Although the decision to proceed on appeal without oral argument may be a tactical one that counsel is entitled to make, see Supreme Court Rule 32, like every *146 tactical decision, that option must be selected on some reasonable basis designed to effectuate the client's interests. During those days it was often difficult to separate the mobsters from the Teamster bosses. If the Commonwealth believes that the evidence is insufficient to support the court's findings of fact or its legal conclusion that counsel was ineffective, the Commonwealth may appeal to the appropriate appellate court as was done in the present case. 121 and 122, he concurs in the results. Moldea thinks Sheeran embellished the story by making himself the trigger man, but that otherwise there's a lot to learn from the book. One of the judges dissented from the order denying the motions. It's an easy book to read, and even fun, if that's an appropriate word for a book about murder and union corruption. The Commonwealth's most important witness was Francis J. McGrath, a janitor at the local and a member of the union. The Irishman is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses written by Sheerans lawyer Charles Brandt. (Supp. The opinion similarly disposes in blanket fashion of other points not discussed in the opinion. We held that this evidence together with other circumstantial evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction for murder in the second degree. During the course of the trial, McGrath was skillfully cross-examined by experienced counsel concerning various inconsistent remarks made to the police, at the Medical Examiner's inquest and to other individuals. Furthermore, counsel's filing of a highly unorthodox "brief" which failed to comply with our rules and which appears to be only a preliminary draft and his failure to argue the appeal orally support the PCHA court's legal conclusion that Sullivan was deprived of effective assistance of appellate counsel in his initial appeal. Moreover, it is not required that the prosecution exclude all possibility of a third party committing the act. 121 and 122 at p. 10. Teamsters Local 107 : February 25, 2023: Contact Elected Officials! The decision not to present a defense is a tactical one and will not be deemed ineffective stewardship if there is a reasonable basis for that position. [5], *181 Having failed in two attempts in this Court for relief based on the fact that the Court had been evenly divided in its decision and the charge that no briefs or argument had been made in this Court, appellant then filed a petition with the court of common pleas seeking relief under the Post Conviction Hearing Act. Commonwealth v. Breaker, supra; Commonwealth v. Wilson, 429 Pa. 458, 240 A.2d 498 (1968); Commonwealth ex rel. We will submit on briefs." Rather, no action was taken until two months after the indictments were returned when appellant's new counsel moved to quash the indictments that had been returned. As previously noted, *166 the test for determining effectiveness of counsel is based upon the reasonableness of his representation at time of trial. Flight is just as consistent with fear as with guilt, id., and appellant's "flight" consisted of no more than leaving the building, as did others. President: William Hamilton . The words refer to the splatter of blood when the deed is done. On the evening of June 17, 1966, John Gorey, an officer of Teamsters Union Local 107, and his friend, Rita Janda, were fatally shot at the local union's Philadelphia office building. Daz Ayuso transfers the importance of sport at all ages for the health and integral formation of the person: "Help to live without giving up". retain the opportunity of obtaining a whole new direct appeal via the Post Conviction Hearing Act." When deciding a claim of ineffective appellate counsel, the hearing court must determine if the course chosen by counsel had some reasonable basis designed to effectuate his client's interests. They were not needed to clarify the pathologist's testimony, and were of no value in proving intent to kill. Then he fell halfway under the desk. That Act was designed to allow a defendant to assert after trial and conviction the existence of some egregious fault or flaw in the prior proceedings which denied him the benefits of a fair trial and thus deprived him of due process of law or equal protection of the laws or both. Crime & Corruption; Undemocratic Leaders; Unfair Labor Practices; Political Money; Union Profiles. The claim that prior counsel's failure to file a brief and to make oral argument entitles the defendant to a renewed presentation of his case to this Court was considered and rejected by this Court in 1973; it must surely now be considered res judicata. See also Commonwealth v. Beecham, 450 Pa. 197, 299 A.2d 651 (1973). 