Com. v. Robinson, N. ( 2022 )


Menu:
  • J-A18033-22
    NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA               :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
    :        PENNSYLVANIA
    :
    v.                              :
    :
    :
    NICOLETTA MICHELLE ROBINSON                :
    :
    Appellant                :   No. 1177 WDA 2021
    Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered May 7, 2021
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer County Criminal Division at
    No(s):
    CP-43-CR-0001795-2019
    BEFORE: STABILE, J., MURRAY, J., and McLAUGHLIN, J.
    MEMORANDUM BY McLAUGHLIN, J.:                        FILED: December 2, 2022
    Nicoletta Michelle Robinson appeals the judgment of sentence entered
    after a jury found her guilty of drug delivery resulting in death (“DDRD”),
    aggravated assault, criminal use of communication facility, simple assault,
    recklessly endangering another person (“REAP”), and possession with intent
    to deliver a controlled substance (“PWID”).1 We vacate the conviction for
    aggravated assault and affirm the judgment of sentence in all other
    respects.
    On June 16, 2019, the victim searched the internet for a taxi service,
    found Robinson’s service, and contacted her. That day and the following day,
    ____________________________________________
    1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2506(a), 2702(a)(1), 7512(a), 2701(a)(1), 2705, and 35
    P.S. § 780-113(a)(30), respectively.
    J-A18033-22
    June 17, 2019, Robinson drove the victim, who had Crohn’s disease, to
    various locations, including to hospitals in both Pennsylvania and Ohio. The
    two women were in communication via text message during those two days.
    The victim lived with her father in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, while
    Robinson was based in Youngstown, Ohio.
    On June 16, the victim and Robinson exchanged the following texts:2
    Victim: thank you so much for everything. I appreciate you
    more than you know
    Robinson: No problem, hun. Trust me, the money helped
    me, too. It’s been rough with school. Hopefully you’ll feel
    better soon.
    Victim: Hoping
    Victim: Really, really hoping.
    Robinson: FYI my house is only 34 minutes.
    Robinson: There’s no way nor.
    Robinson: Not
    Victim: Should I wait to take the other? Only think I’m
    scared of is I actually have a blockage.
    Robinson: It should still help, though. If it’s not you might
    have blockage [because] you should vm [sic] feel better.
    Victim: Maybe I should have went in ugh this pain is
    agony.
    Victim: It’s like a stabbing pain that just won’t go away.
    Robinson: Did it ease up at all?
    ____________________________________________
    2 The Commonwealth presented the text messages as exhibits. Those
    exhibits are not part of the record. However, portions of the text messages
    were put into the record through the testimony of Trooper Joseph Morris.
    -2-
    J-A18033-22
    Victim: I couldn’t ask you to come back. I have no cash lol.
    I have money in the bank but couldn’t get it till tomorrow.
    I left my debit card in Cleveland.
    See N.T., 3/10/21 (Morning Session), at 40-43.
    That same day, June 16, the victim searched the internet for “side
    effects and long-term effects of methadone,” “is methadone an opiate,”
    “how much methadone is too much,” and “does methadone make you high.”
    Id. at 57-58.
    The next day, June 17, the victim texted Robinson, “Do you have 250
    ml of that stuff I can buy?” Id. at 67. Robinson texted back, “yeah.” Id.
    According to cell phone records and medical records, the victim was in
    Sharon Regional Medical Center in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, when she
    sent the message. See id. at 50 (victim sent text on June 17, 2019, at 7:37
    p.m.); N.T., 3/10/21 (Afternoon Session), at 61 (victim was admitted to
    Sharon Regional Medical Center on June 17, 2019, at 11:43 a.m.); id. at 64
    (victim left Sharon Regional Medical Center on June 17, 2019, at 8:43 p.m.).
