Com. v. Scofield

• Decision Date: 12 February 1987
• Citation: 360 Pa.Super. 552,521 A.2d 40
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Kenneth SCOFIELD, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 40

521 A.2d 40

360 Pa.Super. 552

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Kenneth SCOFIELD, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted Dec. 1, 1986.

Filed Feb. 12, 1987.

John Packel, Chief, Appeals, Asst. Public Defender, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Jane C. Greenspan, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for Com., appellee.

Before TAMILIA, HOFFMAN and HESTER, JJ.

TAMILIA, Judge:

This is a consolidated appeal from judgment of sentence entered after the court, sitting without a jury, convicted appellant, Kenneth Scofield, of aggravated assault ¹ and recklessly endangering another person, ² and acquitted him of driving under the influence of alcohol. Appellant was sentenced to twenty-nine (29) to fifty-eight (58) months imprisonment on work release, to be followed by one (1) year of probation. Appellant's conviction of reckless endangerment merged with the aggravated assault charge for sentencing purposes.

The facts of this case, as accurately set forth by the court below, are as follows:

On February 8, 1985, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Scofield was driving a brown Chevrolet north on the 3900 block of Broad Street in Philadelphia. At that time, George Munroe ("Munroe"), a cab driver, was travelling south on Broad Street in his cab scanning the area for potential fares. Munroe noticed Lamont Skipworth ("Skipworth") walking on the pavement on the east side of Broad Street. Munroe's attention was then drawn to Scofield's vehicle because he noticed sparks that were caused by Scofield's car scraping up against the left front bumper that was parked on the east side of Broad Street facing north in the parking lane. Scofield's vehicle traveled another ten feet in this manner before swerving onto the sidewalk and striking a building. At this point Munroe lost sight of Skipworth. Munroe then saw Skipworth under the right front fender of Scofield's vehicle. Munroe approached Scofield's car and told him to "cut the car off." Scofield said, "Look brother, give me a chance, leave me alone, I am all fucked up." Munroe attempted to put his hand inside the car in order to turn off the ignition at which point Scofield became belligerent, hitting at Munroe and attempting to bite him. Scofield then reved the engine and tried unsuccussfully to put his car in reverse. His efforts were thwarted by a flat tire which his vehicle sustained during the incident. Scofield was able to move the car away from the building but it then came to rest against a nearby tree.

It was subsequently determined that Skipworth was severely injured as a result of the accident necessitating amputation of one of his legs. He required hospitalization for a period of three months.

(Slip Op. Temin, J., 8/18/86, pp. 2, 3).

Appellant now contends the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person as the requisite mens rea of recklessness was not established. Appellant claims the evidence establishes "no more than his role as the driver of a vehicle that went out of control and struck a pedestrian, resulting in serious injury." (Appellant's brief at p. 8). The injuries were so severe as to require the amputation of the victim's leg and hospitalization for three months.

In evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, we must view all the evidence, together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth in order to determine if the evidence was sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 339 Pa.Super. 1, 488 A.2d 277 (1985).

Appellant was charged with violation of 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(a)(1) and as such, the Commonwealth must "establish beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant attempt[ed] to cause serious bodily injury to another, or cause[d] such injury intentionally knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life." Commonwealth v. Rohach, 344 Pa.Super. 229, 233, 496 A.2d 768, 770 (1985).

At 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 302(b)(3), the term "reckless" is defined as follows:

A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree, that considering the nature and intent of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.

Appellant's claim that his actions were consistent with mere negligent conduct is belied by the evidence produced at trial. As stated by the court below:

The record in this case is replete with evidence that Scofield operated his car in an intentionally reckless manner. Immediately prior to the accident he was observed driving his car so that it scraped up against the side of a parked car hard enough to produce sparks after which he swerved onto the sidewalk and struck a building. Additionally, his actions immediately following the accident demonstrate that he was conscious and aware of what he was doing. Not only did he attempt to prevent Munroe from turning off his ignition, he also attempted to shift his car in reverse and drive away. The manner in which the car was observed being driven prior to the accident was sufficient to establish the element of recklessness and Scofield's actions following the accident were sufficient to establish that his actions were intentionaly in that he was fully aware of what was going on.

(Slip Op. at 5-6). Evidence that appellant intended to run over Skipworth is not necessary to sustain appellant's convictions.

As stated in Commonwealth v. Raspa, 138 Pa.Super. 26, 29, 9 A.2d 925, 927 (1939):

In Com. v. Coccodralli, 74 Pa.Super. 324, the evidence was found to be sufficient to warrant a finding that the defendant had driven his truck in a manner which manifestly and necessarily imperiled the lives and limbs of other persons lawfully upon the street, and it was held that these facts raised a legal implication of malice though the defendant was not actuated by express malice and did not consciously intend to injure anyone. From proof that the operator of a car was willfully driving in a manner which involved reckless disregard for the safety of others lawfully using the streets, the necessary intent may be inferred ...

We would go a step further than the trial judge in ascribing intentionally reckless behavior to the appellant. While the court correctly held that the evidence was insufficient to find the appellant guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3731, the stipulation on the record established that appellant, upon testing, exhibited both amobarbital and secobarbital in his urine, (T.T 70 1/6-10/86, p. 70), and upon being administered a breathalyzer test, it produced a...