Court Opinion

ID: 9749375
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:40:45.907353+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:47.537460
License: Public Domain

HOFFMAN, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. The majority opinion relies on Commonwealth v. Murray, 246 Pa.Super. 422, 371 A.2d 910 (1977), and In the Interest of Scott, 388 Pa.Super. 550, 566 A.2d 266 (1989), for the proposition that the Commonwealth may prove possession despite the fact that appellant was not actually the driver of the vehicle. The majority apparently holds that his presence plus flight is enough to allow us to infer possession. See Majority Opinion, supra. However, in my view, these cases clearly are distinguishable. In both cases our Court permitted an inference of joint possession where the accused was not actually driving the stolen vehicle. See In the Interest of Scott, supra, 388 Pa.Superior Ct. at 554-55, 566 A.2d at 268-69; Commonwealth v. Murray, supra 246 Pa.Super. at 429, 371 A.2d at 913. In Murray, for example, we stated that
[ujnder the circumstances, the trier of fact found that appellant was either driving or riding in a vehicle that he knew was stolen. This, coupled with the attempted escape along with his companion, was sufficient basis for the fact finder to apply the doctrine of joint possession, which is appropriate when the “... totality of the circum*502stances justify a finding that all of the occupants of the vehicle were acting in concert____” [citation omitted]
Commonwealth v. Murray, supra. Similarly, the Scott court relied on Murray to establish that the Commonwealth need not prove actual possession to prove control of the vehicle. See In the Interest of Scott, supra 388 Pa.Super. at 555-56, 566 A.2d at 269. The key to both Murray and Scott was that the charges against the defendant included criminal conspiracy, and it was the inference deriving from the defendant’s acting in concert that supported the convictions.
Here, appellant was not charged with criminal conspiracy. A joint possession analysis is inappropriate where no evidence shows that the occupants of the vehicle were acting in concert. See Commonwealth v. Murray, supra. Without the inference that was permitted in the earlier cases, the fact that appellant was a passenger in the vehicle and that he attempted to flee provide an insufficient basis to prove possession or control of the vehicle. Therefore, I would affirm the trial court’s arrest of judgment.
Accordingly, I must dissent.