    Robinson and the victim then discussed payment and decided that the
    victim would pay Robinson $100 by check. N.T., 3/10/21 (Morning Session),
    at 67. Robinson picked the victim up from the hospital in Sharon and the two
    went to a gas station in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. Id. at 3-16. After they
    purchased some items, Robinson drove the victim home to her father’s
    house in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. When they arrived, the victim paid
    Robinson. Id. at 71. Later that night, the victim texted Robinson not to cash
    the check and told her that she would pay her in cash the following day. Id.
    -3-
    J-A18033-22
    At 72. During that night, the victim ingested the methadone and died. The
    victim’s father, who had been on vacation at the time of her death,
    discovered her body in the home six days later. Trooper Joseph Morris
    recovered a vial with pink fluid from the home that the lab determined
    contained methadone, a Schedule II substance. See N.T., Trial, 3/9/21
    (Afternoon Session), at 85, 114-15.
    An expert in forensic pathology, Dr. Eric Vey, testified that the victim’s
    cause of death was a lethal dose of methadone. N.T, Trial, 3/10/21
    (Afternoon Session), at 80. He also testified that upon a review of her
    autopsy photographs, certain characteristics of her body were indicative of
    an overdose. Id. at 99. Dr. Vey also testified about the effect of postmortem
    redistribution on the level of methadone found in the decedent’s blood,
    which he described as a phenomenon that occurs when time has elapsed
    between the time of death and when the blood of the decedent is tested.
    During this time, “the blood that got deposited into the central tissues and
    organs, the lungs and the liver and the heart, diffuses back out of the
    tissues and into the blood creating an elevated central blood level compared
    to peripheral blood level.” Id. at 95. He said that postmortem redistribution
    had not affected the level of methadone they found.
    The chief deputy coroner in Mercer County, Robert L. Snyder, testified
    that the victim had dried secretions in her nose consistent with a drug
    overdose. N.T., 3/9/21 (Afternoon Session), at 14. He testified that with an
    overdose, “the lungs become compromised, they fill with fluid, and then the
    -4-
    J-A18033-22
    frothiness comes out of the nasal cavity.” Id. at 15. He also testified that the
    dose of methadone in the victim’s body was in the fatal range. Id. at 30. Dr.
    Snyder ruled that the manner of death was accidental, and the cause of
    death was “respiratory failure due to drug toxicity.” Id. at 31. In layman’s
    terms, he stated that it was a way of saying her cause of death was from a
    drug overdose or a combination of the drugs. Id.
    The Commonwealth also presented portions of Robinson’s interview
    with Trooper Morris, after the victim died.
    [Commonwealth]: Okay. Now, Ms. Robinson - - we also
    heard her say right about the 20-minute mark, and I might
    be misquoting here, but essentially, so you are saying
    she overdosed and you think I gave it to her. My
    question is up until that point had you ever said the word
    overdose to her?
    [Trooper Morris]: No.
    [Commonwealth]: Not in the lobby, not on the phone, not
    anywhere?
    [Trooper Morris]: No[.]
    [Commonwealth]: Up until that point had you ever told her
    how [the victim] died?
    [Trooper Morris]: No.
    N.T., Trial, 3/10/21 (Afternoon Session), at 32-33 (emphasis added).
    Following a four-day trial, the jury found Robinson guilty. The court
    sentenced Robinson for the DDRD and criminal use of a communication
    facility convictions to an aggregate term of nine years and three months to
    27 years of imprisonment. The court determined that aggravated assault,
    -5-
    J-A18033-22
    PWID, REAP, and simple assault merged for sentencing purposes. Robinson
    filed a post-sentence motion which the trial court denied.3 This timely appeal
    followed.
    Robinson raises the following issues:
    I.     Was the evidence at trial insufficient to support
    Robinson’s conviction for drug delivery resulting in
    death because:
    a. It was insufficient to support a finding that the
    alleged drug delivery occurred within the
    Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and/or
    b. It was insufficient to support a finding that
    Robinson was reckless as to the allegedly
    delivered   drug,   methadone,  causing   the
    decedent’s death; and/or
    c. It was insufficient to supporting a finding that the
    allegedly delivered drug actually caused the
    decedent’s death because the Commonwealth’s
    expert testimony concluding as much was
    predicated on a basic statistical error ruling out an
    exculpatory phenomenon by resort to the average
    effect of that phenomenon rather than the range
    of effects of that phenomenon?
