Court Opinion

ID: 9732116
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:08:45.041105+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:22:20.092400
License: Public Domain

LALLY-GREEN, J.,
dissenting:
¶ 1 I respectfully dissent with regard to the issue of whether counsel was ineffective for failing to make a jurisdictional challenge to the trial being held in Franklin County when the criminal episode occurred in Cumberland County.
¶ 2 I believe the resolution of the final issue is guided by our Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. McPhail, 547 Pa. 519, 692 A.2d 139 (1997). In McPhail, the defendant sold cocaine in Washington County and in Allegheny County. The Commonwealth conceded that the transactions were all part of a single criminal episode. Charges were filed in both counties and the defendant pled guilty to the offenses in Washington County. The defendant then moved to dismiss the charges filed in Allegheny County on the basis of a violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 110. Id. at 140-141. In the Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court, Chief Justice Flaherty wrote that because the alleged sale of cocaine in Allegheny County was within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, all the charges should have been joined in a single trial. Id. at 141-145.
*1185¶ 3 The McPhail Court first made clear that each county court in Pennsylvania has jurisdiction to hear charges involving alleged violations of the Crimes Code. The Court referred to the statute defining the original jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas in the Commonwealth, 42 Pa. C.S. § 931, which provides as follows:
§ 931. Original jurisdiction and venue
(a) General rule. — Except where exclusive original jurisdiction of an action or proceeding is by statute or by general rule adopted pursuant to section 503 (relating to reassignment of matters) vested in another court of this Commonwealth, the courts of common pleas shall have unlimited original jurisdiction of all actions and proceedings, including all actions and proceedings heretofore cognizable by law or usage in the courts of common pleas.
(b) Concurrent and exclusive jurisdiction. — The jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas under this section shall be exclusive except with respect to actions and proceedings concurrent jurisdiction of which is by statute or by general rule adopted pursuant to section 503 vested in another court of this Commonwealth or in the district justices.
(c) Venue and process. — Except as provided by Subchapter B of Chapter 85 (relating to actions against Commonwealth parties), the venue of a court of common pleas concerning matters over which jurisdiction is conferred by this section shall be as prescribed by general rule. The process of the court shall extend beyond the territorial limits of the judicial district to the extent prescribed by general rule.
Id. at 141 (subsection (b) added).
¶ 4 The Court then observed:
The two counties are not separate sovereigns and do not derive their power to try felony drug cases from independent sources of power. Their subject matter jurisdiction flows from the sovereign Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is not circumscribed by county territorial limits. Territorial applicability of the [Cjrimes [Cjode refers strictly to conduct occurring inside or outside Pennsylvania, not to the county in which conduct occurred. 18 Pa.C.S. § 102.
Id. at 142.
¶ 5 The Court next made clear that in a case involving a single criminal episode in separate counties, the question is one of proper venue and not of jurisdiction. Id. at 144. Thus, the McPhail Court concluded that, under 18 Pa.C.S. § 110, all the charges relating to a single criminal episode are within the jurisdiction of a single court and should be joined in a single trial. Id. at 144-145.2
¶ 6 In Appellant’s case, the record reflects that while the crime occurred only in Cumberland County, he was tried in Franklin County. Under McPhail, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas had jurisdiction to hear the matter because it is a court of common pleas in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. See, McPhail, 692 A.2d at 141 (“By constitution and by statute, the court of common pleas has unlimited original jurisdiction in all cases, actions, and proceedings, and is thus empowered, subject to a few statutory exceptions, to decide any matter arising un*1186der the laws of this commonwealth.”) (footnote omitted).
¶ 7 The next question is whether the fact that no criminal activity occurred in Franklin County precluded the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas from hearing the case. Again, McPhail appears to say that venue may be proper in a county even though no criminal activity occurred in that county. Chief Justice Flaherty wrote:
A remaining difficulty is the Commonwealth’s reliance on the common law rule that a criminal court lacks jurisdiction to try an offense that did not occur within the county. This court stated in Commonwealth v. Boyle, 516 Pa. 105, 112, 532 A.2d 306, 309 (1987):
The law is clear that ‘the locus of a crime is always in issue, for the court has no jurisdiction of the offense unless it occurred within the county of trial, or unless, by some statute, it need not....’ Commonwealth ex rel. Chatary v. Nailon, 416 Pa. 280, 283, 206 A.2d 43, 45 (1965), quoting Commonwealth v. Mull, 316 Pa. 424, 426, 175 A. 418, 419 (1934). For a county to take jurisdiction over a criminal case, some overt act involved in that crime must have occurred within that county. Commonwealth v. Tumolo, 455 Pa. 424, 317 A.2d 295 (1974).
