Court Opinion

ID: 9757588
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:48:48.766635+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:41.303283
License: Public Domain

OLSZEWSKI, Judge,
dissenting:
Since I find that the dismissal in this case was the functional equivalent of an acquittal, and that double jeopardy principles therefore prohibit this appeal, I must respectfully dissent.
Both the Federal and Commonwealth double jeopardy clauses protect citizens against multiple punishments or successive prosecutions for the same offense. See U.S. Const. amend. V; PA. Const. art. I, § 10. See also Commonwealth v. Lively, 530 Pa. 464, 610 A.2d 7 (1992). “The double jeopardy prohibition is often described as a universal principle of reason, justice and conscience.” Commonwealth v. Bolden, 472 *578Pa. 602, 631, 373 A.2d 90, 103 (1977) (citations omitted). It predates our own Federal and Commonwealth Constitutions, with origins that can be traced back to the Golden Ages of Greece and Rome. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 794-795, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 2062-2063, 23 L.Ed.2d 707, 716 (1969). Today, it is deeply ingrained in Anglo-American jurisprudence. Id. at 796, 89 S.Ct. at 2063-2064, 23 L.Ed.2d at 717. “The critical consideration is that a defendant should be forced to ‘run the gauntlet’ of a criminal prosecution only once for a single offense.” Commonwealth v. Beck, 502 Pa. 78, 81, 464 A.2d 316, 318 (1983) (citations omitted).
If a defendant is tried and acquitted, double jeopardy principles unequivocally bar retrial on the same offense. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 503, 98 S.Ct. 824, 829, 54 L.Ed.2d 717, 726 (1978) (“The constitutional protection against double jeopardy unequivocally prohibits a second trial following an acquittal.”). See also 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 109 (codifying the double jeopardy principle that a defendant cannot be retried after acquittal). This unequivocal prohibition is intended to insure that the government does not use its superior resources to wear down a defendant and thereby enhance the possibility that an innocent individual could be found guilty. See, e.g., United States v. DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117, 129-131, 101 S.Ct. 426, 433-434, 66 L.Ed.2d 328, 341 (1980).
If a defendant is tried and acquitted, double jeopardy principles also unequivocally bar an appeal by the prosecution, if reversal on that appeal would lead to either a retrial or “further proceedings of some sort, devoted to the resolution of factual issues going to the elements of the offense charged.” Smalis v. Pennsylvania, 476 U.S. 140, 146, 106 S.Ct. 1745, 1749, 90 L.Ed.2d 116, 122 (1986). The importance of this prohibition cannot be overstated. This Court has noted that “[p]erhaps the most fundamental rule in the history of double jeopardy jurisprudence has been that ‘[a] verdict of acquittal ... could not be reviewed, on error or otherwise, without putting [a defendant] twice in jeopardy, and thereby violating the Constitution.’ ” Commonwealth v. Jung, 366 Pa.Super. 438, 441-442, 531 A.2d 498, 500 (1987) (quoting United States *579v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 91, 98 S.Ct. 2187, 2194, 57 L.Ed.2d 65, 74 (1978)). Thus, the Commonwealth cannot appeal even the most egregious error if the defendant has been acquitted and reversal on appeal would require a retrial or further proceedings relating to guilt or innocence.
In the instant case, a retrial would clearly be required if the Commonwealth successfully persuaded this Court to reverse the trial court’s dismissal of the charges. Therefore, we agree with the majority that, notwithstanding any allegations of error, the propriety of this appeal hinges on whether appellee was acquitted in the proceedings below.
In defining an “acquittal” for double jeopardy purposes, the United States Supreme Court has held that the label applied to a particular action will not be determinative. See, e.g., Scott, 437 U.S. at 96-98, 98 S.Ct. at 2197, 57 L.Ed.2d at 78. “Rather, a defendant is acquitted only when ‘the ruling of the judge, whatever its label, actually represents a resolution [in the defendant’s favor], correct or not, of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 571, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 1355, 51 L.Ed.2d 642, 651 (1977)).
