Court Opinion

ID: 9749609
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:53:40.627894+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:53.715200
License: Public Domain

BROSKY, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent. My Brethren in the majority have overlooked the rather fundamental concept of res judicata in their analysis of the within dispute. This concept, I believe, compels affirmance of the order appealed from.1
No one seems to dispute that the order of August 25, 1985, dismissing the charge against appellant for non-compliance with Rule 130(d) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, was a final and appealable order which terminated the case against appellant. Further, it is conceded that the Commonwealth did not appeal the dismissal of the charge against appellant. Thus, the matter became final, in essence, forevermore. The doctrine of res judicata indicates that once a matter is litigated to a final conclusion, it cannot once again be litigated by those parties. Although the doctrine has had substantially greater application in civil proceedings, it applies as well to criminal matters.
In Commonwealth v. Bellamy, 251 Pa.Super. 165, 380 A.2d 429 (1977), this court considered a case where a criminal defendant was discharged for the Commonwealth’s failure to comply with Rule 1100.2 The Commonwealth *198failed to appeal the dismissal of the defendant but later, actually after expiration of the appeal period, petitioned the trial court for reconsideration. The petition was granted and the court rescinded its prior order. On appeal we found that the failure to appeal the previous order of dismissal rendered the matter res judicata. Our discussion there is instructive:
An order sustaining a motion to dismiss and discharging an appellant is a final order, and the Commonwealth is entitled to appeal therefrom without any further action on the part of the lower court. Commonwealth v. Wydo, 205 Pa.Super. 62, 208 A.2d 12 (1965); Commonwealth v. Fox, 181 Pa.Super. 292, 124 A.2d 628 (1956). In the' instant case, the Commonwealth was required to file its appeal within thirty days of the entry of the order on August 8, 1975____ No appeal, however, was taken. The Commonwealth’s petition to reconsider, filed September 22, 1975, could not extend the thirty day appeal period____ As we stated in Commonwealth v. Wydo, supra, “[t]he fact that an order sustaining a [motion for discharge] is final for purposes of appeal precludes any further action on the matter by the lower court. Unless set aside on appeal, the matter becomes res judicata.” ... “If the court’s action was believed to be erroneous, the proper tribunal to determine any error was an appellate court; the burden was on the Commonwealth to appeal.”
Prior to Bellamy, in Commonwealth v. Yahnert, 216 Pa.Super. 159, 264 A.2d 180 (1970), we expressed similar comments regarding the Commonwealth’s failure to appeal the granting of a demurrer, the appealability of which, at that time, was not questioned. The Commonwealth chose, instead of appealing, to re-indict the appellant on the same charges. We stated, “[t]he Commonwealth having failed to appeal, the action of the court on Bill No. D-42 is res judicata to the charge contained therein____ The effect of *199the above was to preclude a new indictment. ‘[T]he judgment entered on the demurrer, if sustained, is a discharge, and bars a second prosecution for the same cause____’ Commonwealth v. Marino, 142 Pa.Super. 327, 330, 16 A.2d 314 (1940).” 3 A similar holding was made in Commonwealth v. Wydo, 205 Pa.Super. 62, 208 A.2d 12 (1965).
Although, as noted by the majority, ordinarily the dismissal of a complaint by the district magistrate for failure to establish a prima facie case is not a bar to the refiling of a complaint, nor a final and appealable event, this can be explained by the rather simple fact that such action is not considered final as to the charge contained therein. However, the recitation of this principle by the majority is puzzling because in the present case the charge was not dismissed for a failure to establish a prima facie case. Rather, and quite neatly side-stepped by the majority, the discharge in the present case was of a different nature, a dismissal for non-compliance with a rule of procedure/limitation. Unlike a dismissal for failure to establish a prima facie case, a discharge for a violation of Rule 130 is considered both final and appealable. In fact, the Commonwealth, through the office of the District Attorneys, (including the District Attorney’s office from which the present case originated), has filed many appeals from the same type of dismissal. Thus, the present case is far different from that where a charge is dismissed for failure to establish a prima facie case,4 and the majority’s failure to answer this *200res judicata aspect of the appeal, in at least a plausible fashion, leaves a logical hole in its analysis which greatly weakens their decision. Furthermore, their analysis of the double jeopardy issue is not only premature until this issue is resolved, but it also fails to consider what appears to be a res judicata protection encompassed within the general double jeopardy prohibition.
There is authority indicating that the ancient plea of autrefois acquit, or former acquittal, encompassed within the realm of the double jeopardy protection, does not require an adjudication on the merits but can be based upon á final disposition of the charge on other, grounds as well. Perhaps no case demonstrates this point more effectively than that of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Oppenheimer, 242 U.S. 85, 37 S.Ct. 68, 61 L.Ed. 161 (1916).
