Opinion ID: 2203135
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Was It Proper to Charge the Jury With Respect to the Presumption of Being Under the Influence of Alcohol?

Text: The next contention appellant makes is that the court committed reversible error in instructing the jury. The court's charge was as follows: Now, in this case you are instructed that from our Motor Vehicle Code, Section 1547, there are certain presumptions, one of which applies here. If chemical analysis of a person's breath or blood shows: That the amount of alcohol by weight in the blood of the person tested is 0.10 percent or more, it shall be presumed that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol. You are instructed that that applies in this case. We agree with appellant that the court's charge was erroneous, causing sufficient prejudice to appellant so as to warrant a new trial. [1] We believe that the charge without more, even if it were given in a criminal prosecution under the Motor Vehicle Code, is erroneous. We base this belief on two prior Pennsylvania cases which discuss the presumption of 75 P.S. 1547(d)(3). See Commonwealth v. DiFrancesco, 458 Pa. 188, 329 A.2d 204 (1974); Commonwealth v. Gearhart, 253 Pa.Super. 238, 384 A.2d 1321 (1978). In Commonwealth v. DiFrancesco, supra , the court, using 75 P.S. § 624(1)(c), the precursor of the statute in effect at the time of trial, held: What the statute refers to as a presumption is, strictly speaking, only a standardized permissible inference. Although the terms inference and presumption are often used interchangeably, this Court has adhered to the prevailing view among legal commentators, and drawn a distinction between these two concepts. See Commonwealth v. Turner, 456 Pa. 116, 317 A.2d 298 (1974); Commonwealth v. Shaffer, 447 Pa. 91, 105-106, 288 A.2d 727, 735 (1972). See generally McCormick's Handbook of the Law of Evidence § 342 ff. (2d ed. E. Cleary 1972); 9 J. Wigmore, Treatise on Evidence § 2490 ff. (3d ed. 1940). According to this view, an inference is merely a logical tool which permits the trier of fact to proceed from one fact to another. A presumption, on the other hand, is a procedural device which not only permits an inference of the presumed fact, but also shifts to the opposing party the burden of producing evidence to disprove the presumed fact. Failure to meet this burden of production will normally result in binding instructions on the issue of the presumed fact's existence in favor of the party invoking the presumption. But the notion of a directed verdict against a criminal defendant is contrary to accepted tenets of criminal justice. Placing the burden of production on a defendant under the threat of such a sanction would run afoul of the presumption of innocence, see Commonwealth v. Bonomo, 396 Pa. 222, 229-230, 151 A.2d 441, 445-446 (1959), as well as the defendant's privilege of declining to testify. Thus, where the presumed fact comprises an element of the crime charged, the inference authorized by a presumption can never be compelled by the court. See generally Commonwealth v. Turner, 456 Pa. 116, 317 A.2d 298 (1974). From this perspective, it is apparent that virtually all so-called criminal presumptions are really no more than permissible inferences. Subsection (c)(3) of § 624.1 is no exception. Our lower courts have so construed it; see, e.g., Commonwealth v. Thompson, 27 Som. 241 (1971), aff'd 221 Pa.Super. 824, 292 A.2d 425 (1972) allocatur refused, which contains a thorough and scholarly discussion of the question. See also, People v. Guilford, 20 App.Div.2d 192, 245 N.Y.S.2d 781 (1964); cf. State v. Cooke, 270 N.C. 644, 155 S.E.2d 165 (1967). Of course a permissible inference may affect the burden of production in the practical sense that it increases the risk that a defendant who fails to produce countervailing evidence may suffer an adverse verdict. In this sense, the evidence forming the basis of a statutory inference functions no differently from the other evidence in the prosecution's case: the stronger the evidence against a defendant the greater will be the pressure on him to come forward with evidence in his own defense. It is in this loose, practical sense that courts and legislatures occasionally speak of shifting a burden to the defendant in a criminal case. See, e.g., Barnes v. United States, 412 U.S. 837, 845-846, nn. 9, 11, 93 S.Ct. 2357 [2362-2363, nn. 9, 11], 37 L.Ed.2d 380, 387-388 (1973); Tot v. United States, 319 U.S. 463, 469-470, 63 S.Ct. 