J-S25035-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

Appellee

v.

DACK ANTHONY LITTLE 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

No. 1856 MDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered June 14, 2019

In the Court of Common Pleas of Juniata County

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-34-CR-0000224-2017

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., DUBOW, J., and KING, J.

MEMORANDUM BY KING, J.: FILED JULY 27, 2020

Appellant, Dack Anthony Little, appeals from the judgment of sentence 

entered in the Juniata County Court of Common Pleas, following his bench trial 

convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (“DUI”)—general 

impairment1 and summary traffic offenses. We affirm the convictions, vacate 

the judgment of sentence, and remand for resentencing. 

The relevant facts and procedural history of this appeal are as follows. 

At approximately 9:49 p.m. on August 31, 2017, Pennsylvania State Police 

Trooper Christopher Wilson was on patrol when he observed a Ford Explorer

ignore a stop sign. Trooper Wilson followed the vehicle, activated the lights

on his patrol car, and conducted a traffic stop. 

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1 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(a)(1). 
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Trooper Wilson approached the driver’s side of the vehicle. Appellant 

occupied the driver’s seat, and there were no passengers. Trooper Wilson 

informed Appellant of the reason for the stop, and he asked Appellant for his 

driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. Appellant apologized for 

not stopping at the stop sign, and Trooper Wilson noticed a strong odor of 

alcohol coming from inside the vehicle. Further, Appellant’s eyes appeared 

bloodshot and his speech was slurred. 

Trooper Wilson asked Appellant to exit the vehicle, and Appellant 

complied. Upon exiting, Appellant lost his footing and stumbled. Trooper 

Wilson asked Appellant if he would perform a standard field sobriety test. 

Trooper Wilson proceeded to conduct the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. 

Trooper Wilson then asked Appellant to perform the “walk and turn” test. 

Appellant took a step, stumbled to the right, and requested a breath test

instead. At that point, Trooper Wilson took Appellant into custody for DUI and 

transported him to a local hospital. 

On December 4, 2017, the Commonwealth filed a criminal information 

charging Appellant with DUI—general impairment and related traffic offenses. 

Appellant proceeded to a bench trial, and the court found Appellant guilty of 

all charges. On June 14, 2019, the court conducted Appellant’s sentencing 

hearing and determined the current DUI conviction was Appellant’s “second
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offense for sentencing and a refusal situation.”

2

 (Order, entered 6/14/19, at 

1). Consequently, the court sentenced Appellant to a mandatory term of five 

(5) days to six (6) months’ imprisonment, pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 

3804(a)(2). Appellant timely filed post-sentence motions on June 21, 2019, 

which the court denied by order dated October 21, 2019. 

Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal on November 14, 2019. On 

November 18, 2019, the court ordered Appellant to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) 

concise statement of errors complained of on appeal. Appellant timely filed 

his Rule 1925(b) statement on November 25, 2019. 

Appellant now raises two issues for our review:

Was the evidence presented at trial legally insufficient to 

support the guilty verdict with respect to the charge under 

75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(a)(1) as the Commonwealth’s evidence 

failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that 

[Appellant] had imbibed a sufficient amount of alcohol to 

render him incapable of safely operating the movement of 

his vehicle? 

Did the sentencing court err in denying [Appellant’s] postsentence motion which sought to treat his DUI offense as a 

first offense for sentencing purposes as 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3806 

is unconstitutional pursuant to Apprendi v. New Jersey, 

[530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435] (2000), 

and Alleyne v. United States, [570 U.S. 99, 133 S.Ct. 

2151, 186 L.Ed.2d 314] (2013), and is not severable from 

75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3804 and 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3803? 

(Appellant’s Brief at 4). 

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2 “[Appellant’s] first DUI offense was in 2010 and he received Accelerated 

Rehabilitation Disposition [(“ARD”)] for that offense.” (Trial Court Opinion, 

filed January 7, 2020, at 1). 
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In his first issue, Appellant argues the Commonwealth did not 

demonstrate that he “struggled with his ambulatory or other motor skills 

beyond an initial struggle to get out of the vehicle.” (Appellant’s Brief at 10). 

