Com. v. Coghe
| Decision Date | 08 January 1982 |
| Citation | 439 A.2d 823,294 Pa.Super. 207 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Edward COGHE, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Joseph Budicak, Beaver, for appellant.
John L. Brown, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Beaver, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Before CAVANAUGH, WATKINS and HOFFMAN, JJ.
This case comes to us on appeal from the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County, Criminal Division, and involves the appellant-defendant's claim that the court below erred when it granted the Commonwealth's Petition for Forfeiture of his property, specifically $1,000 of United States currency which the appellant had paid to a hired killer as a down payment for the contract killing of the appellant's wife. The scheme was aborted and the murder never occurred.
On November 21, 1978 the appellant pled guilty to the crime of Criminal Solicitation to Commit Murder in connection with the above-mentioned incident. On January 2, 1979, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than two (2) nor more than five (5) years, and to pay a fine of $2,000. The Commonwealth subsequently filed its petition requesting that the $1,000 that appellant had paid to the person who he had hired to murder his wife be forfeited. On November 26, 1980 the court below granted the forfeiture of the $1,000. The appellant claims that the court below had no authority to grant the forfeiture of the $1,000 and that the money should be returned to him. We disagree.
Property which is contraband may be forfeited to the Commonwealth. See 35 P.S. 780-128; Commonwealth v. Landy, 240 Pa. Superior Ct. 458, 362 A.2d 999 (1976). There are two classes of contraband: contraband per se, the mere possession of which is unlawful, such as moonshine, heroin, certain prohibited offensive weapons, and other such items; and derivative contraband, which is property which is not inherently illegal but which is used in the perpetration of an unlawful act. Commonwealth v. Fassnacht, 246 Pa. Superior Ct. 42, 369 A.2d 800 (1977). Money proceeds derived from and directly traceable to the sale of an illegal drug and motor vehicles used to transport illegal drugs or moonshine have been held to be derivative contraband. Commonwealth v. Landy, supra.
In the instant case the $1,000 in United States currency that the appellant paid to the person who he had hired to murder his wife is an example of derivative contraband in that the money itself is obviously not...
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Commonwealth v. Irland
...525, 491 A.2d 1381 (1985) ; Estate of Peetros v. Cty. Detectives , 341 Pa. Super. 558, 492 A.2d 6 (1985) ; Commonwealth v. Coghe , 294 Pa. Super. 207, 439 A.2d 823 (1982). Similarly, the court observed that a panel and an en banc complement of the Commonwealth Court had accepted a common la......
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Commonwealth v. Irland
...525, 491 A.2d 1381 (1985), Estate of Peetros v. County Detectives , 341 Pa.Super. 558, 492 A.2d 6 (1985), and Commonwealth v. Coghe , 294 Pa.Super. 207, 439 A.2d 823 (1982).In Estate of Peetros , the Commonwealth sought the forfeiture of books seized in connection with the investigation of ......
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Commonwealth v. 2010 Buick Enclave
...law forfeiture to the Commonwealth through a series of reported three-judge panel decisions in the early 1980s—Commonwealth v. Coghe, 294 Pa.Super. 207, 439 A.2d 823 (1982) ; Petition of Maglisco, 341 Pa.Super. 525, 491 A.2d 1381 (1985) ; Estate of Peetros v. County Detectives, 341 Pa.Super......
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Com. v. Crosby
...this proposition were cases in which there had been statutory authority for the forfeiture. For example, in Commonwealth v. Coghe, 294 Pa.Super. 207, 439 A.2d 823 (1982), wherein the court upheld an order directing the forfeiture of the defendant's $1,000 down payment on a contract to have ......