Opinion ID: 2385352
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Randolph Transaction

Text: In December of 1979, Alphonso Randolph of Parkside, Pa. called Vic Snyder, Inc. to repair a leak in his ceiling. The corporation dispatched salesman Alfred Rossino to the Randolph home. Although Rossino had no plumbing expertise, he represented himself to Randolph as a master plumber, and told Randolph that, among other things, his curb trap needed to be replaced. Randolph entered into a contract under which the work would be done for $1850, to be paid in installments. The next day, John Sciblo, a subcontractor, and several other workmen began work on the Randolph job. When Sciblo exposed the old curb trap he could see water flowing through it, which indicated that it was functioning properly. He telephoned Vic Snyder, Inc., and informed them that the curb trap was working, but was told by an unidentified person to replace the curb trap anyway. That evening Rossino returned to have Mr. Randolph complete bank forms in connection with the financing arrangement. Randolph stated that he was dissatisfied because there was still a leak in his ceiling and the price was too high. Randolph indicated that he might not sign the financing papers. Rossino then told Randolph that the work was not completed and asked what Randolph thought would be a fair price. Randolph responded with the figure of $1000. Rossino, after a telephone call to his boss, redrafted the contract with a renegotiated price of $1200. The following day workmen from Vic Snyder, Inc. returned to the site and finally remedied the leak. Subsequently, Detective William Hannum spoke with Rossino about the Randolph job. Rossino recalled the job as the one where he had sold a curb trap the customer didn't need. Rossino also told Hannum that he had picked the contract price out of the air. Based on this evidence, the district judge bound the corporate defendant and Vic Snyder individually over for trial. Rossino also was held for trial, but was later discharged based on the running of the statute of limitations. He is not a party to this appeal. The Commonwealth's theory of the case is that Rossino's actions violated sections 3922 and 4107 of the Crimes Code, relating to theft by deception and deceptive business practices; that Vic Snyder can be held as an accomplice and conspirator to Rossino's actions; and that the corporation can be held vicariously liable for the actions of Snyder as a high managerial agent of the corporation. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 307(a)(3), (f). We will accept for the moment that the Commonwealth proved that Rossino, fobbing himself off as a master plumber, intentionally deceived Randolph into buying an unneeded curb trap and memorialized the sale in a false or misleading written contract, and that this conduct constituted theft by deception and deceptive business practices under the Crimes Code. The Commonwealth's case against Snyder and the corporation, however, necessarily depends upon proof that Snyder was an accomplice or a conspirator to the actions of Rossino alleged to be illegal. The Crimes Code defines an accomplice as follows: A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense if: (1) with the intent of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense, he: (i) solicits such other person to commit it; or (ii) aids or agrees or attempts to aid such other person in planning or committing it. 18 Pa.C.S. § 306(c)(1). The elements of a conspiracy are set out at id. § 903(a): (a) Definition of conspiracy.  A person is guilty of conspiracy with another person or persons to commit a crime if with the intent of promoting or facilitating its commission he: (1) agrees with such other person or persons that they or one or more of them will engage in conduct which constitutes such crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime; or (2) agrees to aid such other person or persons in the planning or commission of such crime or of an attempt or solicitation to commit such crime. We find an inadequate basis in the Commonwealth's evidence to establish any complicity on the part of Snyder sufficient to hold him as an accomplice or conspirator to Rossino's actions. There is no direct evidence whatsoever of Snyder's involvement in the Randolph deal. The Commonwealth maintains, however, that the circumstantial evidence of two telephone calls placed to Vic Snyder, Inc., sufficiently links Snyder to Rossino's deceptive machinations. The evidence of the first such call showed only that some unidentified person at Vic Snyder, Inc. told Sciblo to replace the curb trap even though it was functioning properly. In the absence of any evidence as to who the person was we cannot infer that it was Snyder. It may just as well have been Rossino. The second call, purportedly from Rossino to his boss, led to the contract renegotiation. However, once again the identity of the boss remained unproven. If Rossino's boss was indeed on the other end of the line, and supposing it was Snyder, his apparent approval of a lowering of the contract price was entirely consistent with the lawful activity of renegotiating a contract with a dissatisfied customer, and provides only the scantest basis to infer that Snyder knew about or sanctioned replacement of the properly functioning curb trap. In sum, the Commonwealth's evidence against Snyder and the corporation in the Randolph case consisted entirely of speculative inferences, which are insufficient to establish a prima facie case. Commonwealth v. Prado, 481 Pa. 485, 393 A.2d 8 (1978). We must uphold the Court of Common Pleas in dismissing the charges against Vic Snyder and the corporate defendant in the Randolph affair.