Appellant claims he had no trouble interacting with the trooper, he was not 

belligerent, and he easily retrieved his vehicle’s paperwork. Appellant asserts 

he requested a breath test to demonstrate that he was not intoxicated, but 

the trooper did not perform the test. Other than a single instance of failing to 

obey a stop sign, Appellant insists the trooper did not observe circumstances

demonstrating that Appellant was incapable of safe driving. Based upon the 

foregoing, Appellant concludes the Commonwealth presented insufficient 

evidence to support his DUI conviction. We disagree. 

With respect to Appellant’s sufficiency claim:

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 

[finder] of fact while passing upon the credibility of 
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witnesses and the weight of the evidence produced, is free 

to believe all, part or none of the evidence. 

Commonwealth v. Jones, 874 A.2d 108, 120-21 (Pa.Super. 2005) (quoting 

Commonwealth v. Bullick, 830 A.2d 998, 1000 (Pa.Super. 2003)). 

The Motor Vehicle Code defines the offense of DUI as follows:

§ 3802. Driving under influence of alcohol or 

controlled substance

(a) General impairment.—

(1) An individual may not drive, operate or be in 

actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle 

after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that 

the individual is rendered incapable of safely driving, 

operating or being in actual physical control of the 

movement of the vehicle. 

75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(a)(1). 

“Subsection (a)(1) is a general provision and provides no specific 

restraint upon the Commonwealth in the manner in which it may prove that 

an accused operated a vehicle under the influence of alcohol to a degree which 

rendered him incapable of safe driving.” Commonwealth v. Loeper, 541 

Pa. 393, 402-03, 663 A.2d 669, 673-74 (1995). 

The types of evidence that the Commonwealth may proffer 

in a subsection 3802(a)(1) prosecution include but are not 

limited to, the following: the offender’s actions and 

behavior, including manner of driving and ability to pass 

field sobriety tests; demeanor, including toward the 

investigating officer; physical appearance, particularly 

bloodshot eyes and other physical signs of intoxication; odor 

of alcohol, and slurred speech. Blood alcohol level may be 

added to this list, although it is not necessary....

* * *
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Regardless of the type of evidence that the Commonwealth

proffers to support its case, the focus of subsection

3802(a)(1) remains on the inability of the individual to drive

safely due to consumption of alcohol—not on a particular

blood alcohol level. 

Commonwealth v. Segida, 604 Pa. 103, 115-16, 985 A.2d 871, 879 (2009). 

Instantly, Trooper Wilson conducted a traffic stop after watching 

Appellant ignore a stop sign. Upon speaking with Appellant, Trooper Wilson 

immediately detected a strong odor of alcohol. Trooper Wilson also observed 

Appellant’s bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. When Trooper Wilson asked 

Appellant to exit the vehicle, Appellant was unsteady on his feet. Ultimately, 

Appellant admitted to drinking “two beers, three beers, give or take” earlier 

that day. (N.T. Trial, 2/5/19, at 46). 

Here, the trial testimony established the indicia of intoxication necessary 

for the factfinder to conclude that Appellant was unable to drive safely. See

Segida, supra; 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(a)(1). Viewing this evidence in the light 

most favorable to the Commonwealth as the verdict winner, sufficient 

evidence supported Appellant’s DUI conviction. See Jones, supra. 

Accordingly, Appellant is not entitled to relief on his first claim. 

In his second issue, Appellant contends the court found that his 

acceptance of ARD in 2010 was a “prior offense” for purposes of imposing a 

mandatory minimum DUI sentence. Appellant complains the relevant 

statutory scheme is unconstitutional, because it requires a court to impose a 

mandatory sentence based upon facts that are not submitted at trial and 
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proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Additionally, Appellant maintains the ARD 

program and its admission process lack the procedural safeguards of a

“conviction” following trial, and his prior ARD acceptance should not constitute 

a “prior offense” to trigger the imposition of a sentence under Section 3804. 

Appellant concludes his sentence is illegal. In light of this Court’s recent case 

law, we agree. 

The relevant standard and scope of review are as follows:

[T]he determination as to whether the trial court imposed 

an illegal sentence is a question of law; our standard of

review in cases dealing with questions of law is plenary. 

