Com. v. Derr, E.

239 A.3d 671
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided March 31, 2023·No. 290 MDA 2022·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

2023 PA SUPER 54

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant :

:

:

v. :

:

:

ERIC BRADLEY DERR : No. 290 MDA 2022

Appeal from the Order Entered January 11, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-41-CR-0000222-2021

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant :

:

:

v. :

:

:

ERIC BRADLEY DERR : No. 291 MDA 2022

Appeal from the Order Entered January 11, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-41-CR-0000507-2021

BEFORE: DUBOW, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and COLINS, J.* OPINION BY McLAUGHLIN, J.: FILED: MARCH 31, 2023 The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appeals from the order granting Eric Bradley Derr’s pretrial petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The Commonwealth argues the court erred in determining it had not presented a prima facie case that Derr had committed Unlawful Use of a Computer and

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

Other Computer Crimes (“Unlawful Use of a Computer”). See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7611(a)(2). We reverse.

In December 2020, the Commonwealth filed a complaint charging Derr with several crimes, including Unsworn Falsification to Authorities, Tampering with Public Records, Obstruction of the Administration of Law, and multiple counts of Unlawful Use of a Computer.1 The latter charges were under subsection (a)(1) of the Unlawful Use of a Computer statute. That subsection provides that a person commits an offense when the person “accesses or exceeds authorization to access” a computer, computer system, computer network, computer database, or certain other things, “with the intent to interrupt the normal functioning of a person or to devise or execute any scheme or artifice to defraud or deceive or control property or services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises[.]” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7611(a)(1).

The complaint alleged that Derr, a police officer for the Williamsport Police Department, had become romantically involved with a woman he encountered during a drug arrest. Criminal Complaint, Docket No. CP-41-CR- 0000222-2021, 12/15/20, at 6. Derr thereafter assisted the woman, and her “drug associate,” to avoid encounters with the police and evade criminal

1 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 4904(a), 4911(a)(1), 5101, and 7611(a)(1), respectively. The Commonwealth also charged Derr with Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution, Official Oppression, and Criminal Coercion, but later withdrew those charges. See 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 5105(a)(3), 5301(1), and 2906(a)(4), respectively.

prosecution. Id. Derr “r[a]n her license [and] registration” to “check to see if she had any warrants and whether she still had a license.” Id. After the relationship ended, Derr continued to “run” the men she dated. Id.

The complaint further alleged that Derr had investigated another woman for a summary retail theft offense, but did not file charges against her, despite telling the store that he would. Id. at 7. Derr obtained oral sex from the woman in exchange for resolving the case without prosecution. He also falsely wrote in the police report that the stolen items had been recovered. Id. at 7- 8. Derr later responded to an emergency call to the woman’s home when she overdosed, and she claims he took a bag of heroin from her during the incident. Id. at 8.

According to the complaint, the investigation into Derr uncovered that Derr had used his access to the Pennsylvania Justice Network (“JNET”) for personal reasons, which violated the user agreement and was prohibited by the Williamsport Police Department. Id. at 9. The complaint alleged that, “between 6/14/2015 and 12/11/2019, Derr ran a total of 93 illegitimate JNET checks on 28 different women.” Id.

Following a preliminary hearing, the Magisterial District Court dismissed the Unlawful Use of a Computer charges. The court found that the Commonwealth had not presented prima facie evidence that Derr had violated subsection (a)(1) of the Unlawful Use of a Computer statute. The court bound the remaining charges for trial and assigned them a Common Pleas docket number (the “Unsworn Falsification docket”).

The Commonwealth refiled the Unlawful Use of a Computer charges – 28 counts – this time under subsection (a)(2). That subsection states that a person commits an offense when the person “intentionally and without authorization accesses or exceeds authorization to access, alters, interferes with the operation of, damages or destroys” any of several enumerated things, including a computer, computer system, computer network, or computer database. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7611(a)(2). The court issued a scheduling order regarding the refiled charges, stating, “If the charges are bound over for court[,] they shall be consolidated with the [charges previously bound over for trial].” Order, Unsworn Falsification docket, 4/1/21, at 1.

The new complaint repeated the allegations from the first complaint that Derr had used JNET for illegitimate reasons 93 times, including on the woman who had been part of the drug arrest and the woman who had committed retail theft. See Criminal Complaint, Docket No. CP-41-CR-0000507-2021, 2/25/21, at 4-5. The complaint also detailed that Derr had used the JNET system to run illegitimate checks on several other women, including a coworker, a coworker’s wife, and a county employee. Id. at 5. The complaint further alleged that another officer reported that when he was a student intern and riding in the police car with Derr, Derr would look up women on JNET to ask the student if he thought the women were “hot.” Id. at 6.

At a preliminary hearing, Captain William Bolt testified that JNET “is the system utilized to hold special information to include PennDOT records, wants and warrants, and other electronic personally identifiable information on

persons who live within and outside of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” N.T., 4/15/21, at 11. He stated that JNET is for law enforcement personnel and not accessible by the general public. Id. To gain access to JNET, a law enforcement officer must attend training and complete a certification exam, and Derr completed the certification process. Id. at 11-12, 13. As part of the process, personnel must agree to the JNET user agreement. Id. at 13.

Officer Bolt explained that users must also agree to the JNET terms of use every time they access JNET. The terms of use include “how it should be utilized, when it can be utilized[.]” Id. at 12. He further testified that JNET is “for criminal investigation purposes only or for other official purposes. It is not to be used for personal use[.]” Id.; see also id. at 21. He said that law enforcement personnel are “specifically told” during the certification training that the ban on personal use means “not to look up your personal information, your spouse, friends, et cetera,” unless there is a criminal investigative purpose. Id. at 12-13.

The Commonwealth introduced into evidence copies of JNET user agreements dated 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2019, all of which contained language prohibiting use for non-official purposes. See id. at 14-16, 48. The 2013 agreement states that “JNET data shall not be used for personal use under any circumstances. Personal use is defined as querying or viewing records that are not relevant to your criminal justice or official purposes.” Id. at 14-15. The 2014 agreement contains a similar prohibition: “[B]y accessing

and using JNET, you shall . . . not use JNET for personal or non-criminal justice purposes.” Id. at 15.

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Com. v. Derr, E., 239 A.3d 671 (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

239 A.3d 671 (Com. v. Derr, E.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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