Com. v. Labelle

• Decision Date: 28 August 1990
• Citation: 579 A.2d 1315,397 Pa.Super. 179
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Lawrence Todd LABELLE.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 1315

579 A.2d 1315

397 Pa.Super. 179

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Lawrence Todd LABELLE.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued June 5, 1989.

Filed Aug. 28, 1990.

Francis P. Sempa, Asst. Dist. Atty., Wilkes-Barre, for Com., appellant.

Arlin M. Adams, Philadelphia, for appellee.

Before CIRILLO, President Judge, and BROSKY, ROWLEY, McEWEN, OLSZEWSKI ^*, TAMILIA, POPOVICH, JOHNSON and MELINSON *, JJ.

OPINION ANNOUNCING THE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT ^**

ROWLEY, Judge:

Does a driver's guilty plea to summary offenses of driving a vehicle at an unsafe speed, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3361, and reckless driving, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3714, preclude the Commonwealth from maintaining a subsequent action, arising from the same incident, against the driver for driving while under the influence of alcohol, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)? This is the principal issue presented in this appeal by the Commonwealth from the trial court's order quashing, on double jeopardy grounds, an information charging appellee with driving under the influence ("DUI"). After careful consideration, we vacate the trial court's order and remand for further proceedings.

The relevant facts disclosed at the appellee's preliminary hearing on the DUI charge are as follows: Appellee, Lawrence Todd Labelle, was driving a sports car when he was involved in a one-car accident on the morning of June 2, 1985, in Lackawanna County. His passenger, Mary Ellen Conaboy, suffered serious injuries and was rendered a quadriplegic. Just prior to the accident appellee stopped to purchase gasoline at a truck stop complex. After getting the gas, he drove through the parking lot in a reckless and erratic fashion before stopping in front of the restaurant in the complex. Appellee and his passenger went into the restaurant and came out with two cans of soda. The attendant at the service station portion of the truck stop saw appellee pour the contents of the cans of soda into a liquor bottle and drive away, squealing his tires. Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 26-28. The accident occurred moments later. Appellee was found to have had a blood alcohol level of .24.

The chronological sequence of events following the accident is established by the record. On June 10, 1985, eight days after the accident, Officer Lee Walters signed a complaint charging appellee with driving under the influence of alcohol. One week later, on June 17, 1985, Walters also charged appellee with the summary offenses of driving his vehicle at an unsafe speed and reckless driving. Appellee appeared before District Justice Donald Yurgosky on August 23, 1985 and pled guilty to the two summary offenses. He paid the fines and costs at that time.

Two days later, at his August 25th preliminary hearing, the DUI charge was dismissed by the District Justice pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 130(d), as then interpreted by this Court in its April 26, 1985 decision in Commonwealth v. Revtai, 343 Pa.Super. 149, 494 A.2d 399 (1985). The Court held in Revtai that Rule 130, which provides for the filing of a complaint against a defendant within five days of his release after his arrest without a warrant for driving under the influence, was mandatory in nature. Our Court further held that dismissal of the charges was the appropriate remedy for a violation of the five-day deadline.

The decision in Revtai, however, was reversed by this Court in Commonwealth v. Schimelfenig, 361 Pa.Super. 325, 522 A.2d 605 (1987), on March 18, 1987, before the two-year statute of limitations ran on the DUI charge against appellee. The District Attorney promptly re-filed the DUI charge against appellee on the basis of Schimelfenig, and a preliminary hearing was held on April 7, 1987. District Justice Grunik found a prima facie case had been established and bound appellee over for trial.

On May 11, 1987, appellee moved to dismiss the DUI complaint on double jeopardy grounds. The Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County granted the motion to dismiss. The Commonwealth now appeals from that order. The sole issue presented by the Commonwealth is whether the trial court erred in granting appellee's motion to quash the information and dismiss the DUI charge on double jeopardy grounds.

The Commonwealth contends that this case is governed by Commonwealth v. Beatty, 500 Pa. 284, 455 A.2d 1194 (1983), based upon dicta which appears in the text: "[T]he disposition of a summary offense in a traffic matter prior to the trial of a misdemeanor or felony does not present the type of governmental harassment of a defendant that would offend double jeopardy concerns." Id. at 291, 455 A.2d at 1198. The Commonwealth's brief, in essence, sets forth a two-fold argument: First, under Beatty, the double jeopardy clause is inapplicable to the factual situation before us. Second, even if the double jeopardy clause were applied in the present case, it would not bar prosecution of the DUI charge.

