Commonwealth v. Bullick

• Decision Date: 04 August 2003
• Citation: 830 A.2d 998
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Robert BULLICK, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

830 A.2d 998

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Robert BULLICK, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted May 12, 2003.

Filed August 4, 2003.

Daniel J. Alexy, Newtown, for appellant.

Diane E. Gibbons, Dist. Atty. and William C. Penglase, Asst. Dist. Atty., Doylestown, for Com., appellee.

BEFORE: JOHNSON, BENDER and MONTEMURO¹, JJ.

OPINION BY BENDER, J.:

¶ 1 Robert Bullick (Appellant) appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed following the October 24, 2002 bench trial in which he was found guilty of the summary offense of reckless driving, 75 Pa. C.S. § 3736. We reverse.

¶ 2 On June 16, 2002, Officer Douglas Slemmer of the Bristol Township, Bucks County Police Department was dispatched to the scene of a one-vehicle accident at the "T" intersection formed where Mill Creek Parkway ends at Bristol Oxford Valley Road in Levittown. N.T., 10/24/02, at 5-6. Officer Slemmer observed a set of skid marks approximately 100 feet long, which began on Mill Creek Parkway and crossed over Bristol Oxford Valley Road and onto the grass near a wooded area, leading to a damaged and unoccupied pick-up truck 45 to 60 feet off the roadway. Id. at 6-8. The vehicle was registered to Appellant. Id. at 22-23, 28.

¶ 3 Continuing his investigation, Officer Slemmer approached a nearby residence, whereupon Appellant came out of the house and told Officer Slemmer that he was the driver, he had an accident, and he just drank a beer in the house. Id. at 9-10, 12, 23-24, 30. Officer Slemmer testified that Appellant's clothing was dirty and in disarray and that Appellant smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech and that his eyes appeared glassy and bloodshot. Id. at 11, 36, 58-59.

¶ 4 Officer Slemmer requested that Appellant perform two field sobriety tests. Appellant complied, but was unable to perform them to the officer's satisfaction. Id. at 13-18, 35, 37-52, 60-63. Officer Slemmer then arrested Appellant for Driving Under the Influence, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)(1), and Reckless Driving, 75 P.S. § 3736. Id. at 18. Appellant was transported to an area hospital for purposes of securing a blood-alcohol reading, however, Appellant refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test. Id. at 19-21.

¶ 5 Appellant waived his right to a jury and proceeded to a bench trial on the DUI charge. Id. at 2-4. At the conclusion of the Commonwealth's case, the court sustained Appellant's demurrer to the charge of driving under the influence. Id. at 66. The Commonwealth then immediately proceeded with a hearing on the reckless driving charge. Id. at 66-71. By stipulation, the testimony from the DUI trial was incorporated into the record. Id. The court found Appellant guilty of the summary offense of reckless driving, for which the statute prescribes a fine of $200. Id. at 70-71.

¶ 6 Appellant raises two issues on direct appeal. First, he claims that he is entitled to a new trial because, he argues, the trial court erred by admitting an inculpatory hearsay statement prior to the establishment of corpus delicti for the reckless driving charge. Second, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction for reckless driving. On this point, Appellant requests the Superior Court set aside the conviction.

¶ 7 In his second issue, Appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for reckless driving. We address this issue first because its resolution renders Appellant's corpus delicti argument moot.

¶ 8 Our standard of review is as follows:

The standard we apply in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is whether viewing all the evidence admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, there is sufficient evidence to enable the fact-finder to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In applying [the above] test, we may not weigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for the fact-finder. In addition, we note that the facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth need not preclude every possibility of innocence. Any doubts regarding a defendant's guilt may be resolved by the fact-finder unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive that as a matter of law no probability of fact may be drawn from the combined circumstances. The Commonwealth may sustain its burden of proving every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. Moreover, in applying the above test, the entire record must be evaluated and all evidence actually received must be considered. Finally, the trier of fact while passing upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence produced, is free to believe all, part or none of the evidence.

Commonwealth v. Gooding, 2003 PA Super 74, 4, 818 A.2d 546 (quoting Commonwealth v. DiStefano, 782 A.2d 574, 582 (Pa.Super.2001) (citations omitted)).