5 Perina BLVD. This was the world in which Sheeran operated. It purported to grant, instead, *184 a nunc pro tunc appeal, apparently accepting defendant's contention that his purported appeal of 1969 was not an appeal after all because counsel's brief had not been "carefully prepared" and oral argument had been waived. Commonwealth v. Powell, 428 Pa. 275, 278-79, 241 A.2d 119, 121 (1968). These five photographs show the victim lying on his back on the floor with his head up against the wall, with eyes closed, chin on shoulder, left hand on chest. Union membership had risen more than 390 percent between 1935 and 1941 to 530,000. . See Commonwealth v. Sullivan, 446 Pa. 419 286 A.2d 898 (1969). Moreover, he attempted to persuade McGrath to leave the premises by repeatedly suggesting *151 that the cleaning be left until Sunday. These reasons advanced for reargument were premised on two introductory averments in the petition: (1) that the judgments were affirmed by an evenly divided Court; and (2) that the docket "does not reflect the filing of a brief nor the argument of his cases by prior counsel on appellant's behalf." | Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 | 856.912.4007. See Pa.R.Crim.P. [9] Judge DiBona, prior to his elevation to the bench, and Mr. Peruto, served as counsel for appellant. Upon review of the record we are satisfied that the defense explored the issue as well as he deemed profitable. We believe that the statutory allocation of judicial responsibility in the determination of claims raised under the PCHA necessarily reflects the institutional capabilities of trial and appellate courts. It adds some details and intimate connection to Hoffa that only an insider can provide. Teamsters interested in how the Teamsters Union became corrupted should read it. On the evening of June 17, 1966, John Gorey, an officer of Teamsters Union Local 107, and his friend, Rita Janda, were fatally shot at the local union's Philadelphia office building. He returned about 15 minutes later and found that the offices had all been locked, the lights turned off and the building deserted. These objections however fail to assess the court's remarks in their proper context. I cannot agree with the majority that the evidence and the inferences the Commonwealth seeks to draw from it are sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Sullivan was guilty of murder. There is only one photograph in the first group. Sheeran was charged in the DeGeorge hit but beat that rap on a technicality. Moreover, the jury was properly instructed on all possible verdicts and received adequate instructions on the applicable law. Please you should figure out smth before visiting Madrid: - Madrid holds the largest drug market of Europe, which leads to very high violent crime rates. Allen, a degenerate drug dealer as well as mob associate, was cooperating with the FBI at the time and was wearing a body wire. Sullivan inquired about the janitor's presence and instructed McGrath to wait until Sunday night to clean, since a union meeting was scheduled for that date and the building would require cleaning after the gathering. We fail to see how this procedure will differ from that required by the statute. It is next argued that the trial court improperly admitted hearsay statements into evidence. That is, we were not persuaded that prior counsel had been ineffective and therefore did not believe that Sullivan's appeal rights had been denied. [5] The basic holding of the majority, as justification for entertaining the instant appeal, is that the lower court was correct in finding that Sullivan's earlier appellate counsel were ineffective, that this ineffectiveness denied Sullivan his right of appeal, and that the proper remedy for this is a new direct appeal. If these photographs do not warrant a reversal and remand for new trial, no retrial will ever be granted because of the admission of inflammatory photographs. [9] Judge Doty's findings did not bear out the repeated charge that no brief had been filed on appellant's behalf. [10] It is this portion of the PCHA order from which the Commonwealth has appealed. Accordingly, while I agree with the majority that the order granting appellant a new direct appeal should be affirmed, I must dissent from the majority's decision to affirm the conviction. Reconstructing the shooting through these slides the prosecution sought to prove that neither victim could have shot the other, that Gorey was the principal target and *158 Janda was shot while she was attempting to hide beneath her desk to avoid the existence of a witness to the killing of Gorey. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. We therefore hold that there is absolutely no evidence that a conflict existed. Restated, the facts and circumstances need not be absolutely incompatible with defendant's innocence, but the question of any doubt is for the jury unless the evidence "be so weak and inconclusive that as a matter of law no probability of fact can be drawn from the combined circumstances". And no way was the body driven back to New Jersey and buried in a landfill, as some have speculated. While we do not condone such a practice we do not find that any prejudice to appellant resulted in this case. All Rights Reserved. McGrath then began cleaning the conference room, located approximately 75 feet from Gorey's office. Register today and get ready to build union power with Teamsters from across the country. *180 Appellant, through new counsel (who continues to represent him), then filed a petition for reargument. Sheeran and Brandt (half the book is taken verbatim from the Sheeran tapes, the rest . In this case we were presented not only with a timely petition for reargument but also, as stated above, with another petition