Com. v. DeBlase

• Decision Date: 23 February 1994
• Citation: 431 Pa.Super. 100,635 A.2d 1091
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Thomas DeBLASE, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 1091

635 A.2d 1091

431 Pa.Super. 100

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Thomas DeBLASE, Appellee.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Sept. 15, 1993.

Filed Jan. 7, 1994.

Application for Reargument or Reconsideration Denied Feb. 23, 1994.

Mary Macneil Killinger, Executive Asst. Dist. Atty., Norristown, for Com., appellant.

Samuel C. Stretton, West Chester, for appellee.

Before WIEAND, TAMILIA and HESTER, JJ.

WIEAND, Judge.

In this appeal we have been asked to review a trial court order which dismissed charges of murder, robbery and criminal conspiracy against Thomas DeBlase on grounds that his constitutionally guaranteed rights to due process and a speedy trial had been violated.

The dead body of David Swinehart, a wealthy real estate developer, was found on January 15, 1982, in a vehicle which had been parked in an alley in Pottstown, Montgomery County. Death had been caused by bludgeoning. Charges were not filed until May 11, 1985, when DeBlase, the victim's nephew, his brother Jeffrey, ¹ Terry Lee Maute ² and Arthur Hall ³ were arrested for the crime. A preliminary hearing was held for DeBlase on May 31, 1985, after which the charges of murder, robbery and conspiracy were returned to court. DeBlase was arraigned on July 24, 1985.

A portion of the Commonwealth's evidence consisted of intercepted conversations in which DeBlase had been a participant. Some conversations had been intercepted by an electronic wiretap and others by virtue of a body wire which had been worn consensually by DeBlase's brother, Jeffrey. DeBlase filed a petition to suppress this evidence and, after hearing before the Honorable Horace Davenport, was successful in suppressing evidence obtained through both the wiretap and the body wire. The Commonwealth appealed to the Superior Court which, on September 22, 1986, affirmed the suppression of the wiretap evidence but reversed the suppression of statements recorded as a result of the body wire. See: Commonwealth v. DeBlase, 357 Pa.Super. 71, 515 A.2d 564 (1986). A petition for allocatur was granted by the Supreme Court; but, on January 22, 1988, the appeal was dismissed as having been improvidently granted. See: Commonwealth v. DeBlase, 517 Pa. 323, 536 A.2d 339 (1988).

Upon remand, trial was set for June 27, 1988. DeBlase, however, retained present counsel, who filed a second motion to suppress the body wire evidence on grounds that the evidence had been obtained in violation of Article I, Section 8, of the Pennsylvania Constitution as interpreted by the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Schaeffer, 370 Pa.Super. 179, 536 A.2d 354 (1987) (en banc). ⁴ This petition was also heard by Judge Davenport who, in reliance on the decision in Commonwealth v. Schaeffer, supra, suppressed the body wire evidence on June 23, 1988. The Commonwealth appealed. ⁵ The Superior Court, on April 5, 1989, reversed the suppression order and remanded for reconsideration in light of appellate court decisions in Commonwealth v. Blystone, 519 Pa. 450, 549 A.2d 81 (1988), aff'd in Blystone v. Pennsylvania, 494 U.S. 299, 110 S.Ct. 1078, 108 L.Ed.2d 255 (1990); Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 519 Pa. 415, 548 A.2d 1211 (1988), and Commonwealth v. Brion, 381 Pa.Super. 83, 552 A.2d 1105 (1989), allocatur granted, 534 Pa. 652, 627 A.2d 730 (1993). See: Commonwealth v. DeBlase, 390 Pa.Super. 651, 561 A.2d 817 (1989). On April 26, 1989, DeBlase filed a petition in the Supreme Court for allowance of appeal. ⁶

After twenty-one (21) months had elapsed without a decision on his petition for allowance of an appeal to the Supreme Court, DeBlase filed in the Supreme Court, on January 24, 1991, an Emergency Petition for Dismissal on grounds that his rights to a speedy trial and due process had been violated by delay in the appellate process. When the Supreme Court did not act on this petition, DeBlase filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on April 23, 1991, a petition for writ of habeas corpus. This petition was assigned to a federal magistrate for review.

On August 26, 1991, DeBlase filed in the federal court a petition for bail and, following hearing, was released on restrictive bail in November, 1991, after six and one-half (6 1/2) years in prison. DeBlase continues on bail, but subject to a curfew and electronic monitoring.

