J-S61030-15
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee
v.
JONATHAN M. GIANNOTTO
Appellant No. 270 MDA 2015
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence of January 12, 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Adams County Criminal Division at No.: CP-01-CR-0001115-2013
BEFORE: PANELLA, J., WECHT, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.*
MEMORANDUM BY WECHT, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 09, 2015
Jonathan M. Giannotto appeals his January 12, 2015 judgment of
sentence. Giannotto challenges the discretionary aspects of his sentence.
However, because Giannotto failed to comply with the procedural
requirements necessary to invoke our jurisdiction, his claim must fail. We
affirm.
On October 6, 2014, Giannotto pleaded guilty to homicide by a vehicle
while driving under the influence of alcohol and a controlled substance, 75
Pa.C.S. § 3735(a), and driving under the influence, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(2).
The record supports the following summary of facts underlying
Giannotto's convictions. On August 14, 2013, after having consumed alcohol
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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S61030-15
and controlled substances, Giannotto drove his pick-up truck on Forest
Drive, in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, a road that Giannotto travels daily.
While exceeding the speed limit, Giannotto failed to notice Charles Ankney
riding his lawn mower on the right side of the road. Giannotto struck
Ankney with his pick-up truck, sending Ankney airborne for over two
hundred feet and killing him. Ankney's wife observed the accident from her
window. She immediately went to assist her husband, to no avail.
When police and emergency personnel arrived at the scene, Giannotto
entered his vehicle and attempted to flee. The police were able to remove
Giannotto from his vehicle and confiscate his keys. A strong odor of alcohol
emanated from Giannotto's person. There was also a strong odor of alcohol
coming from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Giannotto
submitted to a preliminary breath test, and tested positive for the presence
of alcohol. Giannotto refused to submit to field sobriety testing.
Giannotto also refused to submit voluntarily to a blood draw. Thus,
the police secured search warrant for Giannotto's blood, which was drawn at
Gettysburg Hospital hours later. Giannotto had a blood alcohol
concentration of .134%. The blood draw also revealed that Giannotto had
concentrations of marijuana and diazepam in his system. An accident
reconstructionist determined that Giannotto was traveling between 59-64
miles per hour in a posted 35 miles per hour zone.
On January 12, 2015, following Giannotto's guilty plea, the trial court
sentenced him in the aggravated range of the sentencing guidelines to three
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and one half to ten years in prison. Before imposing the sentence, the trial
court considered the testimony of Giannotto and of witnesses called by the
Commonwealth, and heard argument from each of the attorneys. The court
also reviewed the presentence investigation report. Although Giannotto
suffers from some physical and, perhaps, mental disabilities, the court relied
significantly upon the consequences of Giannotto's decision to drive while
intoxicated. Accordingly, the court sentenced Giannotto