J-S38037-22
2023 PA Super 71
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
v. :
:
WILFREDO SANTIAGO :
:
Appellant : No. 940 EDA 2022
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered March 2, 2022,
in the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County,
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-48-CR-0001959-2020.
BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., MURRAY, J., and SULLIVAN, J.
OPINION BY KUNSELMAN, J.: FILED APRIL 26, 2023
Wilfredo Santiago appeals from the judgment of sentence imposing an
aggregate period of seven to 14 years’ incarceration, after a jury convicted
him of aggravated assault and related offenses.1 He challenges the sufficiency
of the evidence for the aggravated assault charge. Santiago punched a police
officer knocking him down four steps causing him to hit his head on the
concrete sidewalk and giving him a concussion – a serious brain injury. We
affirm.
The Commonwealth correctly summarized the facts as follows:
On July 27, 2019, . . . the Easton Police Department
dispatched officers to Ferry Street after receiving a noise
complaint. N.T., 1/31/22, at 32. One of the officers that
responded, in full uniform and driving a marked patrol
____________________________________________
1 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(a)(2). While not at issue in this appeal, Santiago’s
related offenses are riot, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5501(2); obstructing administration
of law, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5101; hindering apprehension, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §
5105(A)(2); simple assault, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2701(a)(1); and recklessly
endangering another person, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2705.
J-S38037-22
vehicle, was Officer Aaron Kinnel, who had seven years’
experience in law enforcement. There were dozens of
people in the street attending an impromptu block party.
Several of those individuals repeatedly screamed insults,
curses, and threats at the responding officers.
One of the individuals yelling at the police was Orialis
Figueroa . . . Officers [eventually] decided to take Figueroa
into custody to prevent further incident; however, when he
was told he was under arrest, Figueroa ran to his apartment
building . . .
Officer Kinnel attempted to follow Figueroa, but
Figueroa’s sister intervened and tried to prevent him from
apprehending Figueroa. Id. at 42; Commonwealth’s Exhibit
1, Video A.[2] As Officer Kinnel made his way up the four
steps to the front stoop of the apartment building, two
individuals grabbed for his gun. Further, Ramona Colon,
who was Figueroa’s mother and [Santiago’s] girlfriend,
stepped into the doorway of the apartment building to block
Officer Kinnel’s entry. Officer Kinnel moved Colon out of his
way and attempted to arrest Figueroa. At this point,
Figueroa pulled away from Officer Kinnel and began fighting
with him. At the same time, numerous people standing on
the front stoop of the apartment building were also
interfering with Officer Kinnel’s attempt to arrest Figueroa.
This included [Santiago], who leapt over the railing to join
the melee.
Officer Kinnel took out his taser, but someone
knocked it out of his hand. N.T., 1/31/22, at 44. [He] bent
down to retrieve the taser and attempted to use it on
Figueroa, but only one prong made contact and Figueroa
was not subdued. The other prong hit Colon. In the
commotion, Officer Kinnel also received shocks from the
taser. Officer Kinnel was knocked to the ground on the front
stoop. Commonwealth’s Exhibit 1, Video A.
After managing to stand up, Officer Kinnel attempted
to radio for help. However, when Officer Kinnel was not
looking, [Santiago] punched him in the face and then
____________________________________________
2 We have reviewed the cellphone video found on Commonwealth’s Exhibit 1.
It fully supports the Commonwealth’s version of events.
-2-
J-S38037-22
pushed him off the porch. Id.; N.T., 1/31/22, at 50. Officer
Kinnel fell backwards off the front stoop and down four
steps. He landed on the concrete sidewalk and hit his head
on the metal leg of a picnic table. N.T., 1/31/22, at 51;
Commonwealth’s Exhibit 1, Video A.
Officer Kinnel reported that due to the punch and
resultant fall, he was in pain, disoriented, and close to losing
consciousness. N.T., 1/31/22, at 51-52. He was seeing
spots and suffered cuts to the back of his head, his back,
and his left elbow. He also had swelling to the left side of
his face and his lip was cut. Another officer took Officer
Kinnel to the hospital, where he was treated by Dr. Brenton
Taggart.