    II.    Was the evidence at trial insufficient to support
    Robinson’s conviction for aggravated assault
    because:
    a. It was insufficient to support a finding that
    Robinson was malicious as to the allegedly
    delivered   drug,   methadone,    causing the
    decedent’s death; and/or not true
    ____________________________________________
    3 The court sentenced Robinson on May 10, 2021. On May 17, the court
    granted Robinson’s motion for an extension to file her post-sentence motion.
    Robinson filed her post-sentence motion on May 25, within the allotted time
    ordered by the court. Thus, this appeal is timely.
    -6-
    J-A18033-22
    b. It was insufficient to support a finding that she
    engaged in any assault?
    III.   Was the evidence at trial insufficient to support
    Robinson’s conviction for simple assault because it
    was insufficient to support a finding that she
    engaged in any assault?
    IV.    Was the evidence at trial insufficient to support
    Robinson’s conviction for recklessly endangering
    another person because it was insufficient to support
    a finding that she engaged in contact or created a
    risk of [contact] causing harm?
    V.     Was the evidence at trial insufficient to support
    Robinson’s conviction for delivery of a controlled
    substance because it was insufficient to support a
    finding that she delivered a controlled substance
    within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
    VI.    In light of the foregoing, was the evidence at trial
    insufficient to support Robinson’s conviction for
    criminal use of a communication facility because it
    was qualitatively or quantitatively insufficient to
    support a finding that she used communications
    facility to commit the predicate violation of the Drug
    Act?
    Robinson’s Br. at 4-5 (suggested answers omitted).
    Robinson challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for each of her
    convictions. When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence,
    we determine “whether viewing all the evidence admitted at trial in the light
    most favorable to the verdict winner, there is sufficient evidence to enable
    the fact-finder to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable
    doubt.” Commonwealth v. Storey, 
    167 A.3d 750
    , 757 (Pa.Super. 2017)
    (citation omitted). We review the entire record and the evidence. See 
    id.
     We
    do not “weigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for the fact-finder.”
    -7-
    J-A18033-22
    
    Id.
     (citation omitted). Furthermore, “the trier of fact while passing upon the
    credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence produced, is free to
    believe all, part or none of the evidence.” 
    Id.
     (citation omitted).
    Drug Delivery Resulting in Death (DDRD)
    Robinson claims that the Commonwealth failed to present sufficient
    evidence for the crime of DDRD. She argues that it failed to show that the
    drug delivery occurred in Pennsylvania, that she was reckless in delivering
    methadone to the victim, and that the ingestion of methadone caused the
    victim’s death. Robinson points to an alleged gap in the timeline and claims
    that the evidence suggested that she drove the victim through Ohio to
    return to the victim’s house. She also maintains that the record does not
    support a finding that she delivered the methadone to the victim once they
    arrived at her home in Pennsylvania. According to Robinson, the evidence
    shows “that Robinson had been providing services and goods to [the victim]
    with promises of future payment, and that they had agreed to simply settle
    the proverbial tab at the trailer.” Robinson’s Br. at 21.
    Robinson also challenges the mens rea. She argues that the evidence
    suggested that she was not reckless but rather “believed that providing
    methadone to [the victim would help her[.]]” Id. at 24. She also takes issue
    with the Commonwealth’s evidence of causation because, in her view, Dr.
    Vey erred in his statistical calculation of postmortem redistribution.
    DDRD occurs when someone dies as a result of using a controlled
    substance   and    the   defendant   intentionally   administered,    dispensed,
    -8-
    J-A18033-22
    delivered, gave, prescribed, sold, or distributed it in violation of specified
    provisions of the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Drug Act
    (“Drug Act”). See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2506(a). Pursuant to the terms of the Drug
    Act, the delivery must have occurred “within the Commonwealth [of
    Pennsylvania].” 35 P.S. § 780-113(a).