for reconsideration, filed approximately a year later. Janda was shot six times, Gorey three times, all at close range. can directly appeal his judgment of sentence . Commonwealth v. Frazier, 455 Pa. 162, 314 A.2d 16 (1974); Commonwealth v. Murray, 452 Pa. 282, 305 A.2d 33 (1973); Cf. The admission into evidence of the thirty-nine color slides of the victims, in the absence of any need to have the jury see this evidence, deprived appellant of a fair trial. (Emphasis added.) Contact us for franchise opportunities. See, e.g., the new Rule 12(6) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as amended November 18, 1974. [2] The Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. I Heard You Paint Houses is Sheeran's story of his life with Hoffa and in the mob, as told in hundreds of hours of tapes to one of his former attorneys, Charles Brandt. At this time appellant was represented by the late John Patrick Walsh, Esquire. In addition, I wish to express my amazement and dismay at the majority's approval of the use at trial of the color slide photographs depicting the bodies of the victims in the instant case. I joined TDU because TDU gives rank-and-file Teamsters information and organization to build a stronger union.". Those photographs which were introduced to show the jury the nature and extent of the wounds were completely unnecessary because the pathologist's testimony provided the jury with that information. That petition squarely raised the issues of the ineffectiveness of appellate counsel and the denial of Sullivan's right of appeal. Teamsters Local 992: 2023 Workers' Memorial Day: Organize! (1975 Cum.Supp. For this reason it is clear that if counsel had pressed this objection on appeal it would not have justified the award of a new trial. Commonwealth v. Strantz, 328 Pa. 33, 40-42, 195 A. The Commonwealth also called Irene Glenn. While it is not contended by the Commonwealth that any of these facts standing alone would support a conviction, taken in concert with all reasonable inferences, they clearly justify the conclusion that appellant was linked to the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. This contradicted McGrath's statement which placed Sullivan in direct proximity to the crime only moments before its occurrence. Ethan Allen Doty, Administrative Judge. Additionally, it must be concluded from the testimony presented during the Post Conviction Hearing that counsel made the decision to waive oral argument at a time that he was not aware that a brief had been filed on his client's behalf. Joe Pesci played Bufalino in The Irishman and may have given the best performance of any of the actors in the star-studded cast., capturing the quiet power and confidence of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre mob leader. MANDERINO, J., files a concurring and dissenting opinion, in which ROBERTS, J., joins. We decline the Commonwealth's invitation to ignore the statute and existing practice and adopt a drastically new procedure. Only when one of the parties is aggrieved by the order of the hearing court may the case be taken to an appellate court and then only by the traditional avenues of appeal. Although the admission of such photographic evidence has been held to be a matter within the discretion of the trial judge, the test remains one of ascertaining whether or not the photographs are of such essential evidentiary value that their need clearly outweighs the likelihood of inflaming the minds and passions of the jurors. After lengthy discussion as to the admissibility of the statement, the witness was permitted to testify concerning Carchidi's remark. Those photographs depicting the physical scene of the crime, while some of them were gruesome to the extent that they depicted the blood flowing across the floor, and were objectionable for that reason, could have been taken after the blood had been cleaned. Commonwealth v. Webster, 466 Pa. 314, 318-319, 353 A.2d 372, 374 (1975) (and cases cited therein). I went behind the desk and put the.38 to his back and shot him. The defense demurred to the Commonwealth's evidence and offered no evidence on its own. (1965) 1580, 19 P.S. The ballistics studies established two separate guns were employed *149 in the homicides but the weapons were never recovered. In each of those cases, we independently determined that the brief or petition for allowance of appeal filed was inadequate and remanded the case to the Superior Court for the filing of a proper brief or petition. Now we are building national connections. The only possible interpretation of our order at that time is that the Court did not accept the appellant's arguments. PO Box 10128 | Detroit, MI 48210 | (313) 842-2600 | [emailprotected], Teamsters Rank and File Education and Legal Defense Foundation, PO Box 10303 | Detroit, MI 48210 | (313) 842-2615 | [emailprotected], Copyright 2015 | All Rights Reserved. Although this ground for relief was alleged in the amended PCHA petition, it was not pursued at the time of the hearing nor was it discussed in the brief to the hearing court. Hoffa created a local union for Sheeran: Delaware Local 326 was carved out of Philadelphia Local 107, with Sheeran installed as president. It may be noted in passing that this Court has recently held that an affirmance of a criminal