This case will also necessarily call upon us to engage in 

statutory construction, which similarly presents a pure 

question of law and also implicates the legality of [the] 

sentence. Thus, our standard of review is de novo and our 

scope of review is plenary. 

Commonwealth v. Hunt, 220 A.3d 582, 585 (Pa.Super 2019) (internal 

citations and quotation marks omitted). 

Section 3804 of the Motor Vehicle Code provides the following 

mandatory sentencing provisions: 

§ 3804. Penalties 

(a) General impairment.—Except as set forth in 

subsection (b) or (c), an individual who violates section 

3802(a) (relating to driving under influence of alcohol or 

controlled substance) shall be sentenced as follows:

* * *

(2) For a second offense, to: 

(i) undergo imprisonment for not less 

than five days;
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75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3804(a)(2)(i). 

Additionally, Section 3806 defines the term “prior offense” as follows:

§ 3806. Prior offenses

(a) General rule.—Except as set forth in subsection 

(b), the term “prior offense” as used in this chapter shall 

mean any conviction for which judgment of sentence has 

been imposed, adjudication of delinquency, juvenile consent 

decree, acceptance of Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition 

or other form of preliminary disposition before the 

sentencing on the present violation for any of the following:

(1) an offense under section 3802 (relating to driving 

under influence of alcohol or controlled substance) 

75 Pa.C.S. § 3806(a)(1). 

Recently, this Court addressed the constitutionality of Section 3806 in 

Commonwealth v. Chichkin, __ A.3d __, 2020 PA Super 121 (filed May 20,

2020). There, two appellants received Section 3804 mandatory sentences for 

DUI—general impairment, because both appellants had accepted ARD in 

conjunction with a prior DUI offense. On appeal, the appellants argued the 

relevant statutory scheme was unconstitutional, because it did not provide the 

procedural protections mandated by Alleyne for the factual determination

triggering the mandatory sentence. See Chichkin, supra at *2. 

This Court determined that the defendants’ “prior acceptances of ARD

do not constitute convictions cloaked in all the constitutional safeguards, [and] 

are a ‘fact’ that, pursuant to Alleyne, Apprendi, and their progeny, must be 

presented to the fact finder and determined beyond a reasonable doubt before 
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a trial court may impose a mandatory minimum sentence under Section 

3804.” Id. at *8 (internal quotation marks and footnote omitted). The Court 

also noted: 

Due process considerations protect those accused of 

committing a crime from conviction except upon proof 

beyond a reasonable doubt. Under the statutory scheme at 

issue here, [the a]ppellants’ prior acceptances of ARD are 

treated as prior convictions of DUI, absent the constitutional 

protections of a trial or guilty plea—most significantly, a 

finding or admission of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Accordingly, if the Commonwealth seeks to enhance a 

defendant’s DUI sentence based upon that defendant’s prior 

acceptance of ARD, it must prove, beyond a reasonable 

doubt, that the defendant actually committed the prior DUI 

offense. Any lesser standard would violate due process 

concerns. 

Therefore, we conclude the particular provision of 75 

Pa.C.S. § 3806(a), which defines a prior acceptance of ARD 

in a DUI case as a “prior offense” for DUI sentencing 

enhancement purposes, offends the Due Process Clause and

is therefore unconstitutional. We thus further conclude [the 

a]ppellants’ constitutional rights were violated when the 

trial court increased their sentences based solely upon their 

prior acceptances of ARD, absent proof beyond a reasonable 

doubt that [the a]ppellants committed the prior offenses. 

Chichkin, supra at *10 (internal citation, quotation marks, and footnote 

omitted). 

Instantly, the court imposed a Section 3804 mandatory sentence due to

Appellant’s acceptance of ARD for a prior DUI offense. (See Trial Court 

Opinion at 1). In light of the relevant case law, the court violated Appellant’s 

constitutional rights when it increased his sentence based solely upon his prior 

acceptance of ARD, absent proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant 
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actually committed the prior offense. See Chichkin, supra. Accordingly, we 

are constrained to vacate Appellant’s DUI sentence and remand this case for 

resentencing consistent with the mandates of Chichkin. 

Convictions affirmed; judgment of sentence vacated. Case remanded 

for resentencing. Jurisdiction relinquished. 

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 07/27/2020