Dr. Taggart described Officer Kinnel as being confused
and anxious upon arrival at the hospital. N.T., 2/1/22, at
10. Officer Kinnel had an elevated heart rate, a headache,
and back pain. Dr. Taggart observed a hematoma with an
overlying abrasion on Officer Kinnel’s scalp, as well as a
contusion on his lower back. Officer Kinnel underwent a CAT
scan and was diagnosed with a concussion, which Dr.
Taggart explained is “a head injury which results in a
temporary alteration in brain function.” Id. at 11. Dr.
Taggart testified that a concussion can result in significant
and long-lasting symptoms, such as dizziness, headaches,
nausea, and vision and memory problems. Officer Kinnel
testified that, following the assault, he missed two weeks of
work and, upon returning to work, he was often confused
and disoriented during the next two weeks. N.T., 1/31/22,
at 54-55. Further, he suffered from migraines, which
included visual impairment, for approximately a month.
Commonwealth’s Brief at 2-4 (some citations omitted).
Officers apprehended Santiago. A jury convicted him, and the trial court
sentenced him as described above. This timely appeal followed.
Santiago raises one issue on appeal: “As to the charge of aggravated
assault . . . was the guilty verdict . . . based upon insufficient evidence, where
-3-
J-S38037-22
[Officer Kinnel] was punched only once by [Santiago], causing the [officer] to
suffer a minor concussion?”3 Santiago’s Brief at 7.
When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we “view
the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as the verdict
winner in order to determine whether the jury could have found every element
of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Commonwealth v. Thomas, 215
A.3d 36, 40 (Pa. 2019). “Any doubts regarding a defendant’s guilt may be
resolved by the fact-finder unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive
that as a matter of law no probability of fact may be drawn from the combined
circumstances.” Commonwealth v. Vargas,
108 A.3d 858, 867 (Pa. Super.
2014) (en banc). Additionally, this Court cannot “re-weigh the evidence and
substitute our judgment for that of the fact-finder.”
Id. This presents a pure
question of law and, as such, our standard of review is de novo, and our scope
of review is plenary. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Jacoby,
170 A.3d 1065,
1076 (Pa. 2017).
A person is guilty of aggravated assault to a designated individual if he
“intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to any of
the officers, agents, employees, or other persons enumerated in subsection
(c) or to an employee of an agency, company or other entity engaged in public
____________________________________________
3 Our review of the record and, in particular, the video of this incident belies
Santiago’s framing of issue. By stating that he “punched [the officer] only
once,” Santiago downplays the severity of his conduct. Santiago’s Brief at 7.
In actuality, he not only punched Officer Kinnel. Santigo also shoved him from
the residence’s front porch, down a short flight of stairs, and caused the officer
to fall onto a concrete sidewalk and to hit his head on a metal picnic table.
-4-
J-S38037-22
transportation, while in the performance of duty.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. 2702(a)(2).
The “officers, agents, employees, and other persons referred to in subsection
(a) shall be as follows: (1) Police officer . . . .” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(c).
Santiago contends that the Commonwealth did not prove that he caused
or attempted to cause serious bodily injury to Officer Kinnel, a police officer,
under Section (c), supra. Santiago believes that, as a matter of law, punching
someone once and concussing that individual does not satisfy the statutory
definition of “serious bodily injury.” We disagree.
The goal of statutory construction is to “effectuate the intention of the
General Assembly.” 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(a). “When the words of a statute are
clear and free from all ambiguity, the letter of it is not to be disregarded under
the pretext of pursuing its spirit.” 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(b). Thus, if a statute
is unambiguous, our review begins and ends with the statute itself.
The General Assembly defined “serious bodily injury” as “Bodily 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. That statutory definition is clear
and unambiguous.
The legislature’s use of the disjunctive “or” throughout the definition is
particularly important, because it divides the definition into three, separate
subparts. Those subparts, in turn, permit a finder of fact to convict someone
-5-
J-S38037-22
of aggravated assault if one of three categories of harm results from an attack.