conviction by an equally divided appellate court does not constitute "final litigation" within the meaning of 4 of the Post Conviction Hearing Act, Act of January 25, 1966, P.L. See Commonwealth v. Smith, 454 Pa. 256, 312 A.2d 396 (1973); Commonwealth v. Minnick, 432 Pa. 462, 247 A.2d 569 (1968). He was elected President of Local 107 in 2000, a . For this reason, the statute wisely requires petitioner to present all claims for relief to a trial court which has the facilities to hear and make findings of fact. What is Teamster Rank & File Education and Legal Defense Foundation (TRF)? This conclusion is supported by Judge DiBona's statements that his stewardship was in no way affected by the consideration of the co-defendant's cases but was solely a product of what he considered to be the best course in his representation of Sullivan. The chapters on the trials show Hoffa as master strategist and as a brazen crook who used threats and bribes routinely. Four of the other claims for relief, namely, denial of opportunity to challenge the array of the grand jury, wrongful admission of color slides, admission of hearsay evidence, and want of sufficient evidence, were extensively dealt with in the opinion in support of the order of affirmance on the prior appeal. He therefore refrained from calling any defense witness to avoid the possibility of exposing them to cross-examination through which the prosecution might have extracted those elements necessary to complete their proof. One was owned by appellant and the other was being used at the time by one Anthony DiPasquale. The group of photographs depicting the victim's torso consists of seven photographs. Murder probe leads to discovery of 'off grid' camp in Talladega forest, child with gun. After John Sullivan had been convicted by a jury in 1967 of two counts of murder in the first degree for the deaths by shooting of John Gorey and Rita Janda, post-trial motions were filed and denied by a court en banc. warrants for five men today on charges of murder and conspiracy in the slaying Robert A. DeGeorge, a member of Local . The first depicts the front of her blood-stained blouse. Appellant next asserts the decision by defense counsel not to present any evidence or permit appellant to testify on his own behalf constituted ineffectiveness. v. While outside the building, McGrath saw Sullivan looking out a window of an office Sullivan usually did not use. Commonwealth v. Scaramuzzino, 455 Pa. 378, 381, 317 A.2d 225, 226 (1974); Commonwealth v. Snyder, 408 Pa. 253, 257, 182 A.2d 495, 496 (1962). No conversation ensued between Carchidi and Sullivan but Carchidi repeated appellant's urgings to leave the work until Sunday. In my personal judgment, the brief here in issue was just that. Employer/Location Union Employees Date; Allied Building Products Corp (Phila Glenolden & Horsham PA) Glenolden, PA: IBT Local 107: 8: November 12th, 2010: MAC Steel Philadelphia, PA: IBT Local . . 872, 701, as amended, repealed by the Act of December 6, 1972, P.L. Thus counsel is deemed constitutionally effective once we conclude that the particular course chosen was in the interest of the client and we will not substitute hindsight evaluation of the record to retrospectively determine whether counsel's decision was reasonable. Furthermore, the Commonwealth urges that the evidence that Sullivan left the building shortly after the shooting and that he denied to the police that he was present in the building show that he tried to conceal his *172 knowledge of the crime and this supports an inference of guilt. 1180-4, of issues otherwise cognizable under that Act. Get free summaries of new Supreme Court of Pennsylvania opinions delivered to your inbox! Sullivan again suggested that McGrath postpone his duties until Sunday. McGrath drove off but returned to the premises within 15 minutes. See 446 Pa. at 431-440, 286 A.2d 898. See Commonwealth v. McNeill, 462 Pa. 438, 341 A.2d 463, 465 (1975). 2015 Local 107 Scholarship Winners; 2014 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS; Events Calendar; Education. The Commonwealth places great weight on the fact that besides Gorey and Janda, McGrath saw only Carchidi and Sullivan in the building prior to the shooting. In one of these photographs the victim's shirt has been opened to reveal her brassiere, saturated with blood, and a bullet wound to the lower abdomen several inches below and to the right of her navel. [12] In support of his position, appellant relies upon our decisions in Commonwealth v. Archambault, 448 Pa. 90, 290 A.2d 72 (1972) and Commonwealth v. Goins, 457 Pa. 594, 321 A.2d 913 (1974), both of which were decided several years after Sullivan's trial. