Jones v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 24 September 1981
• Citation: 495 Pa. 490,434 A.2d 1197
• Parties: Thomas Carl JONES, a/k/a Thomas Carl Friday, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

434 A.2d 1197

495 Pa. 490

Thomas Carl JONES, a/k/a Thomas Carl Friday, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

September 24, 1981

Argued Jan. 29, 1981.

William B. Eagan, Willow Grove, for appellant.

Joseph A. Smyth, Dist. Atty., Ronald T. Williamson Chief, Appeals Div., David M. McGlaughlin, Asst. Dist Attys., for appellee.

Before O'BRIEN, C. J., and ROBERTS, NIX, LARSEN, FLAHERTY and KAUFFMAN, JJ.

OPINION OF THE COURT

KAUFFMAN Justice.

This is an appeal from an order imposing judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County on January 12 1979. ^[1] Appellant, Thomas Carl Jones (a/k/a Thomas Carl Friday), was convicted by a jury of first degree murder and theft of movable property. These charges arose out of the brutal slaying of appellant's aunt, Mrs. Eleanor Friday, of Norristown. Appellant's principal complaint is that he was denied his right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100 and by the speedy trial provisions of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. ^[2] We disagree and affirm the judgment of sentence.

The relevant history of the case is as follows: Criminal Complaints were filed in Montgomery County on April 4 and 5, 1975, charging appellant with criminal homicide and various lesser offenses. On April 6, 1975, appellant was arrested in the State of Missouri by an officer of the Missouri State Police, and was returned to Montgomery County and charged with murder. Preliminary hearing was held on June 12, 1975, and appellant was indicted by the Grand Jury of Montgomery County on August 11, 1975.

A pre-trial Motion to Suppress Statements and Evidence was heard by the trial court, and on November 6, 1975, the motion was granted in part and denied in part. Certain statements made to and certain evidence seized by the arresting officer in Missouri, including the murder weapon, were ordered suppressed. On November 13, 1975, the ruling of the suppression court was appealed by the Commonwealth to this Court. By an Order and Opinion filed October 7, 1977, we affirmed. Commonwealth v. Jones, 474 Pa. 364, 378 A.2d 835 (1977). On January 4, 1978, the Commonwealth filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, and the Petition was denied on March 27, 1978. 435 U.S. 947, 98 S.Ct. 1533, 55 L.Ed.2d 546.

On April 27, 1978, appellant filed a Motion to Dismiss under Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100, which was denied on May 2, 1978, and trial immediately commenced. On May 9, 1978, the jury returned its verdict. Post verdict motions were filed, argued and denied, and on January 12, 1979, appellant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for life.

Appellant here contends that his right to a speedy trial guaranteed by Rule 1100 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure ^[3] and by the federal and state constitutions was violated by the delay caused by the Commonwealth's appeals of defendant's successful suppression motion. ^[4]

I

Appellant contends that after taking into account properly granted continuances and extensions of time obtained by both the prosecution and the defense, Rule 1100 required that his trial commence no later than December 1, 1975. ^[5] He argues (1) that trial did not begin until after completion of the Commonwealth's unsuccessful appeals of the suppression order, (2) that the Commonwealth failed to petition the court for an extension of time for trial during the pendency of those appeals, and therefore (3) that Rule 1100 was violated.

The Commonwealth argues: (1) that all time after November 5, 1975, the date of the suppression hearing, is excludable from the Rule 1100 period because the trial had officially commenced on that date, and (2) that its appeals from appellant's suppression motion divested the trial court of jurisdiction to proceed, thus rendering a petition for extension of time unnecessary.

In determining when a trial "commences" for Rule 1100 purposes, this Court has been guided by the comment drafted by the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee:

It is not intended that preliminary calendar calls should constitute commencement of a trial. A trial commences when the trial judge determines that the parties are present and directs them to proceed to voir dire, or to opening argument, or to the hearing of any motions which had been reserved for the time of trial, or to the taking of testimony or to some other such first step in the trial.