The three categories are:
1. Harm creating a substantial risk of death
2. Harm creating serious, permanent disfigurement or
3. Harm causing protracted loss or impairment of a bodily member
or organ.
See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2301.
Here, the jury heard evidence that a concussion, like the one Santiago
inflicted upon Officer Kinnel, falls within the third category.
Officer Kinnel’s treating physician, Dr. Benton Taggart, testified that a
concussion is a bodily injury to the head causing “alteration in brain function.”
N.T., 2/1/22, at 11. He defined a concussion as “an injury to the brain that is
considered temporary in nature that causes impairment in brain function. But
the symptoms can be protracted and long-lasting.” Id. at 28.
Dr. Taggart further explained that, “It was noted that at the time of the
incident that [Officer Kinnel] was confused, he did not remember the incident,
[and] he was dizzy. He was having visual changes - - that confusion is what
actually defines the concussion.” Id. at 11-12. It requires “symptomatic
treatment, whether nausea medication, pain medication, and sometimes you
need ongoing therapy afterwards as well.” Id. at 12.
Dr. Taggart used concussed athletes as an example. He said, “we have
. . . sports injuries; they have to go through graded practices to kind of get
back into their normal routine, because concussions can affect the way you
-6-
J-S38037-22
think. It can affect the way you move. They can cause a lot of significant
impairment, dizziness, memory functions, impairment functions, headaches,
vision, things like that.” Id. Moreover, there are “potential long-term effects
of a concussion . . . [including] memory effects, visual effects, chronic
headaches, [and] chronic nausea.” Id. at 12-13. “It could be inability to
concentrate . . . Just inability to go about your daily activities as you’re used
to.” Id. at 13.
According to Dr. Taggart, the average healing time for a concussion is
“about one to two weeks.” Id. However, sometimes headaches and migraines
following a concussion may last “potentially indefinitely.” Id.
Thus, the doctor’s testimony, standing alone, was a sufficient basis from
which a reasonable jury could find that, by concussing Officer Kinnel, Santiago
inflicted bodily injury that caused “impairment of the function of any . . .
organ,” i.e., the officer’s brain. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2301. By altering the function
of Officer Kinnel’s brain functions, Santiago impaired that organ.
Additionally, Officer Kinnel missed two weeks of work due to the assault
and resulting concussion. After returning to work, he was often confused and
disoriented for the next two weeks. See N.T., 1/31/22, at 54-55. Lastly, the
officer had migraines and visual impairment for approximately a month after
the incident. Id. at 57. Hence, the officer’s testimony served as further proof
of the impaired brain functions that Santiago’s assault caused.
Indeed, this Court reached identical results in similar, non-precedential
cases. See Commonwealth v. McDowell, 2020 WL 3606390, *2, *5 (Pa.
-7-
J-S38037-22
Super. July 2, 2020) (unpublished) (finding sufficient proof of serious bodily
injury where victim suffered bruising, head wound, and a concussion and was
unable to work or drive for several months); see also Commonwealth v.
Hanna, 2019 WL 6652177, *3 (Pa. Super. Dec. 6, 2019) (unpublished)
(finding sufficient proof of serious bodily injury where victim suffered a
concussion). These decisions are persuasive.4
We adopt the holdings of McDowell and Hanna: concussing someone
during an assault is sufficient evidence of “serious bodily injury” under 18
Pa.C.S.A. § 2301, as a matter of law. Hence, the trial court rightly submitted
the case of aggravated assault to the jury, because the Commonwealth
presented sufficient evidence that Santiago inflicted serious bodily injury upon
Officer Kinnel.
Of course, whether an alleged victim actually suffered a concussion is a
factual question reserved for the finder of fact. Here, the jury credited Officer
Kinnel’s and Dr. Taggart’s testimony and found, as a matter of fact, that
Santiago concussed Officer Kinnel by punching the officer in the head.
Santiago’s claim of error is meritless.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
____________________________________________
4 “Non-precedential decisions [of this Court, filed after May 1, 2019,] may be
cited for their persuasive value.” Pa.R.A.P. 126(b)(2).
-8-
J-S38037-22
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 4/26/2023
-9-
