Court Opinion

ID: 9762794
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:31:20.810032+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:37.533320
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
I agree with the majority that our decision in Commonwealth v. Kuphal, 347 Pa.Super. 572, 500 A.2d 1205 (1985) answers appellant’s first contention concerning the legality of the sentencing guidelines. I also agree that appellant must be sustained in his contention that, when a defendant is sentenced on multiple convictions at one sentencing proceeding, no case should be considered a prior conviction in computing the prior record score and guideline sentence for any other case for which the defendant is to be sentenced on that same day.
I must respectfully dissent from part II. RESTITUTION of the Opinion Per Curiam which considers whether government agencies and offices can be included within the definition of “victim” and goes on to hold that the Chester County Detective Office and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Drug Control are “victims” under the restitution statute.
Appellant contends that the order that he pay restitution in the amount of $6,500 to the Chester County Detectives’ Office and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Drug Control is illegal. With this contention, I agree. Appellant further contends that 18 Pa.C.S. § 1106 authorizes payment of restitution only to the “victim” of a crime, and the recipients herein were not “victims.”
Since I firmly believe that the facts of this particular case cannot satisfy the general rule authorizing restitution, I find it inappropriate to ignore the general rule and proceed to a discussion of whether the government agencies here involved are “victims” under subsection (h) of the restitution statute.
The relevant statutory provision, 18 Pa.C.S. § 1106, provides as follows:
*607§ 1106. Restitution for injuries to person or property
(a) General rule. — Upon conviction for any crime wherein property has been stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained, or its value substantially decreased as a direct result of the crime, or wherein the victim suffered personal injury directly resulting from the crime, the offender may be sentenced to make restitution in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor.
(h) Definitions. — As used in this section the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:
“Restitution.” The return of the property of the victim or payments in cash or the equivalent thereof pursuant to an order of the court.
“Victim.” Any person, except an offender, who suffered injuries to his person or property as a direct result of the crime.
Appellant herein pleaded guilty to three counts of delivering cocaine and one count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. The sentencing judge here ordered appellant to pay $6,500 to the Chester County Detectives’ Office and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Drug Control. The sentencing judge noted, and the Commonwealth concedes, that the order represented the monies that Appellant received from the government agencies which purchased certain drugs from appellant in the course of the agencies’ investigations.
Under the general rule set forth in Section 1106(a), restitution is authorized only in convictions “wherein property has been stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained, or its value substantially decreased as a direct result of the crime.” The Opinion Per Curiam appears to base its conclusion that restitution is proper upon the assertion that “the money used to purchase the drugs was ‘lost’ because the agency received nothing legal in exchange for its money.” 349 Pa.Super. at 599, 504 A.2d at 206. I am *608not prepared to accept the assertion that cocaine is per se illegal — although I could agree that delivery or possession of a controlled substance without proper registration or licensure is illegal. See, e.g., 35 P.S. § 780-113(30).
More fundamentally, however, my departure from the majority arises from its failure, albeit inadvertent, to first determine that the property here involved is contemplated under the general rule before proceeding to analyze subsequent criteria. Although the Opinion Per Curiam contains an analysis of how the agencies involved can be deemed to be “victims,” the opinion offers no analysis of the general rule contained in Section 1106(a), nor does it intimate how the $6,500 given to appellant by the officers of the agencies can be determined to be property that was “stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained.”
The Commonwealth fails to argue, and indeed it could not so argue, that the $6,500 turned over to appellant was either stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained by him. Moreover, the crimes of delivery and possession do not necessarily involve the use of monies, qua property, that has been stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained. Therefore, neither the crimes upon which appellant has been convicted nor the facts of this case permits the application of the general rule found in Section 1106(a) providing for restitution, and appellant should not be required to make restitution thereunder.
In Commonwealth v. Cooper, 319 Pa.Super. 351, 466 A.2d 195 (1983), we analyzed the case law in other jurisdictions and determined that “restitution is permissible only as to losses flowing from the conduct for which the defendant has been held criminally accountable.” 319 Pa.Super. at 356, 466 A.2d at 197 (citations omitted, emphasis added). This is based upon the rationale that due process of law is denied when the losses for which restitution has been imposed did not arise from the very offense for which the defendant was convicted.
Here, we are not dealing with the right of the government to retain contraband in resisting a petition for the *609return of property seized. See 35 P.S. § 780-128. Rather, the issue before us concerns whether a government agency can benefit from a judgment of sentence mandating restitution, where the amount involved represents nothing more than the replacement of monies voluntarily transferred by that agency to another for the purpose of establishing the commission of a separate crime.
-In my own view, the property for which restitution is being here ordered does not fit the statutory definition contained in the general rule controlling restitution found in Section 1106(a) of the Crimes Code. Of equal importance, I have grave concern that we engage in what is arguably the denial of due process of law when we compel restitution without a clear showing that the losses did, in fact and in law, arise from the very offense for which the defendant has been convicted. Finally, I view the ruling of this Court today to be an overruling of the principle set forth in Commonwealth v. Cooper, supra, which I would be unable to join.
Since I conclude that the property for which restitution was ordered does not fit the statutory definition of Section 1106(a), I would not proceed to determine whether either of the agencies is a “victim” as defined in Section 1106(h). Because I find restitution is an improper remedy, I also find no need to address the question of whether the restitution order was adequately supported on the record.
I would affirm the judgment of sentence and vacate the order of restitution. Hence this dissent.