In Oppenheimer, the court considered a situation similar in many material facets to the present one. There, Oppenheimer was indicted a second time for a conspiracy to conceal assets from a trustee in bankruptcy, the first having been found time barred. By way of defense “Oppenheimer set up a previous adjudication upon a former indictment for the same offense that it was barred by the one year statute of limitations in the Bankruptcy Act for offenses against that act ... an adjudication since held to be wrong in another case.” (emphasis added). Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, writing for the Court stated:
*201Upon the merits the proposition of the government is that the doctrine of res judicata does not exist for criminal cases except in the modified form of the 5th Amendment, that a person shall not be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; and the conclusion is drawn that a decision upon a plea in bar cannot prevent a second trial when the defendant never has been in jeopardy in the sense of being before a jury upon the facts of the offense charged. It seems that the mere statement of the position should be its own answer. It cannot be that the safeguards of the person, so often and so rightly mentioned with solemn reverence, are less than those that protect from a liability in debt. It cannot be that a judgment of acquittal on the ground of the statute of limitations is less a protection against a second trial than a judgment upon the ground of innocence, or that such a judgment is any more effective when entered after a verdict than if entered by the government’s consent before a jury is empaneled; or that it is conclusive if entered upon the general issue ..., but if upon a special plea of the statute, permits the defendant to be prosecuted again.
242 U.S. at 87, 37 S.Ct. at 69. There are other recitations of this principle, although possibly having their genesis in the decision in Oppenheimer. In 9 ALR 3d, at 223, it is stated that “[wjhile the elements constituting a plea of former conviction or acquittal also support a plea of double jeopardy, the former, but not the latter, plea is limited to a final judgment entered upon the merits.” At 21 Am Jur 2d § 321 it is stated “[t]he doctrine of res judicata has essentially two aspects. In some cases, a prior judgment may act as a complete bar to a subsequent prosecution of the defendant. Thus, a prior judgment dismissing an indictment on the ground that the offense charged was barred by the statute of limitations has been held to bar — irrespective of any question of former jeopardy — a second prosecution under a new indictment for the same offense.” (citing to Oppenheimer, supra.)
*202The decision in Oppenheimer would really appear to be most dispositive of the present case. Like here, there was a discharge of the criminal defendant upon grounds unrelated to his guilt or innocence. Further, there was never an adjudication of the party’s guilt or innocence, nor had jeopardy attached in the sense that a jury had been impanelled. Moreover, in both Oppenheimer and the present case, the grounds upon which the discharge of the appellant rested had been later found erroneous, thus providing the opportunity for a re-indictment for the same offense. The United States, like the Commonwealth here, had an opportunity to appeal the decision discharging the appellant, but did not. The thrust of the entire decision in Oppenheimer rests upon the fact that the criminal defendant had a right to consider the final disposition of the charge as just that, final. Thus, the concept of res judicata, which protects the integrity of final dispositions and bars relitigation of the disposed matter, came into play to bar the second prosecution.5
In the present case, the charge against appellant was disposed of in a manner which, at the time, had as much finality as a dismissal based on Rule 1100, the statute of limitations (rule 130 itself is a statute of limitations regarding time limitations for filing criminal complaints), or a demurrer. The fact that the Commonwealth had a right to *203appeal, (in light of the decision in Smalis v. Pennsylvania, 476 U.S. 140, 106 S.Ct. 1745, 90 L.Ed.2d 116 (1986), a right which is not enjoyed as to all discharges of the criminal defendant), makes their failure to do so and their attempt to relitigate a closed matter, all the more questionable. I dare say, that if the situation were reversed, and previously violations of 130(d) were considered non fatal but the law was subsequently changed by a decision of this Court or our Supreme Court to require strict compliance, I hardly doubt that my colleagues in the majority would seriously entertain an appellants attempt to receive a discharge for the Commonwealth’s previous non-compliance with the rule. We would simply respond that the conviction was final and the appellant’s failure to appeal the Rule 130(d) violation precluded collateral relief. Why then should our decision be different when it is the Commonwealth who failed to appeal and is now, in essence, seeking the collateral benefit of a favorable decision which it chose not to litigate? I see no reason that it should and the majority has offered none, thus, I dissent.6

. Appellee has raised this ground in support of affirmance along with the double jeopardy challenge and a few others similar in nature. Of course, we are bound to affirm the order appealed from if valid reason exists to do so even though the trial court may have rested its decision on other grounds.

