Court Opinion

ID: 9697740
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:28:05.419376+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:35.008204
License: Public Domain

MONTGOMERY, Judge,
concurring:
I concur with the majority that the appellant’s judgment of sentence must be vacated. I reach this conclusion only after a thorough reading of the record in this case. Put simply, the Commonwealth failed to prove, as it is required to, that the offense occurred on either a highway or traffic-way of the Commonwealth. The owner of the vehicle which *461the appellant damaged testified on direct examination that the area where the appellant was driving was not a public highway. The other Commonwealth witness, the arresting officer, confirmed on cross-examination that the offense occurred on “private property” as was indicated in his accident report. While not wholly dispositive of the issue, this was the only evidence adduced at trial relating to where the appellant was driving at the time of the accident, which ultimately led to the appellant’s arrest. Under these circumstances, I concur with Judge Cirillo that the Commonwealth failed to produce sufficient facts to sustain the appellant’s conviction.