1241 [1245-1246], 87 L.Ed. 1519, 1525 (1943); DeWoody v. Superior Court, 8 Cal.App.3d 52, 56-57, 87 Cal.Rptr. 210, 212-213 (1970), construing California Vehicle Code § 23126. Id. 458 Pa. at 193-94 n. 3, 329 A.2d 207-08 n. 3. This decision was rendered as a result of an attack by appellant on the constitutionality of § 624.1 of the Motor Vehicle Code. Section 624.1(b) provides: (b) In any summary proceeding or criminal proceeding in which the defendant is charged with driving a motor vehicle or tractor while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, the amount of alcohol in the defendant's blood, as shown by a chemical analysis of his breath, his blood, or his urine, which analysis was conducted with equipment approved by the secretary and operated by qualified personnel, shall be admissible in evidence. (c) If chemical analysis of a person's breath, blood or urine shows  . . . . (3) That the amount of alcohol by weight in the blood of the person tested is ten one-hundredths (0.10) percent or more, it shall be presumed that the defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The precise issue before our Supreme Court was whether § 624.1(c)(3) was an infringement upon appellant's constitutional rights because of its provision that a person whose blood alcohol indicant was 0.10 per cent or more shall be presumed to be under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The Supreme Court held that § 624.1 was not unconstitutional because the `presumption' raised is really no more than an inference which the jury may accept or reject in light of all the evidence in the case. Commonwealth v. DiFrancesco, 458 Pa. at 199, 329 A.2d at 211, quoted with approval in Commonwealth v. Gearhart, 253 Pa.Super. 238, 244, 384 A.2d 1321, 1324 (1978) (footnote omitted). As stated in Gearhart, although the statute at issue herein passes constitutional muster, a simple reading of the statute to the jury is not acceptable. The trial judge must bring home to the jury the non-compulsory nature of the inference. Id., 253 Pa.Superior Ct. at 244, 384 A.2d at 1324. The court in the present case did qualify the presumption. However, since we find that there should have been no reference to the statutory presumption we need not decide the sufficiency of the court's explanation. Although we do not agree with appellant that the blood alcohol content was inadmissible, it is clear that the correlative presumption [2] under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(d)(3) is not relevant or admissible in regard to the question of whether a pedestrian is under the influence of alcohol to a degree which renders him a hazard under § 3550, that is, legally unfit to walk upon the highway. It is noteworthy that in the statute, Pedestrians under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3550, there is no mention of measuring blood alcohol content or applying any presumption arising therefrom which is similar to the provisions of 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547. The express provisions in the Motor Vehicle Code under § 1547(c), (d), designed for the purpose of determining whether one was driving while under the influence in a criminal prosecution pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. 3731, are specifically related to motor vehicle operation and should not, absent clear legislative authority, be borrowed by or read into the Pedestrian Statute (§ 3550). We, therefore, conclude that the use of the presumption is inappropriate in a hazardous pedestrian case. In Suskey v. Moose Lodge No. 86, 325 Pa.Super. 94, 472 A.2d 663 (1984), we held that the presumption of legal intoxication pursuant to § 1547(d)(3) shall not be charged where the issue is visible intoxication. The functions of operating a motor vehicle, appearing to be visibly intoxicated and walking upon a public street are so unrelated that charging the presumption of intoxication under § 1547, even as modified to be understood as a permissible inference, in either of the latter two cases is not logical and causes undue prejudice to the appellant. As previously discussed in Suskey v. Moose Lodge No. 86, supra , there has been much confusion generated by the court's use of the presumption of intoxication where a party's blood alcohol level is greater than or equal to .10. This presumption was not intended by the Legislature to be used, and should not be used, in cases involving visible intoxication as in Suskey, or a hazardous pedestrian under § 3550. In