¶ 9 The offense of reckless driving is defined in the Motor Vehicle Code as follows:

§ 3736. Reckless Driving

(a) General Rule.—Any person who drives any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.

75 Pa.C.S. § 3736, amended 1990, May 30, P.L. 173, No. 42, § 17, effective April 1, 1992.

¶ 10 Thus, the offense of reckless driving has two elements: an actus reus-driving a vehicle; and a mens rea-"in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." Assuming, arguendo, that Appellant's confession was properly admitted and considered, the Commonwealth satisfied its burden of demonstrating the actus reus that Appellant was driving a vehicle. This is of no consequence, however, because we find that the Commonwealth failed to demonstrate that Appellant possessed the necessary mens rea.

¶ 11 Prior to analyzing the Commonwealth's circumstantial evidence for a determination of whether it proves the offense, we believe it is helpful to delve into the history of the offense of reckless driving and to delve deeper into the mens rea element implicated thereby. Previously, "reckless driving" was found at 75 Pa.C.S. § 1001, and defined as follows: "Reckless driving is unlawful, and for the purpose of this act, is construed to include the following: (1) Any person who drives any vehicle or streetcar or trackless trolley omnibus upon a highway carelessly disregarding the rights or safety of others, or in a manner so as to endanger any person or property. (2) If investigation into an accident arising from the use and operation of a motor vehicle discloses that the accident occurred due to the front seat of the motor vehicle having been occupied by more than three (3) persons."

¶ 12 The statute was amended in 1990 and currently reads, as set forth above. Notably the offense, although still titled "reckless driving," now requires the actor to drive in "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." However, the offense previously known as reckless driving has not truly disappeared. It has been renamed careless driving and is found at 75 Pa.C.S. § 3714. The offense reads:

§ 3714. Careless driving

Any person who drives a vehicle in careless disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of careless driving, a summary offense.

However, from another perspective, the offense of reckless driving has simply come full circle, as the offense was amended in 1951 to remove "Willful or wanton conduct in the operation of a vehicle as an essential element of the offense." Commonwealth v. Forrey, 172 Pa.Super. 65, 92 A.2d 233, 234 (1952). Thus, the current offense of reckless driving mirrors that which existed prior to the 1951 amendment but is supplemented by the additional offense of careless driving.

¶ 13 The mere fact that there currently exists two offenses covering culpably dangerous driving behavior supports the conclusion that one is a "greater" offense, and the other a "lesser" offense. Of course, the mere titling of the offenses suggests that the lesser offense is careless driving and the greater reckless driving. A review of the elements supports this conclusion.

¶ 14 The mens rea for reckless driving is "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." While this specific designation is not defined in the Vehicle Code, we concluded in Commonwealth v. Cathey, 435 Pa.Super. 162, 645 A.2d 250, 253 (1994) that the "willful or wanton disregard" mens rea required for reckless driving, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3736 was synonymous with the mens rea of "conscious disregard," as described in Commonwealth v. Wood, 327 Pa.Super. 351, 475 A.2d 834 (1984). Conscious disregard, and by incorporation, "willful or wanton disregard" was characterized in Wood using language taken directly from the definitions of criminal culpability in the Crimes Code: "The mens rea required for recklessly endangering is recklessness—described in 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 302(b)(3) as `conscious disregard' of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, whereas the mens rea for [careless driving] is "careless disregard." Id. at 836 (emphasis supplied). Thus, it follows that "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property" is synonymous with recklessness as it is defined in the Crimes Code, and as the title "reckless driving" implies. Moreover, it follows that satisfying this element requires a greater degree of criminal culpability than mere carelessness. Forrey also indicates as much. We stated there while referencing the elimination of the willful and wanton element:

...in so doing it is clear that the legislature did not intend to increase a driver's responsibility for ordinary negligence by reclassifying mere negligence as reckless driving. What was contemplated in the language `carelessly disregarding the rights or safety of others, or in a manner so as to endanger any person or property' was to set the minimal requisite of the statutory offense of reckless driving at less than wilful and wanton conduct on the one hand and, on the other, something more than

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