Commonwealth v. Baxter, No. 622 WDA 2006

• Decision Date: 29 August 2008
• Docket Number: No. 622 WDA 2006
• Citation: 956 A.2d 465,2008 PA Super 200
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellant, v. CHARLES WARNER BAXTER, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

2008 PA Super 200

956 A.2d 465

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellant, v. CHARLES WARNER BAXTER, Appellee.

No. 622 WDA 2006

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Filed: August 29, 2008.

Before: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J., STEVENS, ORIE MELVIN, LALLY-GREEN, KLEIN, BENDER, BOWES, GANTMAN, and SHOGAN, JJ.

OPINION BY ORIE MELVIN, J.

¶ 1 This is a Commonwealth appeal from the order entered on March 8, 2006 in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County that granted a new trial to Appellee, Charles Warner Baxter, on grounds that the prosecution of Appellee under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6111(g)(4) violated Appellee's due process rights as well as the separation of powers doctrine. After review, for the reasons that follow, we find there is no constitutional infirmity to the Commonwealth's prosecution of a prospective purchaser of a firearm for providing materially false statements in connection with that attempted purchase under the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act of 1995, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6101, et seq. (the "Firearms Act"). Accordingly, we reverse the order granting a new trial and re-instate the jury's verdict and remand for further proceedings.

¶ 2 The facts and procedural background of this matter may be summarized as follows. On November 24, 2004, Appellee went to Gander Mountain to purchase a .380 caliber Bersa handgun. N.T. Trial, 1/27/06, at 42. In order to effectuate the transfer of the firearm, Appellee was required to complete two forms, the Pennsylvania State Police Form SP 4-113 (state form) and the United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) Form 4473 (federal form), that would be used to determine the buyer's eligibility to receive a firearm under the Firearms Act. Id.; Commonwealth's Exhibit 1; see copy attached as Appendix A to Motion in Limine; Certified Record (C.R.) at 13. Under the Firearms Act, the state form is a one-page document known as an "application/record of sale" and requires every person purchasing a handgun in Pennsylvania from a licensed dealer to provide the dealer with identifying information including the purchaser's name, gender, race, social security number, address, and date of birth. See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6111(b)(1). The federal form, in addition to identifying information, asks the buyer a series of eligibility questions and directs the buyer at the beginning of the form to read the "Important Notices, Instructions and Definitions" that are included with the form. Additionally, the form apprises the buyer that the information provided will be used to determine whether he or she is prohibited under the law from receiving a firearm. At the bottom of the first page of the federal form, just above the signature line, the buyer is also advised in bold type, in relevant part, as follows:

I certify that the above answers are true and correct. I understand that answering "yes" to question 12a when I am not the actual buyer of the firearm is a crime punishable as a felony. I understand that a person who answers "yes" to any of the questions 12b through 12k is prohibited from purchasing or receiving a firearm. . . . I also understand that making any false oral or written statement, or exhibiting any false or misrepresented identification with respect to this transaction, is a crime punishable as a felony.

ATF Form 4473, Commonwealth's Exhibits 1 & 2, C.R. at 13.

¶ 3 The instant prosecution arose from Appellee's answers to two questions on the federal form. Specifically, question 12(c) asks, "Have you been convicted in any court of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned you for more than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence including probation? (See Important Notice 6, Exception 1.)" Commonwealth's Exhibits 1 & 2. Appellee answered "No" to this question when, in fact, Appellee had four prior convictions for simple assault, resisting arrest, driving under the influence, and welfare fraud, each punishable by up to two years' incarceration. N.T. Trial, 1/27/06, at 68-69; Commonwealth's Exhibits 3-7. Question 12(f) on the federal form asks, "Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective (which includes having been adjudicated incompetent to manage your own affairs) or have you ever been committed to a mental institution?" C.R. at 13. Appellee also answered "No" to this question even though he was involuntarily committed on four different occasions for mental health treatment. N.T. Trial, 1/27/06, at 68-69; Commonwealth's Exhibits 3-7.

¶ 4 Once Appellee completed the forms, the sales clerk initiated a background check by transmitting the information to the Pennsylvania State Police. Id. at 45-46. Appellee's application was denied, and he was arrested for an outstanding bench warrant for a summary offense. Id. at 47, 86. Appellee was escorted to the magisterial district justice's office to resolve the warrant issue. Appellee returned to Gander Mountain on November 26, 2004, to reapply and again filled out the federal form and the state form. Id. at 57-58, 63-64. Once again, Appellee answered "No" to questions 12(c) and 12(f) on the federal form, and, following a background check, his application was denied. Id. at 60-61; Commonwealth's Exhibit 2.

