OPINION BY MUNDY , J. : Appellant, Staci Dawson, appeals from the November 12, 2014 aggregate judgment of sentence of 71 to 143 months' imprisonment, followed by 84 months' probation, imposed after she was found guilty of two counts each of sale or transfer of firearms and criminal conspiracy, and one count of filing a false report. 1 After careful review, we affirm. The trial court summarized the relevant factual history of this case as follows. On February 13, 2013, [Appellant]...
OPINION BY OLSON , J. : The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appeals as of right from the trial court's February 21, 2014 orders, granting the motions to suppress that were filed by Romeo Phillip Gagliardi, Romeo J. Gagliardi, and Valentino Gagliardi (hereinafter, collectively, "the Gagliardis"). We vacate the trial court's orders and remand. On August 24, 2012, the Commonwealth applied for a warrant to search the residence of 2627 Emily Street, in Philadelphia. Attached to the application...
OPINION BY DONOHUE , J. : Brian Keith Spenny ("Spenny") appeals from the October 15, 2014 judgment of sentence entered by the Erie County Court of Common Pleas. On appeal, Spenny raises two challenges related to discretionary aspects of his sentence. After careful review, we conclude that the trial court erroneously included certain prior, out-of-state convictions when calculating his prior record score and determining that he was a repeat felony offender for sentencing purposes. We...
OPINION BY WECHT , J. : The Commonwealth appeals the trial court's August 11, 2014 order. In that order, the trial court granted Jihad Ibrahim's motion to suppress evidence. For the reasons contained herein, we reverse the order, and we remand for further proceedings. On July 19, 2013, Philadelphia Police Officer Joseph Marrero and his partner observed Ibrahim riding a bicycle in the wrong direction on a one-way street in Philadelphia. When the officers attempted to stop him, Ibrahim...
OPINION BY JENKINS , J. : Lawrence Semenza, captain of the Old Forge Fire Department and chief of the Old Forge Police Department, was accused of committing various sexual offenses against a minor, N.B., a volunteer firefighter, in 2004-05. A jury found Semenza guilty of corruption of minors 1 and failure to report suspected child abuse 2 but acquitted him of unlawful contact with a minor, 3 indecent exposure 4 and indecent assault. 5 The trial court sentenced Semenza to an aggregate...
OPINION BY WECHT , J. : The law firm of Dilworth Paxson, LLP, and Dilworth attorneys Joseph Jacovini, Lawrence McMichael, and Marjorie Obod (collectively, "Dilworth") appeal the trial court's order denying their preliminary objections to the complaint of Jeffrey E. Perelman and JEP Management, Inc. (collectively, "Jeffrey"). Jeffrey has sued numerous parties, including Dilworth, for wrongful prosecution under the Dragonetti Act, 42 Pa.C.S. 8351-55, alleging Dragonetti violations...
OPINION BY GANTMAN , P.J. : Appellant, Thomas A. Walsh, appeals pro se from the order entered in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, which denied his motion for DNA testing pursuant to Section 9543.1 of the Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"). 1 We affirm. The relevant facts of this case are as follows. On October 9, 2003, Appellant was released from prison on parole following his convictions for terroristic threats and harassment against his wife, Dinah Walsh ("Victim"). A...
OPINION BY DONOHUE , J. : Appellant, Stefon Johnson ("Johnson"), appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on January 28, 2015 in the Court of Common Pleas, Erie County. Upon review, we find no support for Johnson's claim that the sentencing court abused its discretion by imposing a sentence that is manifestly excessive. We further conclude that the sentencing court properly considered Johnson's prior record score, as opposed to the number of prior convictions in his criminal record,...
OPINION BY MUNDY , J. : Appellant, Jeffery Williams, appeals from the July 18, 2014 aggregate judgment of sentence of 90 days to 6 months' imprisonment, imposed after he was found guilty of four counts of DUI and one count of possession of marijuana. 1 After careful review, we affirm. We summarize the relevant factual and procedural history of this case as follows. On October 6, 2012, Officer Alvina McClain of the Philadelphia Police Department was on a patrol around 600 Stenton Avenue....
