factors may coalesce to establish a
conspiratorial agreement beyond a reasonable doubt where one
factor alone might fail. Aggravated assault, the crime underlying
[a]ppellant’s conspiracy conviction, occurs when a person
attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes
such injury intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly under
circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value
of human life.
Commonwealth v. Thomas, 65 A.3d 939, 943–44 (Pa. Super. 2013)
(citations and quotation marks omitted).
In [Commonwealth v.] French, [578 A.2d 1292,] 1293–
94 [(Pa. Super. 1990),] four defendants were convicted of
various crimes, including criminal conspiracy to commit
aggravated assault. The group included two siblings and their
paramours. Id. at 1293. The four defendants assaulted a lone
man, pinned him to the ground, and continued to beat him. Id.
When police arrived at the scene, the four defendants turned
-4-
J-S88037-16
their attack against the officers. Id. We determined that all
individuals involved acted as a group in concert. Id. at 1294. We
held that “the actors’ relationships and their conduct before,
during and after the criminal episode established a unity of
criminal purpose sufficient for the jury to find a conspiracy
beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 1294–95.
In Commonwealth v. Poland, [26 A.3d 518, 519 (Pa.
Super. 2011)] the defendant, along with a group of other
individuals, attacked a passer-by on the subway, battering her
face and knocking out one of her teeth. Together, the group fled
the scene of the attack. Id. at 520. Shortly thereafter, the victim
and a police officer identified the individuals who participated in
the attack. Id. at 520. In Poland, as in French, we determined
that the group of attackers had established a “unity of criminal
purpose.” Id. at 523; see also French, 578 A.2d at 1294–95.
We held that acting together before, during, and after an attack
on another individual suffices to show a unity of criminal purpose
for purposes of sustaining a conviction for criminal conspiracy to
commit aggravated assault. Id.
Thomas, 65 A.3d at 945.
Here, Appellant’s under-developed argument focuses on the nature of
the second encounter with Piersall, which he argues “escalated so quickly
that there was no time to enter into an agreement.” Appellant’s Brief at 20.
This argument is unavailing. As the trial court explained,
… there is sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence to support
the conviction for conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
During the first encounter with Piersall, [Appellant] acted in
concert with the three other individuals: (1) the group tried to
encircle Piersall while she was standing in front of her house; (2)
Piersall heard [Appellant] mention to the [other] male that he
intended to beat up Piersall; (3) the group walked away together
laughing after [Appellant] took Piersall’s cellular phone; (4) while
they walked away, the other male said ‘we going to see you
again’ and gestured toward Piersall as if he was carrying a small
firearm at his waist.
-5-
J-S88037-16
During the second encounter, [Appellant] taunted Piersall,
struck her face with a small, black handgun, and punched her
twice in the head with a closed fist. The other male and the two
females joined [Appellant’s] attack on Piersall. The four
individuals acted together when they punched and kicked Piersall
several times. The actions of the group — including [Appellant]
— went beyond their attack on Piersall as her daughters were
also assaulted. The attacks were thwarted only by the sound of
police sirens.
Given all of these circumstances, including that [Appellant]
and the three other persons arrived together, punched and
kicked Piersall together, and then left together, there was
sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence to support
[Appellant’s] conviction for criminal conspiracy to commit
aggravated assault.
Trial Court Opinion, 6/7/2016, at 3-4.
Based on the above, and our review of the record in the light most
favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, we conclude that the
evidence, including the obvious familiarity between Appellant and the other
persons who assaulted Piersall and their collective knowledge of and
participation in the crime, was sufficient to sustain Appellant’s conviction for
criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. See Thomas, 5 A.3d at
943–44. Accordingly, we affirm Appellant’s judgment of sentence.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
-6-
J-S88037-16
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 2/16/2017
-7-