¶ 5 Appellee was arrested and charged with two counts of unsworn falsification to authorities and violating the Firearms Act.¹ Following a jury trial held January 27, 2006, Appellee was found guilty of all counts. On February 6, 2006, Appellee filed a "motion for judgment of acquittal and/or motion for a new trial." On March 8, 2006, the trial court granted the motion for a new trial citing to this Court's holding in Commonwealth v. Kennedy, 789 A.2d 731 (Pa. Super. 2001). This timely appeal followed.²

¶ 6 The issue of first impression presented by this appeal is whether a prosecution under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6111(g)(4) is violative of due process and the separation of powers doctrine where the defendant gives false answers concerning matters included in a required federal form but not specifically listed in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6111(b)?³

¶ 7 "Because this presents a pure question of law, our standard of review is de novo and the scope of our review is plenary." Commonwealth v. Dickson, 591 Pa. 364, 372, 918 A.2d 95, 100 (2007) (citing Craley v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 586 Pa. 484, 499, 895 A.2d 530, 539 (2006)). Moreover,

this Court discussed the principles of vagueness in Commonwealth v. Thur, 2006 PA Super 208, 906 A.2d 552 (Pa. Super. 2006), as follows:

Due process demands that a statute not be vague. Commonwealth v. Mayfield, 574 Pa. 460, 832 A.2d 418, 422 (2003); Commonwealth v. Barud, 545 Pa. 297, 681 A.2d 162, 165 (1996). A statute is vague if it fails to give people of ordinary intelligence fair notice as to what conduct is forbidden, or if they cannot gauge their future, contemplated conduct, or if it encourages arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement. Commonwealth v. McCoy, 2006 PA Super 33, 895 A.2d 18, 30 (Pa. Super. 2006). A vague law is one whose terms necessarily require people to guess at its meaning. Mayfield, 832 A.2d at 422. If a law is deficient-vague-in any of these ways, then it violates due process and is constitutionally void. Id.

By contrast, to be valid, a penal statute must set forth a crime with sufficient definiteness that an ordinary person can understand and predict what conduct is prohibited. McCoy, 895 A.2d at 30. The law must provide reasonable standards which people can use to gauge the legality of their contemplated, future behavior. Mayfield, 832 A.2d at 422; Barud, 681 A.2d at 165; Commonwealth v. Mikulan, 470 A.2d at 1343 (Pa. 1983) (plurality); McCoy, 895 A.2d at 30.

At the same time, however, the void for vagueness doctrine does not mean that statutes must detail criminal conduct with utter precision. "Condemned to the use of words, we can never expect mathematical certainty from our language." Mikulan, 470 A.2d at 1343 (quoting Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 110-12, 92 S. Ct. 2294, 33 L. Ed. 2d 222 (1972)). Indeed, due process and the void for vagueness doctrine are not intended to elevate the "practical difficulties" of drafting legislation into a "constitutional dilemma." Id. (quoting Colten v. Kentucky, 407 U.S. 104, 110, 92 S. Ct. 1953, 32 L. Ed. 2d 584 (1972)). Rather, these doctrines are rooted in a "rough idea of fairness." Id. As such, statutes may be general enough to embrace a range of human conduct as long as they speak fair warning about what behavior is unlawful. Id. Such statutes do not run afoul of due process of law. Id.

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Finally, when evaluating challenges to a statute-whether those challenges are based on vagueness . . . or any other considerations-we must also keep in mind that there is a strong presumption that legislation is constitutional. Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion Fund, Inc., et al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 583 Pa. 275, 877 A.2d 383, 393 (2005). A party challenging legislation bears a heavy burden to prove otherwise. Id. Accordingly, this Court will strike the statute in question only if the challenger convinces us that it clearly, palpably and plainly violates the federal or state constitutions. McCoy, 895 A.2d at 30.

Thur, 906 A.2d at 560, 561.

In addition to the foregoing principles, we note that vagueness challenges may be of two types. First, a challenge of facial vagueness asserts that the statute in question is vague when measured against any conduct which the statute arguably embraces. Commonwealth v. Nesbit, 394 Pa. Super. 287, 575 A.2d 633, 635 (Pa. Super. 1990). Second, a claim that a statute is vague as applied contends the law is vague with regard to the particular conduct of the individual challenging the statute. Id.

For a court to entertain challenges of facial vagueness, the claims must involve First Amendment issues. Mayfield, 832 A.2d at 422. When a case does not implicate First Amendment matters, vagueness challenges are to be evaluated in light of the

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