. The fact that the appellant was dismissed on Rule 1100 grounds is of great significance because, like the dismissal here, such an action can in no way be construed as an adjudication on the merits or the equivalent of an acquittal upon the facts. Nor, under those circumstances, would “jeopardy” have attached under the longstanding rule that jeopardy attaches when the jury is empanelled or the first witness sworn. Thus the decision rests squarely, from a logical standpoint, on *198the fact that there was a conclusive disposition of the criminal charge which became final upon the Commonwealth’s failure to appeal.

. Subsequently, it was determined to be a violation of double jeopardy to allow an appeal of a demurrer, at least where a successful appeal on the part of the sovereign would require post appeal litigation. Smalis v. Pennsylvania, 476 U.S. 140, 106 S.Ct. 1745, 90 L.Ed.2d 116 (1986). However, it is noteworthy that we did not focus on this aspect of the problem in Yahnert. In fact, it does not appear that the decision rested on double jeopardy grounds at all. A fair reading of Yahnert suggests that we focused on the fact that the order granting a demurrer and discharging the defendant was a final and appealable order. Thus the Commonwealth’s failure to appeal rendered the matter closed and res judicata precluded the re-indictment or relitigation of the cause.

. Perhaps just as puzzling is the fashion in which the majority attempts to distinguish the applicability of Commonwealth v. Prado, 481 Pa. 485, 393 A.2d 8 (1978), the case strongly relied upon by appellee.
*200The majority asserts that unlike the situation in Prado, here there were other District Justices before whom the Commonwealth could have re-filed the charges and before whom the preliminary hearing could have been conducted. This may- be true, but also seems to be wholly irrelevant since the dismissal here was not based upon a failure to establish a prima facie case. As the dismissal was based upon a violation óf Rule 130, re-filing of the charges would have been futile as the law clearly called for dismissal of the charges for such a violation at the time in question. Each and- every District Justice would have been duty bound to likewise dismiss the charges; there was no room for discretion or disagreement. The only recourse available to the Commonwealth was the filing of an appeal which it did not do, thus, rendering the dismissal final. Thus, although Prado may indeed be distinguishable, distinguishing the case really does not answer the broader question raised.

. It would seem as well, that the concepts of res judicata and collateral estoppel are firmly intertwined with the constitutional protections of due process and double jeopardy. Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970), first held that collateral estoppel was a principle embodied in the the double jeopardy clause. Although the focus in Ashe v. Swenson centered on the collateral estoppel, i.e. issue preclusion, aspect of the doctrine of res judicata, this focus would appear explained by the fact that res judicata without the collateral estoppel aspect of it, i.e. merger and bar, would not have been applicable to the facts presented there. However, in reaching their conclusion that "this established rule of federal law is embodied in the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy", 397 U.S. at 445, 90 S.Ct. at 1195, they recognized that the rule of federal law, the applicability of res judicata/collateral estoppel, had been established more than 50 years earlier in the decision in Oppenheimer. Thus, there is strong reason to believe that the United States Supreme Court would consider res judicata (merger and bar) embodied in the double jeopardy protection.

. Although I am in general disagreement with the majority’s disposition, I would join in the majority’s Opinion, and applaud their decision, to the extent that it calls for the overruling of Commonwealth v. Evers, 381 Pa.Super. 568, 554 A.2d 531 (1989). For the reasons set forth in my Dissenting Opinion in Evers, it is fairly obvious, upon study of the relevant law, that the majority’s holding there, that constitutional double jeopardy protections do not apply or attach to summary convictions or acquittals, is seriously flawed. I am encouraged that Judge Johnson, a member of the majority in Evers, has also joined in the majority Opinion calling for the overruling of Evers.