OPINION BY SHOGAN , J. : Appellants, John and/or Jane Doe, appeal from the trial court's December 1, 2014, order granting Gary and Nancy Veloric's motion to compel discovery. After careful review, we quash. The trial court summarized the factual and procedural history of this case as follows: [Appellees] Gary Veloric and Nancy Veloric [("the Velorics")] filed the Doe Motion seeking a court order compelling [Appellants] John Doe and Jane Doe to appear for a deposition. After briefing and...
OPINION BY GANTMAN , P.J. : Appellant, Michael Hoffman, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, following his open guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI"). 1 We vacate and remand for IPP evaluation and resentencing. The relevant facts and procedural history of this appeal are as follows. On January 1, 2011, Appellant crashed his car into another vehicle in a Philadelphia parking garage. Police found Appellant...
OPINION BY OTT , J. : The Commonwealth appeals from the order entered May 12, 2014, in the Juvenile Division of the York County Court of Common Pleas, terminating the delinquency supervision of minor, D.C.D. The juvenile court granted D.C.D.'s petition for early termination of his supervision to facilitate his transfer to Southwood Psychiatric Hospital. On appeal, the Commonwealth contends the juvenile court abused its discretion in granting D.C.D.'s motion when (1) other treatment options...
OPINION BY BENDER , P.J.E. : Wendy P. Glavin (Wendy), one of three children of Carl K. Zucker (Decedent) and Syma H. Zucker (Syma), appeals from the order entered on August 15, 2014, that granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings in favor of Scott R. Zucker (Scott) and Karyn I. Greco (Karyn), Wendy's siblings, to the exclusion of Wendy. 1 After review, we affirm. We begin by quoting the orphans' court's rendition of the facts and procedural history of this matter: The [D]ecedent,...
OPINION BY LAZARUS , J. : The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed by the Court of Common Pleas of York County after Appellee, Christopher C. Grow, entered a guilty plea to driving under the influence (DUI). Specifically, Grow pled guilty to second-offense DUI with refusal to submit to chemical testing of his blood alcohol content (BAC). 1 For this offense, Grow was sentenced to serve six months of intermediate punishment with forty-five days of...
OPINION BY BOWES , J. : NBC Seventh Realty Corporation ("NBC") appeals from the trial court's order denying its motion to vacate the trial court's order granting partial summary judgment 1 in favor of the heirs of Albert and Katherine Vosburg (collectively the "Vosburgs") 2 and its own motion for summary judgment. We reverse and remand for the entry of summary judgment in favor of NBC. This litigation involves property in Luzerne County that was conveyed by Albert M. and Katherine...
OPINION BY JENKINS , J. : A jury found Gene Donta Carter guilty of sixteen counts of delivery of a controlled substance, 1 two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, 2 and one count each of criminal conspiracy, 3 criminal use of communication facility, 4 and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity. The trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of 104 — 215 years' imprisonment, including sixteen mandatory minimum sentences for sales of cocaine and heroin...
OPINION BY GANTMAN , P.J. : Appellant, Quawi Smith, appeals from the order entered in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, which denied his first petition brought pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"). 1 We affirm. The relevant facts and procedural history are as follows: On March [30], 2006, following a bench trial, [Appellant] was found guilty of first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime. On May 19, 2006, this court imposed a sentence of life...
OPINION BY BOWES , J. : Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania ("Blue Cross") and its affiliate First Priority Health ("First Priority") appeal from the August 8, 2014 discovery order requiring Blue Cross to produce information concerning a quality-of-care review that it conducted regarding the incident at issue in this medical malpractice case. The trial court rejected Blue Cross's invocation of the privilege established by the Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act, 63 P.S. 425.1,...
OPINION BY STABILE , J. : The Commonwealth appeals from the March 17, 2014 order of the Court of Common Pleas of York County granting Appellee, Stephanie J. Salter's, motion to suppress evidence obtained following a traffic stop. We reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. In relevant part, the trial court summarized the facts and the procedural history of the case as follows: In the early morning hours of September 21, 2013, Officer Corey Sheaffer was on routine...
OPINION BY GANTMAN , P.J. : Appellant, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, appeals from the orders entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which precluded the testimony of the victims at trial because the Commonwealth refused to provide written transcripts of the victims' video interviews. We reverse and remand for further proceedings. The relevant facts and procedural history of these consolidated appeals are as follows. Appellee Robinson was charged with involuntary...