Pa.R.Crim.P., Rule 1100 comment. (Emphasis supplied). In an often cited concurring opinion in Commonwealth v. Lamonna, 473 Pa. 248, 373 A.2d 1355 (1977), former Chief Justice Eagen discussed the meaning of this comment:

The words 'some other such' immediately preceding 'first step in the trial' clearly indicate that the events specifically referred to in the comment are to be considered first steps in a trial for the purposes of Rule 1100, see Commonwealth v. Boyle (470) Pa. (343), 368 A.2d 661, 666 (1977), even though not all of these events are, strictly speaking, directly involved with the determination of guilt or innocence. For example, if a case were called to trial and after determining the parties were present, the trial Judge held a hearing on a Suppression Motion which had been reserved for the time of trial, presumably the trial would have commenced for purposes of Rule 1100. This leads to the conclusion that the principle concern behind Rule 1100 is simply that the commencement of trial be marked by a substantive, rather than a pro forma, event. Moreover, each of the events specifically referred to in the foregoing portions of the comment represents a degree of commitment of the Court's time and resources such that the process of determining the defendant's guilt or innocence follows directly therefrom. Accordingly, the beginning of any stage which leads directly into the guilt determining process is a 'first step' in the trial for the purposes of Rule 1100.

473 Pa. at 260, 373 A.2d at 1361 (Eagen, C. J., concurring).

We conclude that trial in the present case commenced on November 5, 1975 with the hearing of appellant's Motion to Suppress since that Motion expressly was made "returnable at the time of trial before the trial judge" and since the trial court thus took a substantial "first step" leading directly into the guilt determining process. The trial judge's opinion noted:

On the day listed for trial (Nov. 5, 1975) these motions were heard and decided.... On that date the prosecution was prepared to proceed to trial and would have done so but for the suppression of the murder weapon. The Commonwealth's witnesses had been subpoenaed and waited all day at the court house. A court room had been assigned for the trial. The jury room was alerted to have a number of jurors committed to this case. These facts reflect that the time and resources of the trial court and the prosecution were committed in a substantive, rather than a pro forma, manner to the commencement of trial.... Therefore, for Rule 1100 purposes, trial commenced on November 5, 1975. (Slip Op. p. 15) (Emphasis supplied.)

The procession from the "first step," which flowed directly from appellant's own motion, to the guilt determining process was interrupted only by the appellate review of suppression issues important to the determination of guilt or innocence. There is no evidence that the appellate process was abused by the Commonwealth for the purpose of delay, and therefore, to the extent that Rule 1100 was designed to prevent unnecessary prosecutorial delay, the imposition of its drastic sanction here would serve no valid purpose. ^[6] That the delay lasted two and one-half years was hardly the prosecution's fault, but was simply an unfortunate consequence of backlogs in the judicial system. The Commonwealth had abided scrupulously by Rule 1100, and had properly presumed that the commencement of trial within 180 days foreclosed later collateral attack on appellant's conviction on Rule 1100 grounds.

The prosecution's additional argument that the appeals from the Suppression Order deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to proceed in the matter follows logically. The trial court had no control whatsoever over the appellate process. In both the court's and the Commonwealth's view, the trial was automatically stayed pending disposition of the appeals. This result is in fact mandated by Rule 1701(a) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure: Rule 1701. Effect of Appeal Generally

(a) General Rule. Except as otherwise prescribed by these rules, after an appeal is taken or a petition for allowance of appeal is filed in a matter or review of a quasijudicial order is sought, the lower court or other government unit may no longer proceed further in the matter.

Pa.R.A.P., Rule 1701(a). (Emphasis supplied). ^[7] Thus, even if we were to agree with appellant's contention that the trial had not "commenced" for purposes of Rule 1100, the timely appellate procedures taken by the Commonwealth clearly divested the trial court of authority to proceed, and thus acted as an automatic supersedeas of the operation of Rule 1100.

Our decision in Commonwealth v. O'Shea, 465 Pa. 491, 350 A.2d 872 (1976), in no way conflicts with the conclusion we here reach. In O'Shea, after we had reversed the defendant's conviction, the Commonwealth sought and obtained a postponement of retrial because it was unable to prepare its petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court within the time period prescribed by Rule 1100 for commencement of retrial. The trial court granted the postponement with the proviso that retrial should commence within 30 days after denial of the petition. The defendant sought and obtained a discharge when, 62 days after the...