Opinion ID: 2266100
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Void for Vagueness and Overbreadth

Text: Appellee contends that § 3731(a)(5) is void for vagueness and overbreadth. As generally stated, the void for vagueness doctrine requires that a penal statute define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Mikulan, supra at 251, 470 A.2d at 1342, quoting, Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 1858, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983). See Commonwealth v. Burt, 490 Pa. 173, 177-78, 415 A.2d 89, 91 (1980), quoting, Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 390, 99 S.Ct. 675, 683, 58 L.Ed.2d 596 (1979) (a statute is void for vagueness if it `fails to give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contemplated conduct is forbidden by the statute'). Due process requirements are satisfied if the statute provides reasonable standards by which a person may gauge their future conduct. Commonwealth v. Heinbaugh, 467 Pa. 1, 6, 354 A.2d 244, 246 (1976), citing, United States v. Powell, 423 U.S. 87, 94, 96 S.Ct. 316, 320-21, 46 L.Ed.2d 228 (1975). A statute is overbroad if by its reach it punishes constitutionally protected activity as well as illegal activity. Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 114, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 2302, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972); Commonwealth v. Stenhach, 356 Pa.Super. 5, 25, 514 A.2d 114, 124 (1986), appeal denied, 517 Pa. 589, 534 A.2d 769 (1987). The language of the statute in question literally encompasses a variety of protected lawful conduct. Id. See Adler v. Montefiore Hospital Association of Western Pennsylvania, 453 Pa. 60, 311 A.2d 634 (1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1131, 94 S.Ct. 870, 38 L.Ed.2d 755 (1974), quoting, NAACP v. Alabama, 377 U.S. 288, 307, 84 S.Ct. 1302, 1314, 12 L.Ed.2d 325 (1969) (`a governmental purpose to control or prevent activities constitutionally subject to state regulation may not be achieved by means which sweep unnecessarily broadly and thereby invade the area of protected freedoms.') (citations omitted). We conclude that § 3731(a)(5) is void for vagueness and overbreadth. First, without requiring any proof that the person actually exceeded the legal limit of .10% at the time of driving, the statute sweeps unnecessarily broadly into activity which has not been declared unlawful in this Commonwealth, that is, operating a motor vehicle with a BAC below .10%. If, for example, a person was operating a motor vehicle with a BAC below the legal limit and he were pulled over at that time, the evidence could not sustain a charge for driving under the influence as determined by a blood alcohol test since his BAC was under the legal limit. However, if that same person's BAC rises above .10% within three hours after driving, he may now be prosecuted for driving under the influence of alcohol under the amendment to the statute in question since the statute eliminates the requirement that the Commonwealth must establish that the accused actually exceeded the legal BAC limit at the time of actual operation of the vehicle. Second, the amendment has the effect of creating significant confusion as to exactly what level of alcohol in the blood is prohibited under the Motor Vehicle Code. Prior to the amendment, the Motor Vehicle Code provided for a bright line rule whereby a person could be prosecuted for operating a vehicle with a BAC of .10% or greater. See § 3731(a)(4). The current version, however, could actually be interpreted as creating two circumstances in which a person could be prosecuted: either where a person had an actual BAC of .10% at the time of driving (under § 3731(a)(4)), or where a person has a BAC which is somewhere below .10% at the time of driving but which rises above .10% within three hours after driving (under § 3731(a)(5)). Clearly, this does not provide a reasonable standard by which an ordinary person may contemplate their future conduct. As the learned trial court below pointed out, How is a citizen to know when their lawful action (drinking and driving) ripens into criminal conduct? How can one predict when and whether a 0.10% alcohol level will be reached within three hours of driving? Commonwealth v. Barud, 143 P.L.J. 7 (1995). Indeed, the most glaring deficiency of § 3731(a)(5) is that the statute completely fails to require any proof that the accused's blood alcohol level actually exceeded the legal limit at the time of driving. Rather, the statute criminalizes a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit up to three hours after the last instance in which the person operated a motor vehicle and without any regard for the level of intoxication at the time of operation. Thus, a person may be prosecuted under § 3731(a)(5) even though his or her blood alcohol level did not actually rise above the legal limit of .10% until after the last instance in which he or she drove. The Commonwealth argues that this statute should be upheld on the basis that it provides a mechanism for an individual to rebut the presumption that they were operating a vehicle while below the legal limit of .10% BAC. While it is clear that the intent of the amendment was to cure those instances in which a persons' BAC barely exceeded the legal limit at the time of testing, the statute fails to provide for any mechanism, as do many other jurisdictions, whereby the accused may either: (1) rebut the state's presumption that their BAC at the time of testing accurately reflected their BAC at the time of driving or (2) produce competent evidence that he or she was below the legal limit at the time of driving (other than consumption after the fact) thereby requiring the Commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's BAC exceeded the legal limit at the time of driving. As currently enacted, however, the statute does not even require any proof that the person had a BAC above the legal limit at the time of driving, thereby criminalizing conduct which has not been declared criminal by the legislature. [5] In the instant matter, § 3731(a)(5) imposes absolute liability on the accused regardless of any evidence to the contrary. [6] Thus, as enacted, the statute precludes the admission of competent evidence that an accused's BAC was actually below the legal limit at the time of driving. This is a result we cannot uphold. See Jarman, supra ; Modaffare, supra . Accordingly, because we find that § 3731(a)(5) clearly, palpably and plainly violates both the Constitutions of the United States and of this Commonwealth, the order of the trial court is hereby affirmed. MONTEMURO, J., did not participate in the decision of this case.