In Smalis, a unanimous United States Supreme Court firmly reiterated that “the category of acquittals includes ‘judgments] ... by the court that the evidence is insufficient to convict.’ ” 476 U.S. at 144; 106 S.Ct. at 1748, 90 L.Ed.2d at 121 (quoting Scott, 437 U.S. at 91, 98 S.Ct. at 2194, 57 L.Ed.2d at 74). Thus, our review in the instant ease must focus on whether the trial court’s dismissal was, in substance, a judgment that the evidence was insufficient to convict.
In the proceedings below, appellee was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, in violation of, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3731(a)(1), (a)(4), and (a)(5). The trial court conducted a full trial and heard all of the substantive evidence against appellee. After both sides completed their presentations, the trial court noted, on the record, that it was surprised at the lack of any evidence regarding appellee’s consumption of alcohol. N.T. 1/11/94 at 83; R.R. at 91a. Nevertheless, the court *580commented that proof of this obviously key element of DUI could be supplied by an officer’s testimony that he detected an odor of alcohol after stopping appellee’s vehicle. N.T. 1/11/94 at 83; R.R. at 91a.
The above statements reveal the trial court’s view that the evidence obtained from the vehicle stop was crucial- to establishing the crime of DUI. When, the trial court subsequently determined that the stop was improper and that all evidence resulting from the stop had to be suppressed, a crucial element of the charged crimes could not be proven. At this point, the trial court dismissed the charges against appellee, without comment.
Thus, the record establishes the following sequence of events: The trial court presided over a bench trial in which the Commonwealth attempted to meet its burden of proof as to the crimes charged; the court highlighted, after the trial, that the Commonwealth’s evidence on a key element was nonexistent but for certain police evidence obtained after a vehicle stop; the crucial police evidence was subsequently suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree; and the trial court then filed an order dismissing the charges. Under these circumstances, I simply must conclude that the trial court’s dismissal was, in substance, a determination that the Commonwealth’s evidence was insufficient to prove appellee’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In concluding otherwise, the majority does not attempt to analyze the substance of the trial court’s action. Instead, the majority simply focuses, on the fact that a suppression motion had been filed, then notes that a suppression court’s duty is solely to determine whether certain evidence was- obtained in violation, of a defendant’s constitutional rights, and therefore concludes that the lower court, sitting in its suppression capacity, would not have considered the sufficiency of the evidence. The flaw in this rather cursory analysis is the unsupported assumption that the lower court here was sitting solely in a suppression capacity.
*581While the trial court did have a suppression motion outstanding, it was also simultaneously presiding over a bench trial on the merits of the case. The result was an unusual hybrid proceeding that presented both suppression and guilt related issues. Under these unique circumstances, I cannot conclude that the trial court was sitting solely as a suppression court with an eye trained solely on suppression issues.
Even more disturbing than the majority’s superficial characterization of the proceeding below is its direct contradiction of that characterization a mere three pages later. In discussing the merits of the Commonwealth’s appeal, the majority states, “[i]n this case, the trial judge presided not over a suppression hearing, but over a trial. At that trial, the Commonwealth sought to present sufficient evidence to satisfy the elements of the crimes charged.” Majority opinion at 575. See also majority opinion at 569 (“... the lower court presided over a bench trial, not a suppression hearing. Appellee had been charged with a violation of the Motor Vehicle Code. Moreover, the trial court had not only begun to hear the evidence, but had actually concluded the evidentiary portion of the trial.”). Therefore, it would seem that the majority recognizes, somewhat belatedly, that the trial court was not sitting solely as a suppression court with an eye trained solely on suppression issues. If the majority agrees that the lower court was not sitting solely in a suppression capacity, then it is improper for the majority to analyze the trial court’s actions for double jeopardy purposes by simply positing that suppression courts do not usually decide issues relating to the sufficiency of the evidence.
For the foregoing reasons, I must conclude that the trial court’s dismissal was predicated on the insufficiency of the evidence, and, therefore, was the functional equivalent of an acquittal. Since appellee was acquitted in the proceedings below, I would hold that this appeal, which seeks a reversal and a re-trial, is absolutely prohibited. See Smalis, 476 U.S. at 145-146, 106 S.Ct. at 1749, 90 L.Ed.2d at 122.
KELLY, J., joins.