Appellant’s response is that such a common law requirement is inconsistent with the Pennsylvania Constitution, adopted in 1968, Article V, section 1, which vests the judicial power of the Commonwealth in “a unified judicial system.”
From the foregoing discussion, we derive several points necessary to our decision in this case. ... [T]he place of trial, whether within or without the county where the alleged crime occurred, is a matter of venue, not jurisdiction, notwithstanding the imprecise and confusing terminology used in Commonwealth v. Boyle, supra.... [Tjrial in a county other than the one where the offense occurred is not constitutionally prohibited.... [Tjrial outside the county is a mechanism which must be used sparingly, to prohibit dragging the accused all over the commonwealth and burdening him with an expensive trial at the whim of the prosecution.
We emphasize that this case concerns only charges stemming from the same criminal episode under § 110. Under Bracalielly and Hude, an accused has substantial safeguards against prosecu-torial forum-shopping or being “dragged all over the Commonwealth,” for a single criminal episode exists only when multiple charges bear a close logical and temporal relationship and separate trials would involve substantial duplication and waste of judicial resources.
Id. at 142,144 (footnotes omitted).
¶ 8 Justice Cappy concurred, making the following observation:
I concur in the result reached by the majority. I write to emphasize two points: 1) that at common law, the subject matter jurisdiction of the trial courts was not limited to crimes which occurred in the county in which the court sat and 2) even if there were such a common law rule, it was abrogated by enactment of Article V, Section 5 of the Constitution of 1968 and 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931.
Id. at 145.
¶ 9 Later in his concurrence, Justice Cappy stated:
While the General Assembly could have adopted by statute the alleged common law rule which restricted the subject matter of the courts of common pleas to crimes which occurred in the county, the General Assembly did not do so. Rather, pursuant to Article V, Section 5, the General Assembly enacted 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931, defining the jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas.
I note that these provisions, Art. V, Sec. 5 and 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931(a) and (b), *1187regarding jurisdiction do not in any way mention or imply that the courts of common pleas are bounded by county territorial limits. Indeed, if anything, both Article V, Section 5 and 42 Pa.C.S.A. [§ ] 931(a) speak in terms of “unlimited jurisdiction” and “unlimited original jurisdiction” respectively, clearly indicating the rejection of any county territorial limitations upon the jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas.
That this is the case is made even more clear when we consider the predecessor statute to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931 which was 17 P.S. § 251 and which provided that
The courts of common pleas shall have jurisdiction and power within their respective counties to hear and determine all pleas, actions and suits, and causes, civil, personal, real and mixed...
(emphasis added). In enacting 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 931, the legislature clearly rejected the language of 17 P.S. § 251 which limited the jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas to “their respective counties.” Where words of a later statute differ from those of a previous one, they presumably are intended to have a different construction. Commonwealth v. Moon, 383 Pa. 18, 117 A.2d 96 (1955). If there were any ambiguity as to the Legislature’s use of the phrase “the courts of common pleas shall have unlimited original jurisdiction of all actions and proceedings” in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931(a), the legislature’s deliberate choice of dropping the previous statutory language which limited the jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas to “their respective counties” may be seen as evidence of legislative intent to reject such a limitation upon the jurisdiction of those courts. 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921. Accordingly, I find that if there ever existed a common law rule which limited the subject matter jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas to only those crimes which occurred within the county, such a rule was rejected by the enactment of Article V, Section 5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931(a). Thus, if ever there were such a common law rule, it was abrogated.