    Thus, to sustain its burden, the Commonwealth must prove that the
    delivery of the drug occurred in Pennsylvania and the use of that drug
    resulted        in    the    death   of   another.   See   18    Pa.C.S.A.   §   2506(a);
    Commonwealth v. Peck, 
    242 A.3d 1274
    , 1285 (Pa. 2020) (vacating
    judgment of sentence for DDRD where drug delivery occurred in Maryland).
    As for mens rea, the Commonwealth must show that the defendant acted
    intentionally when delivering the drug and that the decedent’s death was a
    result     of        the    defendant’s    recklessness.   See    Commonwealth         v.
    Kakhankham, 
    132 A.3d 986
    , 992, 995 (Pa.Super. 2015). The crime
    consists of “an intentional act in providing contraband, with a reckless
    disregard of death from the use of the contraband.” Commonwealth v.
    Carr, 
    227 A.3d 11
    , 16-17 (Pa.Super. 2020).
    Robinson’s claims lack merit. The evidence was sufficient to prove
    circumstantially that the delivery occurred in Pennsylvania. Robinson and the
    victim discussed via text message the purchase of 250 ml of “stuff” while the
    victim was in the hospital in Sharon. Robinson then picked up the victim
    from the hospital, took her to the gas station in Hermitage, and ultimately to
    her home in Mercer County. The evidence of the trip between points in
    -9-
    J-A18033-22
    Pennsylvania     was    sufficient   to   prove    that   the   delivery   occurred   in
    Pennsylvania. Robinson points to an alleged gap in the timeline and local
    geography to argue that the gap is better explained by a route through Ohio,
    rather than only through Pennsylvania. We think the evidence was sufficient
    to raise the reasonable inference that they did not needlessly double-back
    into Ohio, particularly in the absence of any affirmative evidence that the
    trip crossed the border. The Commonwealth has to prove guilt beyond a
    reasonable doubt, not to a mathematical certainty or beyond all possibility of
    innocence.4
    Robinson’s claim that the Commonwealth failed to prove recklessness
    likewise fails. The Commonwealth presented evidence that Robinson sold the
    victim methadone. Methadone is an opioid “used to help dependent patients
    reduce their craving and symptoms of withdrawal.” See Int. of L.J.B., 
    199 A.3d 868
    , 871 n.3 (Pa. 2018). Robinson sold this opioid to the victim without
    any consideration of the effects that it would have on the victim, including
    whether she could possibly overdose. See 
    id.
     at 870 n.2 (discussing opioid
    addiction crisis in the United States and noting “[r]ecent statistics place
    Pennsylvania among the states with the highest rates of drug overdose
    ____________________________________________
    4 In her reply brief, Robinson includes Google maps to support her claim that
    she and the victim could have driven though Ohio. However, these maps
    were not presented to the jury, and the jury was not offered any evidence
    that would suggest Robinson and the victim left the state while traveling to
    the trailer.
    - 10 -
    J-A18033-22
    deaths, with opioid-related overdose deaths occurring at a rate of 18.5 per
    100,000 persons”). The Commonwealth also presented Robinson’s interview
    with Trooper Morris where she stated, “So you’re saying that she overdosed
    and you think I gave it to her.” N.T., Trial, 3/10/21 (Afternoon Session), at
    32. Robinson made this statement with no knowledge of the cause of the
    victim’s death, thus exhibiting that she understood the risk of death from the
    ingestion of methadone. See Commonwealth v. Burton, 
    234 A.3d 824
    ,
    833 (Pa.Super. 2020) (stating the sale of fentanyl establishes the mens rea
    for recklessness for drug delivery resulting in death).
