Court Opinion

ID: 9756162
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:10:35.433466+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:56:15.606426
License: Public Domain

CIRILLO, President Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. The actions taken by appellees in surrounding, obstructing, and interfering with the corree-*31tional officer as he attempted to discharge his duties clearly fall within the scope of the charges filed against appellees.1 The appellees’ obvious culpability notwithstanding, the majority has determined that these charges were properly dismissed under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 312 as being de minimis. I cannot agree.
The trial court and the majority cite four bases for finding a proper dismissal of the charges: (1) appellees were already serving prison terms; (2) appellees had already been dealt with by prison officials; (3) the costs of trial would be too high; and (4) the actions did not result in violence. It is my view that considering the attendant circumstances, these factors are insufficient to justify a dismissal of the charges under any provision of Section 312.
The fact that appellees are serving sentences on other convictions does not detract from either the danger presented by allowing inmates to take part in such disturbances or the need to discourage such action. Conviction for previous crimes does not fall within any of the three provisions of Section 312 as a circumstance which permits dismissal of current charges.
The fact that appellees have been dealt with by prison administrators likewise is not a basis under Section 312 for a determination that those charges did not warrant prosecution. Nor can the cost of a trial justify the dismissal of the charges. The cost of trial has nothing to do with the nature *32of the defendants’ conduct and does not warrant dismissal under subsection (1) and (2), nor is it an extenuating circumstance within the intended scope of subsection (3).
The fact that appellees’ actions fell short of any violent results is the least meritorious ground advanced by the majority to support dismissal of the charges as de minimis. First, these charges alone do not require any evidence of violence to sustain a conviction. More important, however, is the fact that it is precisely this potential outbreak of violence, stemming from such disorderly conduct, that we must seek to discourage by prosecuting those involved.
While an offense of similar character may perhaps be dismissed in another setting, the nature of the correctional institution and the present and potential danger posed by appellees’ actions dictate that these charges not be dismissed as de minimis. Whatever marginal costs are involved in prosecuting such violations, they are more than outweighed by our Commonwealth’s interest in maintaining law and order within the prison system.
For the foregoing reasons I submit that the charges against appellees were improperly dismissed as de minim-is.

. Appellees were charged under:
(a) 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5501(2) Riot:
A person is guilty of riot, a felony of the third degree, if he participates with two or more others in a course of conduct:
(1) ....
(2) With the intent to prevent or coerce official action
(b) 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5502 failure of disorderly persons to disperse upon official order:
Where three or more persons are participating in a course of disorderly conduct which causes or may reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, a peace officer or other public servant engaged in executing or enforcing the law may order the participants and others in the area to disperse. A person who refuses or knowingly fails to obey such an order commits a misdemeanor in the second degree.