On December 2, 1992, the federal magistrate filed a report containing his conclusion that DeBlase's right to a speedy trial had been violated. He recommended that the charges against DeBlase be dismissed unless he be brought to trial within one hundred twenty (120) days. The prosecution then filed in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania a petition for extraordinary relief in which it urged the Court to act on DeBlase's petition for allocatur. On December 28, 1992, three years and eight months after the petition for allowance of an appeal had been filed, the Supreme Court entered an order denying the petition for allocatur without prejudice and denying the emergency petition as moot. Commonwealth v. DeBlase, 533 Pa. 617, 619 A.2d 699 (1992).

DeBlase then filed a petition in the federal court seeking to stay the criminal proceedings in the state court pending a determination of his petition for habeas corpus. This petition was denied. ⁷ Also denied was the petition for habeas corpus. This order was appealed by DeBlase to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. ⁸

When the case was returned to the trial court by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, DeBlase filed an omnibus pre-trial motion in which he requested the trial court, inter alia, to dismiss the charges on grounds that his rights to a speedy trial and to due process of law had been violated by the delay in commencing trial. After hearing, ⁹ the trial court, on April 19, 1993, granted the motion and discharged the defendant. The Commonwealth appealed.

Both the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Article I, § 9, of the Pennsylvania Constitution provide that in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have a right to a speedy trial. In Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 222-223, 87 S.Ct. 988, 993, 18 L.Ed.2d 1, 7-8 (1967), the United States Supreme Court held that the right to a speedy trial, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, is fundamental and is applicable to the states by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment. See: Dickey v. Florida, 398 U.S. 30, 37-38, 90 S.Ct. 1564, 1568-1569, 26 L.Ed.2d 26, 31-32 (1970). See also: Redd v. Sowders, 809 F.2d 1266, 1268 (6th Cir.1987); Commonwealth v. Reinhart, 466 Pa. 591, 597, 353 A.2d 848, 852 (1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 886, 97 S.Ct. 238, 50 L.Ed.2d 167 (1976); Commonwealth v. Ditzler, 443 Pa. 73, 79, 277 A.2d 336, 337 (1971). In Commonwealth v. Hailey, 470 Pa. 488, 493-494, 368 A.2d 1261, 1264 (1977), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court observed that the right to a speedy trial under Article I, § 9, of the Pennsylvania Constitution is co-extensive with the guarantee of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Accord: Commonwealth v. Glass, 526 Pa. 329, 334-335, 586 A.2d 369, 371-372 (1991); Commonwealth v. Smith, 524 Pa. 72, 78-79, 569 A.2d 337, 340 (1990); Commonwealth v. Lee, 460 Pa. 374, 379, 333 A.2d 773, 776 (1975).

In the landmark decision of Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), the Supreme Court recognized that "the right to speedy trial is a more vague concept than other procedural rights [and that] [i]t is ... impossible to determine with precision when the right has been denied." Id. at 521, 92 S.Ct. at 2187, 33 L.Ed.2d at 112. Because of the amorphous nature of the right to a speedy trial, the Court rejected the adoption of a rigid formula to determine its violation. Instead, the Supreme Court fashioned "a balancing test, in which the conduct of both the prosecution and the defendant are weighed." Id. at 530, 92 S.Ct. at 2191-2192, 33 L.Ed.2d at 116 (footnote omitted). This test was articulated as follows:

A balancing test necessarily compels courts to approach speedy trial cases on an ad hoc basis. We can do little more than identify some of the factors which courts should assess in determining whether a particular defendant has been deprived of his right. Though some might express them in different ways, we identify four such factors: Length of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant.

The length of the delay is to some extent a triggering mechanism. Until there is some delay which is presumptively prejudicial, there is no necessity for inquiry into the other factors that go into the balance. Nevertheless, because of the imprecision of the right to speedy trial, the length of delay that will provoke such an inquiry is necessarily dependent upon the peculiar circumstances of the case. To take but one example, the delay that can be tolerated for an ordinary street crime is considerably less than for a serious, complex conspiracy charge.

Closely related to length of delay is the reason the government assigns to justify the delay. Here, too, different weights should be assigned to different reasons. A deliberate attempt to delay the trial in order to hamper the defense should be weighted heavily against the government. A more neutral reason such as negligence or overcrowded courts should be weighted less heavily but nevertheless should be considered since the ultimate responsibility for such circumstances must rest with the government rather than with the defendant. Finally, a valid reason, such as a missing witness, should serve to justify appropriate delay.

Whether and how a defendant asserts his right is closely related to the other factors we have mentioned. The strength of his efforts will be affected by the length of the delay, to some extent by the reason for the delay, and most particularly by the personal prejudice, which is not always readily identifiable, that he experienc...