Com. v. Matis
| Decision Date | 12 May 1998 |
| Citation | 551 Pa. 220,710 A.2d 12 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. George E. MATIS, Appellant. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.
George E. Matis (Matis) appeals from an Order of the Superior Court that reversed the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of McKean County (trial court) dismissing criminal charges against him pursuant to Rule 1100 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. We affirm the Order of the Superior Court.
The criminal complaint alleges that on January 26, 1992, Matis operated his automobile while he was intoxicated in Wetmore Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania. Additionally, the complaint states that Matis drove his car into oncoming traffic and struck an approaching vehicle, killing his passenger and a passenger in the other automobile. Blood tests later revealed that Matis' blood alcohol content was .23%. 1
On February 12, 1992, the Commonwealth filed a complaint against Matis charging him with two counts of homicide by vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, 2 homicide by vehicle, 3 driving while under the influence of alcohol, 4 reckless driving, 5 and meeting a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. 6 The court continued the trial four times at the request of the Commonwealth so they could secure "relation back" evidence to establish Matis' blood alcohol level at the time of the accident pursuant to Commonwealth v. Jarman, 529 Pa. 92, 601 A.2d 1229 (1992), and Commonwealth v. Modaffare, 529 Pa. 101, 601 A.2d 1233 (1992). 7
The certified record does not fully explain all of the reasons why the trial court granted these continuances because the trial court did not prepare a report of the postponements as mandated by Rule 1100(g), 8 but it appears that the Commonwealth repeatedly postponed Matis' trial because its expert forensic toxicologist was unavailable. On December 22, 1992, the trial court issued an Order that set the trial date for January 27, 1993. Voir dire commenced on January 4, 1993. On that date, the jury was selected, but not sworn, because the trial was scheduled to commence three and one-half weeks later.
When the Commonwealth filed another motion to continue the trial on January 21, 1993, the defense objected, and the trial court scheduled a hearing on the Commonwealth's motion. At that hearing on January 25, 1993, the Commonwealth informed the trial court that it had been unable to subpoena Kelly Anderson (Anderson), a manager and bartender at a tavern that Matis allegedly visited on the night of the accident. The assistant district attorney informed the court that Anderson was unavailable because she was on a camping vacation and somewhere en route from Arizona to McKean County. The Commonwealth attempted to subpoena Anderson sixteen days before the trial. When it was unable to serve her, a detective from the district attorney's office contacted her father, sister, and an employee at the bar. The employee, Barry McGill, testified that Anderson telephoned the bar two or three times while she was vacationing and that he told her to contact the district attorney's office. McGill also said that Anderson told him that she would call the district attorney, but she never did.
The assistant district attorney did not know when Anderson would return, but nevertheless requested a continuance because Anderson's testimony was essential as it would lay a factual foundation for the subsequent testimony of the expert who would relate back the Appellant's blood alcohol level and testify that Matis was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
Although Anderson lived in McKean County continuously since the accident, the district attorney's office was unable to contact her. It concluded that her testimony was necessary based on interview notes of a private investigator whom lawyers had hired concerning a related civil claim. To support its argument, the Commonwealth introduced the investigator's report into evidence. Relying on the private investigator's notes, the Commonwealth represented to the court that Anderson told the investigator that Matis entered the tavern at 1:45 a.m. and asked for a mixed drink, but that she served him a soft drink instead because he was visibly intoxicated. According to the notes, Matis was with one of the victims, and with his companion when he left the tavern at 2:10 a.m approximately ten to fifteen minutes before the accident.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court denied the Commonwealth's request for a continuance. The court held that the Commonwealth was not diligent in assuring Anderson's attendance at trial. In addition, the trial court relied on the fact that the Commonwealth did not introduce any expert testimony at the hearing on the motion to continue to establish that Anderson's testimony was necessary to lay a foundation for the expert's relation back opinion.
