Court Opinion

ID: 9366262
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-26 15:07:47.365042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:50.478594
License: Public Domain

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Juan C. Morales                         :
                                        :
            v.                          :   No. 1315 C.D. 2021
                                        :   Submitted: September 9, 2022
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,           :
Department of Transportation,           :
Bureau of Driver Licensing,             :
                         Appellant      :

BEFORE:     HONORABLE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER, President Judge
            HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge
            HONORABLE LORI A. DUMAS, Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION
BY JUDGE DUMAS                                          FILED: January 26, 2023

            The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver
Licensing (PennDOT), has filed an appeal from the order entered in the Court of
Common Pleas of Lehigh County (trial court) on October 25, 2021, sustaining the
pro se nunc pro tunc appeal of Juan C. Morales.        Also before this Court is
PennDOT’s application for remand. After careful consideration, we vacate the trial
court’s order, grant PennDOT’s application, and remand for an evidentiary hearing
to determine whether Morales can establish extraordinary circumstances warranting
the grant of an appeal nunc pro tunc.
                               I. BACKGROUND
            On February 28, 2021, Pennsylvania State Trooper Richard
Pietrulewicz was dispatched to the scene of a one-vehicle crash, where he found
Morales’ vehicle overturned on an embankment and Morales himself laying on the
ground in the snow and mud. Notes of Testimony (N.T.) Hr’g, 9/20/21, at 5. Tpr.
Pietrulewicz smelled alcohol on Morales, and Morales admitted to consuming “a
shot or two.” See id. at 5-6. Due to Morales’ potential injuries, Tpr. Pietrulewicz
did not conduct a field sobriety test but observed that Morales was sluggish and had
slurred speech. See id. at 5-7. Tpr. Pietrulewicz informed Morales he was being
arrested, and subsequently, Morales was transported by ambulance to a local
hospital. See id. at 7. Pennsylvania State Trooper Edward Prentice explained the
implied consent warnings to Morales but, despite being warned that he would lose
his license due to a refusal, Morales did not sign the consent forms. N.T. Hr’g,
10/25/21, at 3-10.
             By official notice with a mail date of March 12, 2021, PennDOT
informed Morales that his operating privilege would be suspended for one year,
effective April 16, 2021, as a consequence of his violation of 75 Pa. C.S. § 1547
(relating to chemical testing to determine amount of alcohol or controlled substance).
See Notice, 3/12/21, at 1. PennDOT further notified Morales of his right to appeal
the action to the court of common pleas within 30 days of the mail date. See id. On
April 28, 2021, Morales sought leave to file a statutory appeal nunc pro tunc. See
Mot. for Leave to Appeal Nunc Pro Tunc, 4/28/21, at 1-2. He averred that he was
unable to timely file an appeal from the suspension due to physical limitations as a
result of his accident. Id. The trial court did not expressly grant Morales’ motion,
but nevertheless scheduled evidentiary hearings and proceeded to consider the merits
of the appeal.
             On September 20, 2021, and October 25, 2021, the trial court held
evidentiary hearings. At the hearings, PennDOT presented the testimony of Tprs.
Pietrulewicz and Prentice. Morales testified on his own behalf, claiming that had he
not been suffering from the pain and trauma of the accident, he would not have

                                          2
refused the tests. N.T. Hr’g, 10/25/21, at 19. At the conclusion of oral argument,
the trial court stated that it found both the troopers and Morales credible but would
give Morales the benefit of the doubt and sustain his appeal. See id. at 25.
              PennDOT timely filed a notice of appeal and concise statement of errors
complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). The trial court issued a
responsive Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion, requesting that this Court remand the matter
for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Morales had made a showing of
“extraordinary circumstances” warranting the grant of the appeal nunc pro tunc. See
Trial Ct. Op., 1/21/22, at 1 n.1.1
                                         II. ISSUE
              On appeal, PennDOT contends that the trial court erred as a matter of
law and abused its discretion by permitting Morales to proceed nunc pro tunc in an
untimely filed statutory appeal. See PennDOT’s Br. at 4. Additionally, PennDOT
claims that Morales failed to satisfy his burden of proof that he was incapable of
making a knowing and conscious decision to refuse chemical testing of his blood.
See id. Finally, PennDOT argues that Morales failed to exclude his admitted
consumption of alcohol prior to the vehicle crash as a cause or contributor to his
purported inability to make a knowing and conscious decision to refuse chemical
testing of his blood. See id.

       1
         On January 25, 2022, PennDOT filed an application for remand based upon the same
reasoning. On March 3, 2022, this Court ordered that the Motion would be listed with the merits
of the appeal.

                                              3
                                      III. ANALYSIS2
               Prior to addressing the substantive issues on appeal, we address
PennDOT’s application for remand. Section 1550 of the Vehicle Code governs
judicial review and expressly provides that any person whose operating privilege has
been suspended may appeal to the court vested with jurisdiction of such appeals, in
this case, the court of common pleas. 75 Pa. C.S. § 1550(a). An appeal must be
filed within thirty days from the mailing of the suspension notice. 42 Pa. C.S. §§
5571(b), 5572; see Kulick v. Dep’t of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 666 A.2d
1148, 1149-50 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1995).
               Additionally, if a licensee fails to appeal from a suspension within that
30-day appeal period, the trial court lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal unless there
are grounds for granting it nunc pro tunc. Kulick, 666 A.3d at 1150. Such an appeal
is only appropriate where “the licensee’s failure to file a timely appeal resulted from
extraordinary circumstances involving fraud or a breakdown in the administrative or
judicial process.” Id. It is the licensee’s burden to prove that such circumstances
existed. Id.
               Instantly, during the evidentiary hearings, the trial court did not take
any evidence or make any determinations regarding Morales’ failure to timely file
his appeal. See generally N.T. Hr’g, 9/20/21; N.T. Hr’g, 10/25/21; see also Trial Ct.
Op. at 1 n.1. Accordingly, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and
we grant the application for remand. See Kulick, 666 A.3d at 1150.

       2
         “When a trial court permits the filing of an untimely appeal, our review is limited to
determining whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed an error of law.” Hudson v.
Dep’t of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 830 A.2d 594, 598 n.6 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2003).

                                                4
                                    IV. CONCLUSION
               Accordingly, we vacate the trial court’s order sustaining Morales’
appeal and remand for further proceedings consistent with this memorandum
opinion.3

                                     LORI A. DUMAS, Judge

      3
          Based upon this disposition, we need not address PennDOT’s remaining issues.

                                               5
          IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Juan C. Morales                          :
                                         :
             v.                          :      No. 1315 C.D. 2021
                                         :
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,            :
Department of Transportation,            :
Bureau of Driver Licensing,              :
                         Appellant       :

                                     ORDER

             AND NOW, this 26th day of January, 2023, the order entered in the
Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas on October 25, 2021, is VACATED. The
Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing’s application for remand
is GRANTED, and the matter is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent
with this opinion. Jurisdiction relinquished.

                                LORI A. DUMAS, Judge