    As   to   Robinson’s   claim    regarding    causation,   we   conclude     the
    Commonwealth established causation. Robinson takes issue with Dr. Vey’s
    statistical calculations of the postmortem redistribution. She faults him for
    basing his opinion on the average effect of postmortem redistribution, rather
    than on its average effect. This argument does not render the evidence
    insufficient. Her challenge goes to the weight and not the sufficiency of the
    evidence. See Commonwealth v. Meals, 
    912 A.2d 213
    , 223–24 (Pa.
    2006).
    Aggravated Assault
    Robinson maintains that the evidence was insufficient to support the
    conviction of aggravated assault because the Commonwealth did not prove
    that   Robinson    “assaulted”   the    victim.    She   also   maintains   that   the
    Commonwealth failed to show that she acted maliciously, arguing there was
    “no evidence that Robinson knew . . . that[] providing methadone to
    - 11 -
    J-A18033-22
    McConnell was virtually certain to result in her death or serious bodily
    injury.” Robinson’s Br. at 33.
    To prove aggravated assault, the Commonwealth was required to
    prove that Robinson attempted “to cause serious bodily injury to [the
    victim], or cause[d] such injury intentionally, knowingly or recklessly under
    circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human
    life[.]” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(a)(1).5 The required mens rea for aggravated
    assault is malice, which is defined as “wickedness of disposition, hardness of
    heart, cruelty, recklessness of consequences, and a mind regardless of social
    duty, although a particular person may not be intended to be injured.”
    Commonwealth v. Packer, 
    168 A.3d 161
    , 168 (Pa. 2017) (citation
    omitted). The crime of aggravated assault requires a state of mind that is
    “equivalent to that which seeks to cause injury.” Commonwealth v.
    O’Hanlon, 
    653 A.2d 616
    , 618 (Pa. 1995).
    Here, the Commonwealth suggests that it established the mens rea by
    showing that Robinson “seized upon an opportunity to make money at the
    expense of a person in chronic pain and who was naïve as to the effects of
    methadone.” Commonwealth’s Br. at 30-31. It maintains that Robinson
    ____________________________________________
    5 Serious bodily injury is defined as “[b]odily injury which creates a
    substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement,
    or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or
    organ.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2301 (“Serious bodily injury”). Bodily injury is
    defined as “[i]mpairment of physical condition or substantial pain.” Id.
    (“Bodily injury”).
    - 12 -
    J-A18033-22
    “consciously disregarded an unjustifiable and extremely high risk her actions
    of selling a narcotics naïve victim methadone.” Id. at 31. It also suggests
    that Robinson’s malice may be inferred from her statement to police that she
    understood that they were suggesting that the victim overdosed and that
    she had given the victim methadone. It further points out that Robinson “not
    only negotiate[d] the sale of 250 ml of methadone to the victim, but actively
    encouraged the victim to consume the methadone over the victim’s
    concerns,” noting that Robinson encouraged the victim through text
    messages to take the methadone even though the victim was concerned
    about a blockage. Id. at 30. Similarly, the trial court suggests that Robinson
    “knowingly preyed upon a naïve and vulnerable victim” and because of this,
    the element of malice was satisfied. Opinion, 9/16/21, at 6.
    The    Commonwealth          contends       that   this   case   is   akin   to
    Commonwealth v. Busbey, No. 186 MDA 2019, 
    2020 WL 865044
    (Pa.Super. filed Feb. 21, 2020) (unpublished memorandum).6 There, the
    victim, the defendant, and the defendant’s boyfriend purchased heroin. The
    victim was “narcotics naïve,” as he had not developed a tolerance to heroin.
    Id. at *1. The defendant injected the victim with heroin, while the
    defendant’s boyfriend injected the defendant and himself. Id. The defendant
    watched as the victim started convulsing and his lips turned blue. To
    ____________________________________________
    6  Non-precedential decisions are not binding, but may be cited as
    “persuasive” authority pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 126(b)(2).
