Com. v. Dixon

• Citation: 907 A.2d 468
• Decision Date: 27 September 2006
• Docket Number: No. 142 MAP 2005.,142 MAP 2005.
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Adonica Sipe DIXON, Appellant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

907 A.2d 468

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Adonica Sipe DIXON, Appellant.

No. 142 MAP 2005.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 10, 2006.

Decided September 27, 2006.

Randy Paul Brungard, Esq., Lock Haven, for Adonica Sipe Dixon.

Lori A. Rexroth, Esq., Merritt E. McKnight, Esq., Williamsport, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN and BAER, JJ.

OPINION

Justice BAER.

Adonica Sipe Dixon (Appellant) seeks our review from the denial of her petition for release on nominal bail pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 600(E)¹ after she was held in pretrial confinement for more than 180 days. On appeal, the Superior Court affirmed the trial court, holding that an interlocutory appeal taken by the Commonwealth in the underlying case furnished a basis for extension of the 180-day time limit in accord with our decision in Commonwealth v. Matis, 551 Pa. 220, 710 A.2d 12 (1998), which discussed the 365-day time limit set forth in Pa.R.Crim.P. 600(G).² We find Rule 600(G) and the Matis discussion inapposite, and, for the following reasons, reverse.

On February 5, 2004, authorities in Clinton County filed a criminal complaint charging Appellant with rape and numerous sexual offenses against her sons, who were seven and eight at the time of the alleged incidents.³ Appellant was arrested, incarcerated, and arraigned on February 19, 2004, with bail originally set at $500,000.00 cash and later reduced to $250,000.⁴ Unable to procure funds to post bail, Appellant remained incarcerated until her trial.⁵

Prior to trial, the Commonwealth sought leave to introduce the victims' testimony at trial via videotape, claiming that the boys' ability to explain what occurred would be substantially impaired if they were compelled to face their mother in open court. The trial court initially granted the Commonwealth's motion. However, after viewing a videotape the Commonwealth used at the preliminary hearing, the trial court found that testifying in the Appellant's presence would not cause the boys such serious emotional distress that they could not reasonably communicate at trial. Consequently, on July 27, 2004, the trial court vacated its prior order, necessitating the boys' presence at Appellant's trial.

The Commonwealth filed a motion for reconsideration of the July 27, 2004 order, which was denied. Subsequently, on August 5, 2004, the Commonwealth filed a notice of appeal to the Superior Court, challenging the trial court's ruling denying the introduction of the videotape.⁶ Eventually the Superior Court affirmed the trial court in an unpublished memorandum decision filed on April 13, 2005.

On August 16, 2004, while the Commonwealth's appeal was pending and approximately 180 days after Appellant's initial incarceration, Appellant filed a motion for release on nominal bail pursuant to Pa. R.Crim.P. 600(E). Appellant alleged that she had been in jail since February 19, 2004; that as of August 16, 2004, she would have served 180 days without going to trial in violation of Rule 600(A)(2);⁷ and that the Commonwealth had filed an appeal to the Superior Court, necessitating further delay for which she was not responsible.

The Commonwealth raised no claim that Appellant was a flight risk or that she posed a danger to the public in general or the victims in particular. Instead, it responded that its appeal to the Superior Court concerning the children's need to testify personally, filed on August 5, 2004, served to extend the Rule 600(E) time period in accord with this Court's discussion of Rule 600(G) in Matis, and therefore Appellant was not entitled to release.

The trial court agreed with the Commonwealth's argument that it was entitled to an extension of the 180-day rule under our decision in Matis, and denied Appellant's request for release on nominal bail. Specifically, the court held that "[i]f the trial court issues a pretrial order excluding testimony that will substantially handicap the prosecution of the case, and the Commonwealth appeals the order and includes a Dugger⁸ certification, the appeal is authorized and the time limit for commencement of trial can be extended." Trial Ct. Slip Op. at 2. In addressing Appellant's attempt to distinguish the calculation of time for purposes of release on nominal bail pursuant to Rule 600(E) and for purposes of dismissal pursuant to Rule 600(G), the trial court found that the issue is not whether the individual is incarcerated or released on bail, but rather whether the Commonwealth has been duly diligent and whether the appeal was taken in bad faith. After finding that the Commonwealth met its burden of demonstrating due diligence and that the circumstances occasioning the delay were beyond its control, the two criteria for an extension of time in Rule 600(G), the trial court denied Appellant relief.

Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal to the Superior Court, asserting that the trial court erred in denying her petition for release on nominal bail. In addressing Appellant's claim, the Superior Court, like the trial court, found our decision in Matis interpreting Rule 600(G) to be dispositive, notwithstanding that the circumstances herein implicate Rule 600(E), rather than 600(G).

Appellant filed a Petition for Allowance of Appeal, which we granted. As in the Superior Court, she now argues that it was error to find Matis controlling because, unlike Appellant, the defendant in Matis was on bail pending the completion of the Commonwealth's pretrial appeal and sought a dismissal with prejudice of the charges after 365 days pursuant to the remedy provided in Rule 600(G).

Appellant contends that Rule 600 distinguishes between a defendant, like her, who is held in pretrial incarceration in excess of 180 days and seeks release on nominal bail pending trial, and a defendant, like the one in Matis, who is free on bail and seeks dismissal of charges with prejudice after 365 days. Appellant points out that in Matis, the only matter before us was whether the Commonwealth could extend the period for the running of Rule 600(G) by the length of the delay caused by its pretrial appeal. She stresses that Rule 600(E) unequivocally entitles defendants held pending trial in excess of 180 days to immediate release on nominal bail while Rule 600(G) incorporates the potentiality of extensions of time for said appeals or similar delays. Appellant further notes that the Superior Court decision could subject every incarcerated defendant, who is clothed with the presumption of innocence, to indefinite incarceration prior to trial based on delays attributable only to the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth first points out that on October 17, 2005, Appellant was sentenced to an aggregate term of twenty-two to eighty years of incarceration in a state correctional institution, her post-trial motions were denied by the trial court, and she is currently pursuing a direct appeal of her judgment of sentence to the Superior Court. See Commonwealth v. Sipe-Dixon, 1844 MDA 2005 (filed November 3, 2005). Thus, the Commonwealth argues that the question presented here is moot because Appellant is no longer being held in pretrial incarceration, and instead is currently serving her sentence. The Commonwealth also maintains that, if we find error in the decisions below, the error is harmless because Appellant has been credited with all time she served in pretrial incarceration. In the alternative, the Commonwealth contends that Appellant's original motion for release on nominal bail was properly denied by the trial court, and in lieu of argument, adopts the rationale set forth by the courts below. Thus, the Commonwealth avers that we should dismiss this appeal or affirm on the merits.

In addressing this appeal, this Court must consider two issues: whether this case should be dismissed as moot, and, if not, whether Appellant was entitled to pretrial release from confinement. Both involve pure questions of law, and therefore this Court's standard of review is de novo and our scope of review is plenary. See Commonwealth v. Cousin, 585 Pa. 287, 888 A.2d 710, 714 (2005). We turn first to a discussion of the mootness issue. In granting allowance of appeal, we recognized that, because we cannot afford this particular Appellant relief, the issue is technically moot.⁹ The instant appeal, however, furnishes a classic example of the well-recognized exception to the mootness doctrine applicable when a case is "capable of repetition yet evading review." See Commonwealth v. Baker, 564 Pa. 192, 766 A.2d 328, 330 n. 4 (2001). Pursuant to this principle, an appellate court may decide a case where issues important to the public interest are involved, the nature of the question under consideration is such that it will arise again, and review will be repeatedly thwarted if strict rules of mootness are applied. See id.

The issue raised herein cannot ripen until a defendant has been confined for 180 days, and will be mooted if the Commonwealth brings the case to trial, as it typically must, within 365 days of the filing of the complaint. The 185 days between the ripening of the issue and the last day the case can go to trial, absent exceptions, are obviously insufficient to permit the Superior Court and this Court to review a case. Thus, absent unusual circumstances which would prolong the Rule 600(G) 365-day period without imperiling the prosecution, the issue before us will repeat itself and yet evade review. Given a defendant's right to be free from prolonged pretrial incarceration; the district attorney's right, as a representative of the citizenry, to prosecute criminal conduct; and the reality that these questions will recur and yet evade review, it is appropriate that we address the merits. See id; see also Commonwealth v. Sloan, ___ Pa. ___, 907 A.2d 460, 2006 WL 2771645 (Pa.2006) (filed concurrently with this opinion and discussing further application of the capable of...