addition, it is nowhere authoritatively stated or implied that the use of the presumption in § 1547(d)(3) shall apply to a civil case. We therefore hold that the court below erred in its charge to the jury regarding 75 Pa.C.S. § 3550, which referred to § 1547(d)(3) and therefore order a new trial. Reverse and remand for a new trial. We relinquish jurisdiction. McEWEN, J., filed a dissenting opinion. McEWEN, Judge, dissenting: I agree with the conclusions of the majority, first, that the evidence of the intoxication of appellant was properly admitted and was not prejudicial and, second, that the trial court properly allowed the introduction of evidence upon the issue of the intoxication of appellant, including the blood alcohol level of appellant. I am not, however, convinced that the presumption of 75 P.S. § 1547(d)(3) should not be applied in a civil case. It is, nonetheless, unnecessary to analyze and address my hesitation to accept this conclusion of the majority for the reason that even if, arguendo, the trial court erred in its charge to the jury that the presumption of § 1547(d)(3) was applicable to the pedestrians referred to in 75 Pa.C.S. § 3550, the error was, in my opinion, harmless. The author of the majority opinion has in his usual fashion provided a careful analysis as well as a most persuasive expression of view for holding that a new trial is necessary. Since, however, the jury returned a specific finding that the defendant driver was not negligent, surely, as the distinguished trial judge declared, the error found by the majority in but a quite limited portion of the charge is harmless. Moreover, I am convinced that however favorably to the plaintiff or unfavorably to the defendant the trial judge may be forced to alter his charge, ninety-nine out of one hundred juries would render a verdict against this plaintiff. Since we are, of course, precluded from reliance upon such instinct or odds, but are obliged to attempt an erudite articulation of position, I will simply reiterate the rationale for upholding jury verdicts that I earlier expressed in a dissenting opinion in Saylor v. Rose, 319 Pa.Super. 560, 568-569, 466 A.2d 686, 690-1 (1983): The right to a trial by a jury is zealously guarded because the benefits of a trial by jury are not simply theoretical but have through the centuries proven so real as to become self-evident. As a result, our trust in the value of the jury verdict in resolving the type of factual issue here presented  as distinguished from a verdict upon a complex question of medical or product liability  should be near absolute. The founders concluded that a band of the citizenry  peers, says the Magna Carta  is naturally suited to the task of resolving factual disputes, whether the difference in testimony be innocent or influenced by personal interest; in addition, of course, it is an obvious and certain fact that the court room cause  whether it be of an accused or of a litigant  is, if not prudently never left to the sovereign, always more wisely entrusted to the people than to the government of any of its branches. Once we acknowledge that the value of the jury system is not mere premise but fact, it naturally follows that the verdict of a jury should be considered to be controlling and final. While it is undisputed that a safety valve is necessary and that a trial judge should be able to reject a verdict, that safety valve should be triggered only when there is a gross disparity between the verdict and the evidence or there has been gross and harmful error. Neither of those tests are here met.       The fundamental purpose of the instructions by a court is to express to the jury in general, survey fashion a basic outline of the applicable principles of law so that the jury might have the benefit of certain essential rules as the members assort the testimony, reflect upon the evidence and assemble a verdict. . . . If the charge of the court is to achieve the goal of assisting the jury and is not to be considered as a credit balance available for redemption in the event of an adverse verdict, then a verdict should be final, absent a gross shortcoming in the trial  specifically, as earlier noted, unless there is a gross disparity between the verdict and the evidence or there has been gross and harmful error. It cannot reasonably be asserted that there is here a gross disparity between the verdict and the evidence and, for my part, there has been neither gross nor harmful error. Therefore, the verdict should stand.