    - 13 -
    J-A18033-22
    “distance herself from the whole issue” and not be involved, the defendant
    left the victim and went home, without calling 911. Id. The Commonwealth
    presented the testimony of three medical witnesses at trial, including an
    expert in forensic toxicology who testified, among other things, that the
    victim “had a long period of survival following the ingestion of the drug.” Id.
    at * 2.
    On appeal, this Court concluded the evidence was sufficient to prove
    malice. We pointed out that the defendant knew the victim was narcotic-
    naïve and the heroin was of good quality and that she watched the victim
    begin to exhibit signs of an overdose, as he began to convulse and his lips
    turned blue. Id. at *5. We pointed out that the defendant and her boyfriend
    discussed calling for medical assistance but did not, choosing instead to
    leave and sell or stash the remainder of the heroin. Id. We noted that the
    victim “suffered from a slow, hours-long overdose death that could have
    been halted if medical personnel had been called.” Id. We concluded that
    the defendant’s actions of injecting the victim with heroin, watching him
    overdose, and then leaving the victim to die, “showed the hardness of heart,
    and disregard of social duty characteristic of the mental state of malice.” Id.
    We also concluded that providing the heroin to the victim and then not
    seeking medical care “created ‘an unjustified and extremely high risk that
    [her] actions might cause death or serious bodily harm.’” Id. (quoting
    Packer, 168 A.3d at 168). We further noted that heroin “has a ‘high
    potential for abuse’” and its dangers are “legendary and known on a
    - 14 -
    J-A18033-22
    widespread basis[.]” Id. (quoting Minn. Fire and Cas. Co. v. Greenfield,
    
    805 A.2d 622
    , 627 (Pa.Super. 2002)).
    Here, we agree with Robinson that the Commonwealth failed to
    present sufficient evidence to prove malice. Unlike the defendant in Busbey,
    no evidence showed that Robinson knew that the victim had overdosed or
    that she failed to seek medical assistance while knowing the victim was in
    danger due to the drug. Even considering the victim’s apparent naivety and
    the text messages that occurred on the day prior to her death, there is no
    evidence that at the time Robinson sold the methadone or at the time the
    victim ingested the methadone, Robison had a “wickedness of disposition,
    hardness of heart, cruelty, recklessness of consequences, and a mind
    regardless of social duty[.]” Packer, 168 A.3d at 168. Nor was there
    evidence that, like heroin, methadone’s dangers are “legendary and known
    on   a    widespread   basis.”   Busbey,   
    2020 WL 865044
    ,   at   *5;   see
    Kakhankham, 132 A.3d at 996 (discussing inherent dangerous nature of
    heroin and that the risk of death that comes with ingesting the drug is
    foreseeable). The Commonwealth failed to present evidence that Robinson
    sought to cause the victim’s death or injury, or that she acted with an
    extreme difference to human life.
    Simple Assault
    Robinson maintains that there was no evidence that she “assaulted”
    the victim and therefore the Commonwealth failed to sustain its burden for
    - 15 -
    J-A18033-22
    simple assault. Robinson argues that a physical, contact-based assault is
    required to satisfy the element of bodily injury.
    The Commonwealth presents sufficient evidence for the charge of
    simple assault where it proves that the defendant “attempt[ed] to cause or
    intentionally, knowingly or recklessly cause[d] bodily injury to another[.]” 18
    Pa.C.S.A. § 2701(a)(1). Bodily injury is defined as “[i]mpairment of physical
    condition or substantial pain.” Id. at § 2301 (“Bodily injury”).
    Here, the court rejected Robinson’s claim that the Commonwealth was
    required to prove physical contact to prove an actual assault. The court held
    that because Robinson did not cite “any authority directly on point for the
    proposition that her actions must have conformed to a traditional notion of
    an assault,” the claim had no merit.
