Com. v. MacPherson

• Citation: 752 A.2d 384,561 Pa. 571
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Clark R. MacPHERSON, Appellee.
• Decision Date: 18 May 2000
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

752 A.2d 384

561 Pa. 571

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant, v. Clark R. MacPHERSON, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued March 8, 2000.

Decided May 18, 2000.

Francis Schultz, Meadville, for appellant.

Stuart Suss, Dist. Atty. Association (Amicus).

Bruce Alan Barrett, Meadville, for appellee.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

CAPPY, Justice.

In this direct appeal brought under 42 Pa.C.S. § 722(7), we consider whether the court of common pleas correctly determined that 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a.1) of Pennsylvania's Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol statute, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)-(j) (the "DUI statute"), offends constitutional guarantees of due process. For all of the reasons discussed below, we hold that the trial court erred in declaring § 3731(a.1) unconstitutional, and reverse.

On February 18, 1998, a criminal complaint was filed in Crawford County, Pennsylvania against the appellee, Clark R. MacPherson. According to the complaint, on December 13, 1997 at 12:30 a.m., a Pennsylvania State Trooper observed a vehicle being driven erratically. Upon stopping the vehicle, the trooper noted that the driver, the appellee, smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech and had glassy, bloodshot eyes. The trooper placed appellee under arrest and transported him to a medical facility. Blood was drawn from appellee at 1:00 a.m. A chemical test of the blood sample revealed a blood alcohol content ("BAC") of .10%. On March 12, 1998, a criminal information was filed against appellee, charging him with one count of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)(1)(driving while under the influence and incapable of safe driving); one count of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)(4)(i)(driving with a BAC of .10% or greater); and one count of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3309(1)(driving on roadways laned for traffic).

Section 3731(a)(4)(i) of the DUI statute makes it a crime for an adult to drive a vehicle while his or her BAC is or exceeds.10%. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)(4)(i).¹ Under § 3731(a.1), it is prima facie evidence that an adult had a BAC of .10% or more at the time of driving a vehicle if a chemical test of his or her breath, blood or urine performed within three hours after driving was .10% or greater. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a.1).²

On June 8, 1998, appellee filed a motion in limine, asking the trial court to determine whether, in light of the decision in Commonwealth v. Wasielwski, 25 Craw. Cty. L.J. 85 (1998), the Commonwealth had the burden of proving his blood alcohol level at the time of driving and whether the "statutory presumption" at § 3731(a.1) is unconstitutional insofar as it permits his BAC test results to constitute prima facie evidence of his guilt. Citing Wasielwski, the trial court granted the motion and entered an order dated June 12, 1998, finding that § 3731(a.1) is "unconstitutionally irrational and overbroad", and requiring the Commonwealth to relate appellee's BAC test results back to the time of driving in order to establish its case.³

On June 12, 1998, the Commonwealth filed an interlocutory appeal as of right pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 311(d) in the Superior Court.⁴ As required by Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a), on July 20, 1998, the trial court filed a statement of the reasons for its order, adopting the opinion in Wasielwski as its own. In Wasielwski, the defendant was stopped in his vehicle by a police officer. Defendant's BAC was tested at.14% approximately one hour and ten minutes after the stop. Defendant was charged under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)(4)(i). Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to compel, alleging that § 3731(a.1) is unconstitutionally vague and broad, and requesting that the Commonwealth be required to relate back his blood alcohol level to the time he drove. The question the trial court considered was whether the "rebuttable presumption[ ] [at § 3731(a.1) ] unconstitutionally force[s] the defendant to defend his actions before the Commonwealth has met its burden of sufficiently establishing each element of the crime?" 25 Craw. Cty. L.J. at 98. Applying the principles enunciated in the United States Supreme Court cases of Tot v. United States, 319 U.S. 463, 63 S.Ct. 1241, 87 L.Ed. 1519 (1943) and Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6, 89 S.Ct. 1532, 23 L.Ed.2d 57 (1969), the court found that it cannot be said with "substantial assurance" that the presumed fact in § 3731(a.1) "more likely than not" flows from the proved fact on which it depends. Id. at 98-101. The court stated: "if the defendant is tested at a BAC of 0.10%, 0.105%, 0.12%, etc., thirty minutes, one hour, two hours, etc., after driving can we say that it is substantially certain that it is more likely than not that the defendant drove with a BAC of .10% or greater?" Id. at 99. Concluding that § 3731(a.1) is not "based on the circumstances of life as we know them", id. at 101, the court held that § 3731(a.1) is unconstitutional because it is "irrational", "arbitrary" and "overbroad". Id. at 98-101.⁵

On March 12, 1998, pursuant to 42 Pa. C.S. § 722(7)⁶, which vests exclusive jurisdiction in this court over matters where the court of common pleas has invalidated a Pennsylvania statute on constitutional grounds, the Superior Court relinquished jurisdiction and transferred the Commonwealth's appeal for our review.

