Inmate loses bid for new trial in Huntingdon County home invasion
Harrison serving 40 to 80 years for attempted murder of elderly woman
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A former Philadelphia man has lost his latest quest for a new trial stemming from a home invasion that occurred five years ago in Huntingdon County.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court, in an opinion last week, upheld a 40- to 80-year prison sentence imposed on Derrick Raheem Harrison by Huntingdon County Judge George N. Zanic.
Harrison was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, strangulation and other crimes related to his entry into the home of an 86-year-old Huntingdon County woman who lived alone.
The Superior Court panel that reviewed the appeal indicated Harrison, 36, was traveling in a vehicle along the Pennsylvania Turnpike as part of a group.
According to the facts in the case, Harrison became concerned for his own safety, and "he exited the vehicle on the side of the Turnpike with the intention of stealing a car and traveling back to Philadelphia."
He then decided to break into home in a neighborhood that bordered the turnpike and came upon the resident who was asleep.
She awoke and found him standing in her kitchen.
The woman asked him to leave, at which point Harrison beat and strangled her until she lost consciousness.
He took $40 from her purse and stole her cellphone and her car.
During his trip back to Philadelphia, he made several calls using the victim's cellphone.
He eventually met up with his brother, who took him to a behavioral health facility.
Meanwhile, his elderly victim recovered enough to call a daughter who summoned the police.
Investigators in a search of the area around the victim's home found credit cards bearing Harrison's name.
They were also able to trace his calls to several former girlfriends, and to obtain photos of him taken at various toll stations along the way to Philadelphia.
Investigators went to the home of one of the women he contacted by phone and, in a trash can on her porch, they found an envelope with Harrison's name on it.
He was arrested on July 16, 2021, just over three weeks after the break-in at the woman's home.
A jury found Harrison guilty of attempted murder and nine other crimes, and on Feb. 2, 2023, Zanic sentenced him to a term of 40 to 80 years.
The judge in sentencing Harrison focused on the impact Harrison's crimes had on the victim and her rural community.
He said it was an "absolute miracle" the victim survived.
"Words can't describe this crime. ... You tried to kill an 86-year-old lady and she survived," he said in sentencing Harrison.
He went on to say the state's sentencing guidelines were "absolutely inadequate."
"You left her for dead because you wanted a car," according to the judge.
"All I know is that you have put a community in fear and caused people to lock their doors," Zanic concluded.
Attorney Ronald McGlaughlin of State College represented Harrison in a post-sentence petition in which the defense argued Harrison's trial attorney was ineffective because he failed to challenge the lengthy sentence imposed by Zanic.
The defense also contended the trial judge erred when he refused to find his lawyer ineffective because he did not seek to suppress the envelope bearing Harrison's name that was found in the trash can on the girlfriend's front porch.
The Superior Court panel that included judges Alice B. Dubow, Jill Beck and John T. Bender rejected both arguments.
The defense argued that the judge did not adequately explain his lengthy sentence.
The sentencing court, for instance, allegedly did not acknowledge Harrison's nonviolent background or consider his rehabilitative needs, the defense emphasized.
The appeal court panel however pointed out the judge did provide a statement on why he deviated from the standard range of sentencing guidelines, and it noted also the judge had the advantage of a presentence investigation.
"Thus, Harrison failed to establish that he was prejudiced by trial counsel's failure to bring a challenge to the discretionary aspects of his sentence," it concluded.
The defense, in its second argument, maintained that Harrison's trial counsel should have attempted to suppress the envelope found in the girlfriend's trash bin.
Harrison personally contended that piece of evidence was a key in linking him to the crime.
But the Superior Court panel ruled that there was no need to delve into the propriety of police seizing the envelope bearing Harrison's name in view of the "myriad of other evidence connecting him to the crimes."
The result of the trial would not have been different, and there was no error by Harrison's trial counsel for not trying to suppress that bit of evidence, the panel explained.
Harrison is serving his time as an inmate of the State Correctional Institution in Greene County.