Com. v. Braddock, K.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 13, 2017
DocketCom. v. Braddock, K. No. 1998 MDA 2015
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Braddock, K. (Com. v. Braddock, K.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Com. v. Braddock, K., (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

J. A03032/17

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : KATHLEEN E. BRADDOCK, : : Appellant : No. 1998 MDA 2015

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered October 20, 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County Criminal Division at No.: CP-21-CR-0000415-2015

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., STABILE, J., and DUBOW, J.

MEMORANDUM BY DUBOW, J.: FILED APRIL 13, 2017

Appellant, Kathleen E. Braddock, appeals from the Judgment of

Sentence entered by the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas

following her convictions after a jury trial of Driving Under the Influence

(General Impairment), Driving Under the Influence (General Impairment

with Refusal), Driving on Roadways Laned for Traffic, and Driving Upon

Sidewalk.1 After careful review, we affirm in part, vacate Appellant’s

Judgment of Sentence, and remand for resentencing consistent with

Birchfield v. North Dakota, ___ U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 2160, 195 L.Ed. 2d

560 (2016).

1 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(a)(1); 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(a)(1) and 75 Pa.C.S. § 3804(c)(1); 75 Pa.C.S. § 3309; and 75 Pa.C.S. § 3703, respectively. Although premised on the same facts, the Commonwealth charged two separate counts of DUI in the Information. J. A03032/17

We adopt the facts as set forth by the trial court. See Trial Court

Opinion, 1/15/16, at 2-8. However, for purposes of the appeal, we note the

following relevant facts.

On the night of October 8, 2014, while on patrol in a marked car,

Officer Brian Staley (“Officer Staley”) of the New Cumberland Police

Department observed Appellant driving a black pickup truck as it crossed the

centerline by a few feet and nearly hit a parked car. Officer Staley

attempted to pull Appellant over, but Appellant continued driving and made

several more turns. Appellant drove onto the sidewalk and eventually

stopped her truck outside her boyfriend’s residence.

Appellant exited the truck, appeared unsteady on her feet, and used

her left hand to steady herself on the side of her truck. As Officer Staley

approached Appellant, she stated that she wanted to go into the house.

Officer Staley smelled alcohol on her breath from a few feet away, observed

Appellant swaying and slurring her words, and stated that Appellant

appeared sloppy or disheveled and seemed confused or disengaged.

Appellant attempted to walk away, and Officer Staley had to put his hand

out to stop her from leaving. Appellant could not produce her driver’s

license, stated that it was in the house, and eventually identified herself to

Officer Staley as “Kathy Cruz.”

Appellant would not submit to a field sobriety test and would not

answer some of Officer Staley’s questions about her suspected alcohol

-2- J. A03032/17

consumption. Officer Staley arrested Appellant. At trial, Officer Staley

opined that, based on his 18 years of experience and participation in 100-

200 DUI arrests, Appellant was under the influence of alcohol to a sufficient

degree that rendered her incapable of driving safely.

Officer Staley took Appellant to Carlisle Regional Medical Center for a

blood test, which Appellant refused after Officer Staley gave warnings

provided in the DL-26 form. Video footage of Appellant in Officer Staley’s

police car during the ride from the medical center to the Cumberland county

prison showed Appellant remove her handcuffs, remove her seatbelt,

repeatedly tilt her head back and close her eyes as if “nodding off.”

Appellant was charged with Driving Under the Influence (General

Impairment), Driving Under the Influence (General Impairment with

Refusal), as well as summary offenses.

Appellant proceeded to a jury trial. The jury convicted Appellant of

Driving Under the Influence (General Impairment) and Driving Under the

Influence (General Impairment with Refusal). Pursuant to a bench trial

following the jury verdict, the trial court found Appellant guilty of the

summary offenses of Driving on Roadways Laned for Traffic and Driving

Upon Sidewalk.

On October 20, 2015, the trial court sentenced Appellant to 72 hours’

to 6 months’ incarceration, which included a mandatory minimum sentence

of 72 hours’ incarceration based on Appellant’s refusal to consent to a blood

-3- J. A03032/17

test pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. § 3804(c)(1). On October 27, 2015, Appellant

filed a Post-Sentence Motion, which the trial court denied on October 30,

2015.

On November 16, 2015, Appellant filed a timely Notice of Appeal.

Both Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Appellant originally presented two issues for our review:

1. Did the trial court err by allowing the Commonwealth to introduce camera footage of [Appellant] in the patrol car that was taken well after [Appellant] had been stopped, given that the Commonwealth did not produce camera footage of the incidents as they unfolded[,] even though it had a working dash camera that contemporaneously recorded all of [Appellant’s] other actions?

2. Was [Appellant’s] conviction for DUI (general impairment) against the weight of the evidence?

Appellant’s Brief at 4.

On August 17, 2016, Appellant filed a Supplemental Brief presenting

the following claims for relief:

1. [Appellant’s] conviction should be vacated and a new trial should be ordered because the jury was allowed to consider impermissible evidence in this case.

2. [Appellant’s] sentence of imprisonment should be vacated.

Appellant’s Supplemental Brief at 1. In her sentencing challenge, Appellant

seeks relief pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in

Birchfield v. North Dakota, ___ U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 2160, 195 L.Ed. 2d

560 (2016) (pertaining to illegality of criminal penalties imposed for refusal

to provide warrantless blood sample upon arrest for DUI).

-4- J. A03032/17

Admission of Video Footage

Appellant’s first issue challenges the trial court’s admission of video

footage of Appellant in the back of a patrol car while police transported her

to the county prison. Appellant argues that the video footage was

irrelevant, the video footage “was much more prejudicial than it was

probative[,]” and that it provided an incomplete and misleading picture since

the Commonwealth failed to produce other “crucial video footage.”

Appellant’s Brief at 10-17.

The following standard governs our review of the admissibility of

evidence:

Admission of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will be reversed only upon a showing that the trial court clearly abused its discretion. Admissibility depends on relevance and probative value. Evidence is relevant if it logically tends to establish a material fact in the case, tends to make a fact at issue more or less probable or supports a reasonable inference or presumption regarding a material fact.

Judicial discretion requires action in conformity with law, upon facts and circumstances judicially before the court, after hearing and due consideration. An abuse of discretion is not merely an error of judgment, but if in reaching a conclusion the law is overridden or misapplied or the judgment exercised is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill will, as shown by the evidence or the record, discretion is abused.

Commonwealth v.

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