As this appeal concerns the constitutionality of a statutory enactment and raises the question of whether the trial court committed an error of law in concluding that § 3731(a.1) is unconstitutional, our scope of review is plenary. Phillips v. A-Best Products Co., 542 Pa. 124, 665 A.2d 1167 (1995). The standard of review we apply to the court's conclusion is exacting. A statute will be found unconstitutional only if it "clearly, palpably and plainly" violates constitutional rights. Id., quoting the plurality in Commonwealth v. Mikulan, 504 Pa. 244, 470 A.2d 1339, 1340 (1983)

. Under well-settled principles of law, there is a strong presumption that legislative enactments do not violate the constitution. Commonwealth v. Barud, 545 Pa. 297, 681 A.2d 162, 165 (1996). Further, there is a heavy burden of persuasion upon one who questions the constitutionality of an Act. Id.

At the outset, we note that § 3731(a.1) was enacted to address an issue that has been a topic of continuing appellate review—under what circumstances evidence of a defendant's BAC, without evidence of relating back, is sufficient to make out a prima facie case in a § 3731(4) prosecution. See id. See e.g. Commonwealth v. Yarger, 538 Pa. 329, 648 A.2d 529 (1994); Commonwealth v. Jarman, 529 Pa. 92, 601 A.2d 1229 (1992); Commonwealth v. Modaffare, 529 Pa. 101, 601 A.2d 1233 (1992).⁷ The Commonwealth urges in this appeal that § 3731(a.1) would inject uniformity into § 3731(a)(4) prosecutions by defining a prima facie case with precision, and would eliminate the "case-by-case" review that § 3731(a)(4) prosecutions have generated regarding the necessity for relating back evidence in the Commonwealth's case-in-chief.

In § 3731(a.1), the legislature created an evidentiary tool that enables the factfinder to proceed by inferential reasoning from one fact to another. That is, under § 3731(a.1), it may be deduced as a logical consequence from the fact that a defendant's BAC was .10% or greater within three hours of driving that his BAC was .10% or more at the time he drove. Thus, in certain § 3731(a)(4) cases, § 3731(a.1) obviates the need for extrapolation evidence.

Evidentiary tools like § 3731(a.1) are commonly and often interchangeably known as "inferences" or "presumptions." Both the legislatures and the courts create them. See Barnes v. United States, 412 U.S. 837, 93 S.Ct. 2357, 37 L.Ed.2d 380 (1973)

. As recognized by the United States Supreme Court, "[i]nferences and presumptions are staples of our adversary system of factfinding. It is often necessary for the trier of fact to determine the existence of an element of the crime—that is, an `ultimate' or `elemental' fact—from the existence of one or more `evidentiary' or `basic' facts." County Court of Ulster County v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 156, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979)(hereinafter "Ulster County Court").

These evidentiary tools are of two types: permissive and mandatory. Ulster County Court, 442 U.S. at 157,

99 S.Ct. 2213; Commonwealth v. Kelly, 555 Pa. 382, 724 A.2d 909, 911 (1999). A permissive inference allows, but does not require, the factfinder to infer the elemental fact from proof of the basic fact and places no burden of persuasion or production on the defendant. Id. In this situation, the basic fact may constitute "prima facie" evidence of the elemental fact. Ulster County Court, 442 U.S. at 157,

99 S.Ct. 2213. "A permissive inference does not relieve the State of its burden of persuasion because it still requires the State to persuade the jury that the suggested conclusion should be inferred based on the predicate facts proved." Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307, 314, 105 S.Ct. 1965, 85 L.Ed.2d 344 (1985).

By contrast, a mandatory presumption tells the trier of fact that he must find the elemental fact upon proof of the basic fact. Id.; Commonwealth v. Kelly, 724 A.2d at 911. A mandatory presumption is either rebuttable or conclusive. Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. at 314 n. 2, 105 S.Ct. 1965. A mandatory rebuttable presumption requires the factfinder to find the presumed element if the basic fact is proven, unless the defendant comes forward with some evidence to rebut the presumed connection between the two facts. Id. Once the defendant satisfies this burden of production, the ultimate burden of persuasion returns to the prosecution. Ulster County Court, 442 U.S. at 157

-58 & n. 16, 99 S.Ct. 2213. A mandatory conclusive presumption removes the presumed element from the case once the State has proved the predicate facts giving rise to the presumption. Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. at 314 n. 2, 105 S.Ct. 1965.⁸

With regard to the analysis the courts apply...