Com. v. Krouse

• Decision Date: 20 May 2002
• Citation: 799 A.2d 835
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Frank Lee KROUSE, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

799 A.2d 835

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Frank Lee KROUSE, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued February 19, 2002.

Filed May 20, 2002.

Baker, Public Defender, Philadelphia, amicus curiae.

Michael Handler, Asst. Dist. Atty., Indiana, for Com., appellee.

Before DEL SOLE, P.J., JOHNSON, HUDOCK, FORD ELLIOTT, ORIE MELVIN, LALLY-GREEN, TODD, BENDER and BOWES, JJ.

JOHNSON, J.

¶ 1 Frank Lee Krouse appeals from the judgment of sentence following his conviction for indecent assault and the trial court's determination that he is a "sexually violent predator" ("SVP") pursuant to Pennsylvania's Megan's Law II, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9791-9799. Megan's Law II requires inter alia registration of an SVP's address with the Pennsylvania State Police and community notification of the SVP's address for potentially the rest of the SVP's life. Krouse asserts that the Commonwealth failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that Krouse was an SVP. He also challenges the constitutionality of various aspects of Pennsylvania's Megan's Law II. After review of the entire record, we conclude that the Commonwealth failed to produce clear and convincing evidence sufficient to support the trial court's determination of Krouse as an SVP. Therefore, we reverse the trial court as to the SVP determination and all requirements that would follow from such a determination under Megan's Law II. The judgment of sentence is otherwise affirmed.

¶ 2 In May 2000, the District Attorney of Indiana County charged Krouse with sexual offenses related to allegations of oral sex in June 1999 involving a ten-year-old boy in whose house Krouse was then residing. In July 2000, Krouse pled guilty to the indecent assault charge, see 18 Pa. C.S. § 3126, a few days after Megan's Law II became effective. The court then ordered the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board ("Assessment Board") to determine whether Krouse should be classified as an SVP. Mr. William Allenbaugh, an Assessment Board Member, found that Krouse met the criteria for an SVP under Megan's Law II. The District Attorney praeciped the court to designate Krouse an SVP.

¶ 3 Krouse then filed a motion to challenge the constitutionality of the SVP determination under Megan's Law II and various amicus curiae groups filed briefs regarding the constitutional challenge. The trial court heard argument on the issue and, in December 2000, denied the motion. In March 2001, the court held a hearing pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 9795.4(e) in which a defense expert testified that Krouse did not fit the criteria for an SVP. Additionally, Assessment Board Member Allenbaugh, who had not interviewed Krouse, testified that Krouse should be adjudicated an SVP. The court then determined that Allenbaugh was credible and that Krouse was an SVP under Megan's Law II. The court did not however make specific findings regarding the factors detailed in Megan's Law II, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9795.4(b), supporting the SVP classification nor did the court specifically set forth findings regarding the necessary elements of an SVP as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9792. Krouse timely appealed.

¶ 4 Krouse presents the following issues for our review.

1. Was the evidence sufficient to support the finding that defendant is a sexually violent predator?

2. (A) Do not the provisions of the amended Megan's Law inflict "punishment" by requiring a trial court at the time of sentence to impose upon an adjudicated defendant the unalterable requirement of life-long reporting on a quarterly basis to the State Police, accompanied by a mandate that the defendant pay for and participate in an "at least monthly" counseling program designated and "monitored" by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, and verified quarterly to the State Police, while he is subjected simultaneously to an aggressive campaign of public notification through the use of leaflets, notices and the Internet that are used to publicize the judicial fact that he has been declared by a court to be a "sexually violent predator," and with the defendant subject to a penalty of imprisonment throughout his life should he fail to report or verify his compliant status?

(B) Do not the Sexually Violent Predator provisions of Pennsylvania's Megan's Law, which provide for the adjudication of appellant as a "sexually violent predator" and the enhanced penalties attending that status, deprive appellant of his rights to procedural due process, including a standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a right to trial by jury, and the protection of an information or indictment?

(C) Are not the "sexually violent predator" provisions of Pennsylvania's Megan's Law unconstitutionally vague, and do they not render adjudicatory proceedings unavoidably arbitrary and capricious by conferring impermissible discretion upon assessors and judges in violation of the Due Process Clause of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions?

