LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed the life sentence given to a Lancaster County man for his role in a deadly 2016 home invasion, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said this week.
The court found that Christopher Lyles had waived his right to challenge the weight of evidence against him by not raising them previously, the DA's Office said.
In its April 1 memo, the court also noted that, even if Lyles' claims had been properly raised, the court would have dismissed them due to lack of merit, according to the DA.
Lyles was sentenced to life in prison plus 12½ to 40 years after a 2020 trial in Lancaster County Court for his role in the 2016 killing of Dennis Pitch during a home invasion in Narvon, Salisbury Township.
Testimony from a codefendant, fellow prisoner and cell phone location evidence all corroborated Lyles being in the Narvon area around the time the crime occurred, according to prosecutors.
Lyles and his defense filed a post-sentence motion challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a deadly weapon enhancement, the constitutionality of his sentence and the discretionary aspects of his sentence, which the court denied, according to prosecutors.
He then filed a timely notice of appeal questioning the verdict being against the weight of the evidence regarding the cell phone location coordinates placing him at the crime scene and whether the testimony of the prisoner could be accepted, according to the DA's office.
The Superior Court stated in its memo, “Our rules of criminal procedure establish that a challenge to weight of the evidence must be preserved in a post-sentence motion, a written motion prior to sentencing, or an oral motion that precedes sentencing. Otherwise, if it is not raised with the trial court in any of these formats, it is waived. Although Lyles filed a post-sentence motion, that motion contains three arguments wholly unrelated to the weight of the evidence assertion.”
Lyles remains in state prison, according to the DA.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman won the trial conviction with assistance from Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ponessa.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Jonathan Potoka filed charges.