The Commonwealth filed a Notice of Appeal of that Order to the Superior Court on January 27, 1993, the date on which the trial was scheduled to begin. The Commonwealth did not seek permission from the trial court to appeal this interlocutory order pursuant to Rule 312 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Instead, it filed a notice of appeal containing a certification that the trial court's Order denying the Motion to Continue substantially impaired the prosecution. The trial court took no action while the appeal was pending because it believed that the filing of the Commonwealth's appeal divested it of jurisdiction. The Superior Court granted Matis' Motion to Quash the appeal by Order dated December 8, 1993. The Commonwealth filed a Motion to Reconsider, which the Superior Court denied.
On January 12, 1994, Matis filed a motion in the trial court to dismiss the charges against him pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100, in which he alleged that the Commonwealth failed to exercise due diligence in bringing him to trial and filed a frivolous appeal in bad faith from a non-appealable interlocutory order for the sole purpose of delaying the trial.
On January 28, 1994, the trial court granted Matis' Motion to Dismiss the charges pursuant to Rule 1100. Although the trial court rejected Matis' claim that the Commonwealth acted in bad faith when it filed the appeal, it discharged Matis because it concluded that the Commonwealth did not exercise due diligence in bringing him to trial. Matis continues to argue that the prosecutor took the appeal to the Superior Court in bad faith and to delay the beginning of his trial. Although the trial court's Opinion is silent on this issue, the trial court expressly rejected that assertion in court when it stated the following:
I at no time made a finding that the Commonwealth was acting in bad faith. And after hearing argument today, there's been no evidence presented or even any argument that persuaded me that the Commonwealth acted in bad faith in taking the appeal.
Notes of testimony, January 28, 1994, p. 38. This Court is therefore bound by the trial court's factual finding that the Commonwealth did not act in bad faith. The trial court denied the Commonwealth's Motion for Reconsideration on February 15, 1994.
The Commonwealth appealed and the Superior Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order dated March 29, 1995 in which it reversed the trial court and remanded the case for trial. The Superior Court held that the period of time that the Commonwealth's appeal was pending is excludable from the period for commencement of trial pursuant to Rule 1100. Judge Del Sole filed a Dissenting Memorandum in which he concluded the trial court properly dismissed the charges against Matis.
We granted Matis' Petition for Allowance of Appeal to decide whether the Superior Court erred in reversing the trial court's dismissal of the charges against him based on the Commonwealth's violation of Rule 1100.
Our standard of review of a trial court's decision to dismiss charges pursuant to Rule 1100 is whether that court abused its discretion. Commonwealth v. Edwards, 528 Pa. 103, 595 A.2d 52 (1991). This Court must confine its inquiry to the evidence in the record along with the findings of the trial court. Commonwealth v. Fuchs, 372 Pa.Super. 499, 539 A.2d 1307 (1988), alloc. denied, 521 Pa. 610, 557 A.2d 341 (1989).
Rule 1100 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, which protects the accused's speedy trial rights, provides in pertinent part as follows Rule 1100. Prompt Trial
(A) ....
(2) Trial in a court case in which a written complaint is filed against the defendant, where the defendant is incarcerated on that case, shall commence no later than 180 days from the date on which the complaint is filed.
(3) Trial in a court case in which a written complaint is filed against the defendant, where the defendant is at liberty on bail, shall commence no later than 365 days from the date on which the complaint is filed.
(B) For the purpose of this rule, trial shall be deemed to commence on the date the trial judge calls the case to trial, or the defendant tenders a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
(C) In determining the period for commencement of trial, there shall be excluded therefrom:
(1) the period of time between the filing of the written complaint and the defendant's arrest, provided that the defendant could not be apprehended because his or her whereabouts were unknown and could not be determined by due diligence;
(2) any period of time for which the defendant expressly waives Rule 1100;
(3) such period of delay at any stage of the proceedings as results from:
(i) the unavailability of the...
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