We do not agree with the Commonwealth's first contention, that under Beatty, appellee's conviction of the two summary offenses does not give rise to any constitutional double jeopardy concerns. As to the Commonwealth's second contention, we hold, for the reasons set forth in section II of this opinion, that the double jeopardy clause may bar prosecution of the DUI charge depending upon what conduct on the part of appellee formed the basis of his summary convictions. Finally, we disagree with appellee's contention that the Commonwealth is "foreclosed" from pursuing prosecution because it failed to take an appeal from the dismissal of the DUI charge from the District Magistrate.

I.

A.

An analysis of the applicability of Beatty must begin with the recognition that two distinct provisions may bar subsequent criminal actions arising from the same set of circumstances in this Commonwealth, one statutory and the other, constitutional. The statutory provision, section 110 of the Crimes Code, essentially provides that a subsequent prosecution is barred by a former prosecution if the offense was based on conduct arising from the same criminal episode and "if such offense was known to the appropriate prosecuting officer at the time of the commencement of the first trial and was within the jurisdiction of a single court unless the court ordered a separate trial of the charge of such offense." 18 Pa.C.S. § 110(1)(ii).

In Beatty, our Supreme Court construed section 110. Two drivers were involved in a collision and pulled their vehicles over to the side of the road. An altercation ensued during which Mr. Beatty broke the other driver's jaw, and then left the scene without identifying himself. After an investigation, Beatty was charged with, and pled guilty to, the summary offense of failing to identify himself at the scene of an accident, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3743. He was also charged with aggravated assault, waived a preliminary hearing, and was bound over for trial. His motion to dismiss the aggravated assault charge was granted by the trial court.

In reviewing the trial court's decision, our Supreme Court applied § 110 of the Crimes Code and the compulsory joinder rule of Commonwealth v. Campana, 455 Pa. 622, 314 A.2d 854, cert. denied, 417 U.S. 969, 94 S.Ct. 3172, 41 L.Ed.2d 1139 (1974) ("Campana II "). The result was the clear and unambiguous holding that "neither section 110(1)(ii) nor [the] compulsory joinder rule [as set forth in Campana ] requires the barring of the prosecution of the aggravated assault charge." Commonwealth v. Beatty, supra, 500 Pa. at 291, 455 A.2d at 1198.

In the case at bar, appellee concedes that section 110 does not, by itself, preclude the subsequent prosecution. Therefore, the only other possible bar to the subsequent prosecution is constitutional.

The constitutional provision which may preclude a subsequent criminal action, the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment, ¹ is the provision which appellee relies upon in the present case to bar his prosecution for DUI. That provision states that "[n]o person shall be ... subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb...." United States Const. Amend. V.

It is well-settled that section 110 claims and Fifth Amendment double jeopardy claims are separate and distinct. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 319 Pa.Super. 463, 466 A.2d 636 (1983). ² In Johnson, our Court recognized that section 110 and the double jeopardy clause may at times "overlap in their applications, [but] this is not true in all situations." Id. at 470, 466 A.2d at 640. Section 110 and the double jeopardy clause obviously do not overlap in the case at bar due to appellee's concession. Therefore, it is unnecessary and indeed inappropriate to consider those cases utilizing a section 110 analysis: Commonwealth v. Taylor, 513 Pa. 547, 522 A.2d 37 (1987); Commonwealth v. Allen, 506 Pa. 500, 486 A.2d 363 (1984); Commonwealth v. Breitegan, 500 Pa. 384, 456 A.2d 1340 (1983); Commonwealth v. Hoburn, 335 Pa.Super. 536, 485 A.2d 24 (1984); Commonwealth v. Kresge, 317 Pa.Super. 405, 464 A.2d 384 (1983); Commonwealth v. Dickerson, 303 Pa.Super. 46, 449 A.2d 570 (1982) (plurality).

It is significant that nowhere in the Beatty decision, relied upon by the Commonwealth, is the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the clause upon which appellee relies, mentioned. Beatty was decided under 18 Pa.C.S. § 110 and Commonwealth v. Campana, supra. Thus, any reliance by the Commonwealth on the proposition that Beatty controls is misplaced. See dissenting opinion by Brosky, J. in Commonwealth v. Evers, 381 Pa.Super. 568, 554 A.2d 531 (1989) (where appellant challenged the contemplated prosecution only on Fifth Amendment grounds and not upon section 110 or Campana compulsory joinder grounds, resolution of the case "must" rest squarely upon a determination of double jeopardy law).

B.

In determining that Beatty does not control, our decision today effectively overrules the decision of a panel of this Court in Commonwealth v. Evers, 381...