(D) Does not the Megan's Law subject the appellant to cruel and unusual punishment and violate his right to substantive due process, as protected by our state and federal constitutions, by punishing appellant for his mental status and a highly speculative prediction of future dangerousness?

(E) If appellant's predicate offense is the actus reas of the charge of SVP, does not an adjudication subject appellant to separate criminal proceedings on a greater included offense, in violation of his state and federal double jeopardy rights?

(F) Do not the assessment and adjudicatory procedures of Megan's Law compel appellant to give testimony against himself or suffer a negative inference from his silence, in violation of his state and federal self-incrimination privilege?

(G) Do not the assessment and adjudicatory procedures of Megan's Law violate statutory confidentiality protections afforded appellant and his coextensive right to privacy?

(H) Do not the sexually violent predator provisions of Megan's Law violate the doctrine of separation of powers as it is embodied in Article V, §§ 1, 2, and 10(c) of the Pennsylvania Constitution by infringing upon the rule making power the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has been granted over judicial procedure and practice?

(I) Did the legislature violate Article III, § 3, by enacting a bill that contains more than one subject?

(J) By subjecting appellant to the broadest form of public notification about his criminal status, identity, and location, and by publicly declaring that he is a "sexually violent predator," does not the implementation of Pennsylvania's Megan's Law constitute a gross and unjustifiable violation of appellant's state and federal constitutional right to privacy?

Supplemental Brief for Appellant at 2-4. As we reverse on the basis of Krouse's first issue, we need not address the constitutional issues. See In re Fiori, 543 Pa. 592, 673 A.2d 905, 909 (1996)

(stating that it is a "sound tenet of jurisprudence that courts should avoid constitutional issues when the issue at hand may be decided upon other grounds").

¶ 5 A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence is a question of law requiring a plenary scope of review. See Commonwealth v. Weston, 561 Pa. 199, 749 A.2d 458, 460 n. 8 (2000)

. The appropriate standard of review regarding the sufficiency of the evidence is "whether the evidence admitted at trial and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as the verdict winner, is sufficient to support all the elements of the offenses." Commonwealth v. DeJesus, 567 Pa. 415, 787 A.2d 394, 398 (2001). As a reviewing court, we "may not weigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for that of the fact-finder." Commonwealth v. Vetrini, 734 A.2d 404, 407 (Pa.Super.1999). Furthermore, a fact-finder is free to believe "all, part or none" of the evidence presented. Id.

¶ 6 "At the hearing prior to sentencing the court shall determine whether the Commonwealth has proved by clear and convincing evidence that the individual is a sexually violent predator." 42 Pa.C.S § 9795.4(e)(3). Accordingly, in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence regarding the determination of SVP status, we will reverse the trial court only if the Commonwealth has not presented clear and convincing evidence sufficient to enable the trial court to determine that each element required by the statute has been satisfied. In most cases, we will determine whether the record supports the findings of fact made by the trial court and then review the legal conclusions made from them. However, in cases such as the present case, where the trial court has stated its legal conclusions but has not provided specific findings of fact, we will review the entire record of the post-conviction SVP hearing as our scope of review is plenary. Therefore, if it appears based on all of the evidence viewed in a light most favorable to the Commonwealth that an SVP classification can not be made out in a clear and convincing manner, then we will be obliged to reverse the SVP designation.

¶ 7 The statute defines an SVP as follows:

§ 9792. Definitions

* * * * *

"Sexually violent predator." A person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense as set forth in section 9795.1 (relating to registration) and who is determined to be a sexually violent predator under section 9795.4 (relating to assessments) due to a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses.

42 Pa.C.S. § 9792 (emphasis added).

¶ 8 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court and this Court declared that the process of SVP determination in Megan's Law I unconstitutionally violated a defendant's due process rights. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 557 Pa. 285, 733 A.2d 593 (1999)

; Commonwealth v. Halye, 719 A.2d 763 (Pa.Super.1998). Previously, once convicted of a sexual offense, the individual had to rebut the presumption of SVP classification by clear and...