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, Atty., Steven H. Goldblatt, Asst. Mr. Justice ROBERTS wrote a dissenting opinion in which he expressed the view that the evidence was insufficient and that prejudicial error had been committed in allowing certain photographs to be introduced into evidence. In Scaramuzzino we condemned introduction of the photographs because they showed various parts of the *197 victim's body with its heart having been removed by the pathologist. However, a conviction based on suspicion and conjecture cannot stand. Additionally, we do not believe that the procedure employed denied this appellant an opportunity to challenge the array as provided by Pa.R.Crim.Pro. 612a]. [4] The title of the petition was technically in error, since, as will be discussed infra, the case had originally been submitted to the Court on briefs, unaccompanied by oral argument. The other new tidbit is a Detroit home address where Sheeran says the Teamster president was killed. Having reviewed the charge in its entirety as we must, Commonwealth v. Stoltzfus, 462 Pa. 43, 337 A.2d 873 (1975); Commonwealth v. Stafford, 451 Pa. 95, 301 A.2d 600 (1973), we find that the charge presented a fair discussion of the evidence. Appellant's co-defendants, tried separately, were both acquitted. The only justification for a deviation from this practice is where the trial record is inadequate to provide a basis for a review of the claim or where the claim was not ruled upon by the trial court. Momentarily, the shots were heard and Carchidi told McGrath to ". See PCHA 4(b), 19 P.S. Ready-Mix Teamsters. [2] Post-verdict motions were denied and judgments of sentence were entered. Here the Commonwealth concedes that the evidence did not foreclose the possibility of the participation of a third person to the shooting. Commenting upon this slide show we said in Scaramuzzino. She did not testify that Sullivan's voice was the one she heard on the telephone. [11], That, of course, was not the situation here, as Sullivan concedes. Finally, McGrath testified that he returned to the union hall some 15 minutes later and found only Gorey's car parked in the lot. Moreover, it is not necessary that each piece of evidence be linked to the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. When this case was first before this Court, Mr. Justice Pomeroy described the slides as "repulsive, showing not only close-ups of the contorted bodies of the two deceased persons lying in pools of blood, but also close-ups of the bullet holes in the heads and other portions of *175 the anatomies of the victims." First, the testimony establishes that there was no dual representation in the true sense of the term, i.e., the same counsel actively represented co-defendants. He stated that although a rough draft of a brief had been prepared he had no knowledge of its ever being filed. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania Accordingly we will not consider the question on appeal. The one thing that their introduction accomplished, however, was to assure that no jury would return a verdict of not guilty. Dist. Copyright 2020 JerseyMan Magazine. We will consider first the Commonwealth's appeal. While opinions of judges differ as to the value of such arguments, my own view is that, more often than not, they are helpful to the appellate court. [13] For cases in which this Court has held that counsel on appeal has failed to meet the standards of effective appellate representation, see Commonwealth v. Stone, 437 Pa. 496, 264 A.2d 406 (1970); Commonwealth v. Haywood, 436 Pa. 522, 261 A.2d 78 (1970); Commonwealth v. Stein, 436 Pa. 330, 260 A.2d 467 (1969); Commonwealth v. Trowery, 435 Pa. 586, 258 A.2d 499 (1969); Commonwealth v. Stancell, 435 Pa. 301, 256 A.2d 798 (1969). In Scaramuzzino we concluded that the photographs had no evidentiary value because the facts which they were introduced to convey to the jury the nature and direction of the wounds, could as readily have been conveyed to the jury by less prejudicial means. It reveals the bullet wound to the right temple, with the blood that once flowed from it across the forehead now dried and caked. Nobodys driving a body six-hundred miles to bury it.. *130 *131 *132 *133 *134 *135 *136 *137 *138 Marilyn J. Gelb, Philadelphia, for appellant at Nos. The organization was found by New York mob boss Joe Colombo. Cf. Those guys were tough. In 1974, Sullivan filed a petition for relief pursuant to the Post Conviction Hearing Act[4] in the Court of Common *140 Pleas of Philadelphia. On June 19, 1967, the jury found him guilty of two counts of murder in the first degree. Safe Jobs Now! Upon re-entering the building, he found the offices closed, the conference room locked and the lights out. Then a bullet was fired through his window at . 1180-5(a) (Supp. Two of these photographs are almost identical views of the victim's face and chest area showing her to be completely covered with blood from near the top of her head to her waist. A second line with a different call number had been prearranged by Gorey to ring in his office so that he could receive an anticipated call from Joseph Vernick at 7:00 P. M. One Irene Glenn testified for the Commonwealth that she dialed the regular union phone number about 6:15 P.M. that evening and a man answered identifying himself as Gorey. An analysis of the facts supports the jury's findings. McGrath promptly left the building, stopping only to note that Sullivan's, Carchidi's, Anthony DiPasquale's and Gorey's cars were parked near the building, and to talk with a group of men standing outside the building. Proper inquiry of members of this Court at an early stage would have laid this question to rest, if indeed verification of the filing of a brief were needed in light of note 1 of the opinion in support of affirmance, 446 Pa. at 419, 286 A.2d 898.
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