Court Opinion

ID: 9639457
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 16:18:59.860026+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:18.846197
License: Public Domain

CONCURRING OPINION BY
KLEIN, J.:
¶ 1 I agree that the decision of the trial judge should be reversed and remanded. However, I would directly remand for a Wexler6 hearing to determine whether the Commonwealth can carry its heavy burden of proof that the arrest records should be retained. There seems to be no evidence of an “agreement” that Hanna never ask for expungement, so therefore I see no reason not to have a Wexler hearing.
¶ 2 Further, I do not agree that “Lutz7 remains good law,” assuming it ever was “good” law.
¶3 I believe that Lutz conflicts with both Commonwealth v. D.M., 548 Pa. 131, 695 A.2d 770 (1997), and In re Pflaum, 305 Pa.Super. 600, 451 A.2d 1038 (1982), and those cases cannot stand together. Moreover, I do not believe that Lutz can stand together with subsequent cases, Commonwealth v. Rodland, 871 A.2d 216 (Pa.Super.2005), and Commonwealth v. A.M.R., 887 A.2d 1266 (Pa.Super.2005).
¶ 4 A practical look at the real world of the criminal courtroom compels my result. As noted by the majority, if there is a conviction nothing is expunged, and if there is an acquittal of all charges everything must be expunged. If the charges are nolle prossed, the Commonwealth bears the heavy burden under Wexler to *930show why there are good reasons to maintain the criminal record. All of the cases but Lutz stand for the proposition that if some, but not all, of the charges are nolle prossed, the Wexler rule remains, holding the Commonwealth to its burden of showing why the dropped charges should not be expunged. Of course, there may well be reasons why the record should remain, such as the necessity of maintaining the record to explain the charges to which the defendant was convicted or pled guilty. But the trial court in this case did not conduct such an inquiry.
¶ 5 Of course, if there is an agreement to never move to expunge the nolle prossed charges, there would be a different story. However, there almost never is an explicit agreement regarding whether or not the charges which were nolle prossed or dropped can or cannot be expunged. Absent something more, it should be assumed that there is no such agreement. Moreover, generally a defendant will as a practical matter want to wait a few years to be able to show good conduct to prevail at a Wexler hearing before moving for ex-pungement.
¶ 6 It is not up to the defendant to interpret whether or not the case was nolle prossed because the Commonwealth had enough evidence or did not have enough evidence. It should be presumed that if a prosecutor withdraws charges or nolle prosses a case, he or she believed there was a good reason to drop them, normally that means problems of proof. If a case is nolle prossed, it is nolle prossed. In other words, it should not make any difference whether the prosecutor puts on the record whether or not he or she has sufficient proof.
¶ 7 I note that in Lutz, there were other reasons for which an expungement could have been denied,8 and it is may have been for this reason that Judge Musmanno concurred in the result of the panel’s decision.
¶ 8 I believe that any question as to the continued viability of Lutz was put to rest in Commonwealth v. Rodland, 871 A.2d 216 (Pa.Super.2005). Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Maureen Lally-Green, with my joinder and that of Judge Justin Morris Johnson, said:
We next consider the charges the Commonwealth nolle prossed pursuant to an agreement with Appellant. Where nolle prosse is the reason for termination without conviction, the trial court is to analyze the case according to the factors set forth in a controlling statute or in Commonwealth v. Wexler, [494 Pa. 325,] 431 A.2d 877 (Pa.1981). D.M., 695 A.2d at 773. Since no statute controls the instant case, we examine the Wexler factors.
Rodland, 871 A.2d at 219.
¶ 9 It is true that Rodland involved a nolle prosse and nolo contendere plea while there was a guilty plea in Lutz, but I do not believe that is a critical distinction.
¶ 10 In D.M., our Supreme Court said, “We reiterate the authority of Wexler and the balancing test approved therein as the means of deciding petitions to expunge the records of all arrests which are terminated without convictions except in cases of acquittals.” 695 A.2d at 772 (emphasis add*931ed). I think all means all. If a charge is dismissed without conviction or acquittal, whether or not it is part of a plea negotiation including other charges, the Wexler test should apply.
¶ 111 believe that since Lutz is inconsistent with many other cases, we cannot say it is good law but have to pick between Lutz and several other cases. I would pick the other cases and say, absent some extraordinary situation where a defendant agreed never to move to expunge nolle prossed charges, that when the Commonwealth nolle prosses charges as part of a negotiated guilty plea, one need not speculate on the motivation for the nolle prosse. If the defendant moves to expunge the nolle prossed charges, the Wexler test should apply.

. Commonwealth v. Wexler, 494 Pa. 325, 431 A.2d 877 (1981).

. Commonwealth v. Lutz, 788 A.2d 993 (Pa.Super.2001).

. In particular, this Court noted that "Recklessly Endangering Another Person is a lesser included offense of Aggravated Assault, [and] by pleading guilty to Aggravated Assault, [Lutz] ... admitted full culpability to Recklessly Endangering Another Person. For this reason, we would assert that expungement is clearly not appropriate in regards to Recklessly Endangering Another Person. Similarly, Simple Assault is a lesser included offense of Aggravated Assault and [Lutz] therefore admitted culpability for Simple Assault by pleading guilty to Aggravated Assault.” Lutz, 788 A.2d at 1001.