O'Brien v. Township of Ralpho

• Decision Date: 29 July 1994
• Citation: 646 A.2d 663,166 Pa.Cmwlth. 337
• Parties: John M. O'BRIEN, Appellant, v. TOWNSHIP OF RALPHO.
• Court: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Page 663

646 A.2d 663

166 Pa.Cmwlth. 337

John M. O'BRIEN, Appellant, v. TOWNSHIP OF RALPHO.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 13, 1994.

Decided July 29, 1994.

James A. Zurick, for appellant.

Jack C. Younkin, for appellee.

Before COLINS, SMITH and PELLEGRINI, JJ.

SMITH, Judge.

John M. O'Brien appeals from the November 19, 1993 order of the Court of Common Pleas of Northumberland County granting the preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer filed by the Township of Ralpho (Township). The sole issue raised for this Court's review is whether a police department incident report qualifies as an adjudication for purposes of Section 752 of the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S. § 752.

On March 16, 1993, O'Brien was involved in a nonreportable two-vehicle accident in the Township. After viewing the scene of the accident, the Township's chief of police filed an incident report which stated, inter alia, that O'Brien "may have lost control and slid into" the other vehicle due to snow and slush covering O'Brien's lane of travel. No citations were issued to either driver. O'Brien filed a complaint in June 1993 alleging that the incident report erroneously assigned responsibility for the accident to O'Brien; that the report "directly prejudiced and adversely affected a property right, privilege, liability and obligation of [O'Brien] in that his cost to obtain automobile insurance has raised substantially"; and that the report constitutes a final adjudication because it affects a property right and leaves O'Brien with no other forum in which to assert his rights. The Township filed preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer contending that the incident report was not an adjudication, did not directly prejudice or adversely affect O'Brien's rights or privileges, and the complaint failed to set forth a claim upon which relief could be granted.

In granting the Township's preliminary objections, the trial court noted in its opinion that the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S. § 752, provides:

Any person aggrieved by an adjudication of a local agency who has a direct interest in such adjudication shall have the right to appeal therefrom to the court vested with jurisdiction of such appeals by or pursuant to Title 42 (relating to judiciary and judicial procedure).

An adjudication is defined in pertinent part at 2 Pa.C.S. § 101 as:

Any final order, decree, decision, determination or ruling by an agency affecting personal or property rights, privileges, immunities, duties, liabilities or obligations of any or all of the parties to the proceeding in which the adjudication is made....

The trial court stated that because it was ruling on a demurrer, it must accept all well-pleaded facts of the plaintiff and must, therefore, find that the incident report impacted upon O'Brien's liabilities and obligations. Nonetheless, the trial court held that the incident report was not final and did not implicate an adversarial relationship as contemplated by the terminology of Section 101; furthermore, the action of a police officer in placing his opinions in an unofficial incident report did not constitute a proceeding necessary for an adjudication.

On appeal to this Court, O'Brien argues that the conclusion set forth in the incident report was a final decision affecting a personal property right for which no avenue of appeal exists and was therefore an appealable adjudication. This Court's scope of review is limited where there is a challenge to the sustaining of a preliminary objection in the nature of a demurrer. Crum v. Burd, 131 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 550, 571 A.2d 1, appeal denied, 525 Pa. 649, 581 A.2d 574 (1990). When considering preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer, the Court must accept as true all well-pleaded material facts in the complaint as well as all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from those facts. Capital City Lodge No. 12, Fraternal Order of Police v. City of Harrisburg, 138 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 475, 588 A.2d 584, appeal denied, 528 Pa. 614, 596 A.2d 159 (1991). The question presented by a demurrer is whether, on the facts averred, the law says with certainty that no recovery is possible. Mahoney v. Furches, 503 Pa. 60, 468 A.2d 458 (1983). The Court will overturn the trial court's decision only if there has been an error of law or a clear abuse of discretion. Kilmore v. Erie Insurance Co., 407 Pa.Superior Ct. 245, 595 A.2d 623 (1991), appeal denied, 529 Pa. 664, 604 A.2d 1030 (1992).

O'Brien contends that the incident report was a decision that rose to the level of agency action and that it is reasonable to infer that O'Brien's insurance carrier considered the conclusions in the report as a decision or determination, noting that the courts have held that a letter from an agency may qualify as an adjudication and that the incident report in this case qualifies as such. In Wortman v. Philadelphia Comm'n on Human Relations, 139 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 616, 591 A.2d 331 (1991), this Court held that under 2 Pa.C.S. § 101, when an agency's decision or refusal to act leaves a complainant with no other forum in which to assert his or her rights, privileges, or immunities, the agency's act is an...