    Before this Court, Robinson relies on the common-law definition of
    assault and argues that it is reasonable to believe that the crime of simple
    assault requires a physical, contact-based assault. Robinson has not
    supported this claim with any citation to legal authority. Therefore,
    Robinson’s claim is waived. See Commonwealth v. Miller, 
    212 A.3d 1114
    ,
    1131 (Pa.Super. 2019) (“waiver of an issue results when an appellant fails to
    properly develop an issue or cite to legal authority to support his contention
    in his appellate brief”) (citation omitted). Moreover, this claim fails on the
    merits. The plain statutory language merely requires that the defendant
    “cause . . . bodily injury,” which is defined in a way as not to require
    contact. This claim fails.
    - 16 -
    J-A18033-22
    REAP
    Robinson maintains that the REAP statute implies that physical contact
    must occur, and because the Commonwealth failed to present any evidence
    that she physically touched the victim, the evidence was not sufficient to
    support the conviction.
    The Commonwealth may sustain its burden for REAP if it proves that
    the defendant recklessly engaged in conduct that placed or may have placed
    another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury. See 18 Pa.C.S.A.
    § 2705. Recklessness may be proven when the Commonwealth shows that
    the defendant consciously disregarded “a substantial and unjustifiable risk
    that the material element exists or will result from his conduct.” 18
    Pa.C.S.A. § 302(b)(3).
    Like her argument for simple assault, Robinson relies on the common-
    law definition of recklessness and argues that it is reasonable to believe that
    the crime of REAP requires a physical, contact-based assault. Robinson’s
    claim is waived because she has not supported her claim with any citation to
    legal authority. See Miller, 212 A.3d at 1131.
    Even if Robinson had supported her claim, we would conclude that the
    issue lacks merit. The evidence in the light most favorable to the
    Commonwealth shows that Robinson placed the victim in danger of death or
    serious bodily injury by giving her methadone. Robinson did not consider
    any risk that could have resulted from her conduct of selling the victim
    - 17 -
    J-A18033-22
    methadone and the eventual ingestion of the methadone by the victim. This
    sufficiently sustains the REAP conviction.
    PWID
    Robinson claims that the Commonwealth presented no evidence that
    she delivered a controlled substance to the victim while in the state of
    Pennsylvania. Robinson incorporates her argument regarding her conviction
    for DDRD.
    An individual is guilty of PWID where the Commonwealth proves that
    the   individual   possessed   a   controlled   substance   with   the   intent   to
    manufacture, distribute, or deliver it. See 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30).
    As discussed above, the evidence was sufficient to show that Robinson
    sold methadone to the victim in Pennsylvania. Therefore, the evidence is
    sufficient to support the PWID conviction. Robinson’s claim fails.
    Criminal Use of Communication Facility
    Robinson alleges that “[i]nasmuch as the evidence produced at trial
    was insufficient to support a finding that Robinson engaged in the delivery of
    a controlled substance,” the evidence is also insufficient to support the crime
    of criminal use of a communication facility. Robinson’s Br. at 50.
    To prove the crime of criminal use of a communication facility, the
    Commonwealth must show that a person “use[d] a communication facility to
    commit, cause or facilitate the commission or the attempt thereof of any
    crime which constitutes a felony under this title[.]” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7512(a).
    A communication facility includes a cell phone. Id. at § 7512(c); see
    - 18 -
    J-A18033-22
    Commonwealth v. Kane, 
    210 A.3d 324
    , 327-28 (Pa.Super. 2019)
    (judgment of sentence affirmed for criminal use of a communication facility
    where defendant used cell phone to obtain child pornography).
    The evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction. Robinson used
    her cell phone to commit a felony, i.e., PWID. Robinson’s claim is meritless.
    We vacate the sentence on the conviction of aggravated assault, but
    otherwise affirm the judgment of sentence.
    Judgment of sentence affirmed in part and vacated in part. Case
    remanded. Jurisdiction relinquished.
    Judge Murray joins the memorandum.
    Judge Stabile concurs in the result.
    Judgment Entered.
    Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
    Prothonotary
    Date: 12/2/2022
    - 19 -
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 1177 WDA 2021

Judges: McLaughlin, J.

Filed Date: 12/2/2022

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 12/2/2022