by peter e. bortner
The Pottsville woman convicted of stealing money from an elderly Palo Alto woman must remain in prison and serve time on probation, a three-judge state Superior Court panel ruled in upholding her conviction and sentence.
In a seven-page opinion filed Friday in Pottsville, the panel ruled Barbara A. Doyle, 42, did not show that a statement made by the victim, Mary A. Carestia, was improperly admitted onto evidence, even though the woman had died before the trial.
Carestia's statement was an "excited utterance," and thus a recognized and lawful exception to the hearsay rule, President Judge Correale F. Stevens wrote in the opinion, which was joined by fellow panel members Judge Jack A. Panella and Senior Judge Eugene B. Strassburger III.
"The emotion surrounding her statement was raw," Stevens wrote.
As a result, Doyle must serve the sentence of one to three years in prison, plus two additional years on probation, imposed July 25, 2011, by Judge Jacqueline L. Russell.
Russell had presided over Doyle's one-day trial June 9, 2011, at the end of which the jury convicted the defendant of theft and receiving stolen property.
Palo Alto police charged Doyle in July 2009 with stealing more than $60,000 from the house of Carestia, for whom she presided over home health care services.
In his opinion, Stevens wrote that Pennsylvania law permits excited utterances - statements made suddenly under the shock of a strong emotion caused by an unexpected event - to be admitted into evidence regardless of whether the person who made the utterance is available to testify.
"Here, the record demonstrates that the requirements of the exception were met in this case," Stevens wrote.
Joanne Carestia, Mary's daughter-in-law, testified that she found Mary in her bedroom crying over an empty purse, Stevens wrote.
"An 88-year-old woman in poor health and of modest economic means was still manifesting shock and utter dismay from discovering the disappearance of her life's savings when she implicated (Doyle) as a suspect," according to Stevens. "The setting was the very bedroom where Mary made the discovery, and the time was just minutes from when she called her family for help."
Under those circumstances, the statement of Mary Carestia, who died Jan. 11, 2011, at age 89, was properly admitted into evidence, Stevens wrote.
While prosecutors alleged that Doyle had stolen more than $60,000, Russell ordered that the defendant pay restitution of only $7,943.68, saying that was the only amount that had been proven.Defendant: Barbara A. Doyle
Age: 42
Residence: Pottsville
Crimes committed: Theft and receiving stolen property
Prison sentence: One to three years, plus two years additional probation