Court Opinion

ID: 9762480
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:25:22.799766+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:34.933602
License: Public Domain

BROSKY, Judge:
concurring and dissenting.
I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the evidence supported application of the sentencing enhancement. For this reason I dissent from that portion of the opinion and order.
The sentencing guidelines at 204 Pa.Code § 303.5 provide sentencing ranges to be applied for a DUI conviction “when one or more of the victims suffers serious bodily injury.” However, in Commonwealth v. Gallagher, 430 Pa.Super. 457, 634 A.2d 1147 (1993), we indicated that implementation of this sentencing provision was dependent upon a finding that the DUI violation was the cause of the resulting serious bodily injury and vacated a sentence where the evidence was speculative as to the cause. In the present case there is no question that serious bodily injury was sustained, however, the evidence adduced at the sentencing proceedings was quite minimal and did not establish, with any degree of certainty, that appellant’s intoxication caused the injuries sustained.
Appellant maintained throughout the proceedings that the victim’s car came into his lane of travel and that as it did so he stopped his vehicle within his lane at which time the victims’ vehicle struck his. Despite his persistent challenge to the basic factual premise underlying the implementation of an enhanced sentence, the Commonwealth presented no actual testimonial evidence relating to who or what caused the accident in question. Instead, to carry its burden, the Commonwealth apparently relies upon a pre-sentence report, which, essentially, is total hearsay.
*64The pre-sentence investigation contains the opinion of the investigating officer, Chief Roofner, that the appellant crossed into the victim’s lane of travel. However, the officer did not witness the collision and there is no indication in the report as to how this opinion was reached, and, of course, he did not appear at the sentencing to explain the basis of his “opinion.” The report further contains a version of events of one of the victims, Linda Colanduoni, indicating that as they came around the bend appellant’s vehicle was in their lane of travel and that she “places the blame for this accident solely on [appellant].” Unlike Chief Roofner, Ms. Colanduoni did testify at the sentencing hearing. However, she indicated she had no recollection of the accident. Thus, the trustworthiness of this version of what transpired is totally negated by her own testimony at sentencing.
Unfazed by the above the majority rehabilitates and supplements the Commonwealth’s evidence in an attempt to make it appear to be sufficient. At pages 3 and 4 of their opinion they supply information relating to the extent of appellant’s intoxication and the generally associated affects of that level of intoxication. The apparent purpose of this process is to allow the inference that since appellant was so drunk he must have caused the collision and his statements to the contrary cannot be trusted. Appellant’s intoxication and interest are certainly proper factors to consider in the weighing of his testimony. However, the sentencing court never made a credibility assessment, and the mere fact that appellant was intoxicated does not mean that he caused the accident in question. Next, the majority attempts to rehabilitate Ms. Colanduoni’s testimony by hypothesizing that as a result of the collision she had been gradually losing her memory of the accident so that at the time of sentencing she could not recall the accident at all. Thus, they argue, the version contained in the pre-sentence report should be credited above her sentencing testimony. This hypothesis is flawed, however, because Ms. Colanduoni never testified that she had been gradually losing her recollection. Her exact response at sentencing was “I told him [the probation officer] that I have absolutely no recollection of the *65accident.... I don’t remember anything that whole day, or weeks — there’s loads of things I don’t remember.”
By Ms. Colanduoni’s own testimony she had no recollection of the accident at the time she spoke with the probation officer. She does not state that she had a recollection at the time of her interview with the probation department but then lost it sometime before the time of the sentencing when she testified. Additionally, no one else testified that Ms. Colanduoni had been suffering a gradual deterioration of memory, nor was that syndrome noted in the pre-sentence investigation despite listing the various medical consequences of the accident. As such, it is far more likely that the victim related to the probation officer her opinion and belief of what transpired, based upon assumption or what someone else told her, rather than what she personally recollected.
As such, although the majority suggests that the Commonwealth carried its burden with respect to applying the sentencing enhancement, in my opinion the evidence is rather minimal and inherently suspect. This is unfortunate because, in all likelihood a much stronger case could have been presented. After all, there were three occupants of the vehicle in question and only one was called to testify. Were they all incapable of remembering what transpired just preceding the accident? Chief Roofner could have been presented as well to explain his “opinion” and how it was derived. Testimony regarding debris location and skid marks would have been especially helpful and, one would assume, must have been available. Yet the Commonwealth put no such evidence in. In consideration of Gallagher, and upon the record presented, I do not believe it was proper to sentence according to § 303.5.1 Thus, I dissent from that aspect of the decision.

. My dissenting opinion should not be construed as leniency towards drunk drivers. If appellant in fact caused the accident in question I believe he would be fully deserving of the enhanced sentence imposed in this case. However, the Commonwealth should be made to prove the existence of the underlying elements of the enhanced sentence just as they are made to prove the elements of the offense in question and the fact that appellant has chosen to plead guilty to the offense of driving under the influence does not eliminate the Commonwealth’s *66obligation to prove the additional elements necessary to impose the enhanced sentence.