Id. at 149-150 (footnote omitted). Then, Justice Cappy summarized his conclusions:
[T]he common law of Pennsylvania did not have a rule that limited the subject matter jurisdiction of the courts of common pleas in criminal cases to those crimes which occurred in the county. Rather, the cases cited for such a proposition are best understood as dealing with the common law right of a defendant to be tried in the county in which the crime occurred. Secondly, even if there were such a common law rule, it was abrogated by the enactment of Article V, Section 5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 931.
Id. at 150.
¶ 10 I recognize that McPhail is factually distinguishable for the reasons set forth by the Majority. Nevertheless, I find McPhail instructive as to the jurisdiction of county courts. Based on the analysis in McPhail set forth above, I would conclude that the subject matter jurisdiction of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas is not limited to those crimes which occurred in the county. See, Commonwealth v. Couch, 731 A.2d 136, 141-142 (Pa.Super.1999) (“While McPhail is a plurality decision, and thus has limited precedential value, the result of that decision is clear: it can no longer be disputed that courts of common pleas have statewide jurisdiction and may preside over trials that concern events which take place beyond the territorial limits of the county in which the court sits.”) (citations omitted), appeal denied, 560 Pa. 697, 743 A.2d 914 (1999).3 *1188Thus, I would conclude that the issue is not one of jurisdiction but one of venue.
¶ 11 Appellant has raised this issue as one of ineffective assistance of counsel. To demonstrate ineffective assistance of trial counsel, Appellant must show that “(1) the underlying claim is of arguable merit; (2) counsel’s action or inaction was not grounded on any reasonable basis designed to effectuate his client’s interest; and (8) counsel’s omission or commission so undermined the trial that the verdict is unreliable.” Commonwealth v. Legg, 551 Pa. 437, 711 A.2d 430, 432-433 (1998).
¶ 12 “If it is clear that appellant has not met the prejudice prong of the ineffectiveness standard, the claim may be dismissed on that basis alone and this Court need not determine whether the first and second prongs have been met.” Commonwealth v. Fletcher, 561 Pa. 266, 750 A.2d 261, 274 (2000), citing Commonwealth v. Travaglia, 541 Pa. 108, 661 A.2d 352, 357 (1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1121, 116 S.Ct. 931, 133 L.Ed.2d 858 (1996).
¶ 13 The record reflects the trial court’s conclusion in this issue:
... Although the trial should have taken place in Cumberland County, Bethea suffered no prejudice when the trial was held in Franklin County. In his statement of matters complained of on appeal and his supporting brief, Bethea does not suggest how he was prejudiced when the trial was held in Franklin County rather than Cumberland County. Furthermore, Bethea was tried by a jury of twelve who unanimously found him guilty of delivery and conspiracy. Also, the people of the neighboring counties, Franklin and Cumberland, have similar socioeconomic backgrounds so there was no prejudice to Bethea by being tried by a jury composed of Franklin County residents rather than Cumberland County residents. Because Bethea was not prejudiced, his argument that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to improper venue fails.
Trial Court Opinion, 1/4/2000, at 3.
¶ 14 Here, in Appellant’s case, there is no underlying merit to the claim because the issue is not one of jurisdiction. The trial court had subject matter jurisdiction over his case. Furthermore, even assuming error had occurred, Appellant has failed to demonstrate that he suffered any prejudice. Consequently, I would affirm on this issue.

. The Court also concluded that an accused’s constitutional right to a trial before a jury is not offended by trial of the Allegheny County charges in Washington County:
The purpose of joining all charges from the same criminal episode, pursuant to 18 Pa. C.S. § 110, is to shield the accused from duplicitous, sequential trials. Such trials promise unnecessary delay, unnecessary expense to the accused and the Commonwealth, unnecessary duplication of judicial resources, and unnecessary aggravation to the accused and witnesses.
Id. at 144 n. 4, 661 A.2d 352.

. I further note that all of the relevant cases cited by the Majority predate McPhail (decided in 1997) and Couch (decided in 1999). See, Commonwealth v. Conforti, 533 Pa. 530, 626 A.2d 129 (1993); Commonwealth v. Keenan, 365 Pa.Super. 437, 530 A.2d 90 (1987); Commonwealth v. McNeil, 445 Pa.Super. 526, 665 A.2d 1247, 1251 (1995); Commonwealth *1188v. Simeone, 222 Pa.Super. 376, 294 A.2d 921 (1972).