Com. v. Laureano, R.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 14, 2018
Docket1986 EDA 2017
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Laureano, R. (Com. v. Laureano, R.) 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. Laureano, R., (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

J-A01038-18

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : ROBERTO R. LAUREANO : No. 1986 EDA 2017

Appeal from the Order June 9, 2017 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-09-CR-0000087-2012

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., OTT, J., and PLATT, J.

MEMORANDUM BY OTT, J.: FILED MAY 14, 2018

The Commonwealth appeals from the order entered in the Bucks County

Court of Common Pleas granting appellee, Roberto R. Laureano’s, post-

sentence motion requesting a judgment of acquittal based on the court’s

legally erroneous ruling permitting the Commonwealth to amend the

information. The Commonwealth contends the amendment to the criminal

information was proper. Based on the following, we reverse and remand for

further proceedings.

The trial court set forth the facts and arduous procedural history as

follows:

The instant case arises from a motor vehicle accident on October 20, 2011. The accident occurred in the area of 2220 Street Road, Bensalem, PA. The roadway is a four-lane highway ____________________________________________

 Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-A01038-18

with a center turning lane, and the accident occurred in the middle of the block with no traffic light or pedestrian crossing. When police arrived on scene, it was apparent that a pedestrian in a motorized wheelchair had been struck by a vehicle and was seriously injured. [Laureano] identified himself to police as the person driving the vehicle that had struck the pedestrian. The pedestrian later died.

Officer Jennifer Stahl (“Officer Stahl”) of the Bensalem Township Police Department was the first officer to arrive at the scene and explained to [Laureano] that the police would like him to take a blood test due to the severity of the accident. [Laureano] was told that this was standard procedure, and Officer Stahl asked [Laureano] if he would consent to a blood draw. Officer Stahl made it clear that there was nothing that caused her to suspect that [Laureano] had done anything wrong or was in any way impaired. [Laureano] was not provided the standard consent form, nor was [Laureano] informed that the results of any test could be used against him in a criminal proceeding. [Laureano] consented to the blood test, and he was placed in a police car – without handcuffs – and taken to the local hospital for a blood draw.

The blood test came back positive for a metabolite of marijuana. [Laureano] was charged with 75 § 3802(d)(1)(i), Driving Under the Influence: Controlled Substance – Schedule 1, on February 2, 2012. [Laureano] filed an Omnibus Pretrial Motion to, in part, suppress the blood test results. A suppression hearing was held on May 12, 2012, and after we denied the motion to suppress, a waiver trial was held immediately thereafter.

During the waiver trial, all evidence and testimony from the suppression hearing was made part of the trial record. The Commonwealth also entered the blood results as evidence, but it offered no additional testimony. The defense demurred on the evidence. During arguments, the defense pointed out that the Commonwealth had charged [Laureano] with the incorrect statute. Specifically, the Commonwealth charged [Laureano] with [Section] 3802(d)(1)(i), which requires the active ingredient of the controlled substance to be in [Laureano]’s blood. In reality, [Section] 3802(d)(1)(iii) would have been the appropriate charge, as this section requires only that a metabolite of the controlled substance be present in [Laureano]’s blood. The Commonwealth requested that we allow them to reopen their case and allow an

-2- J-A01038-18

amendment to the information to correct the charge, which we did. We then found [Laureano] guilty and deferred sentencing.

[Laureano] then filed a Post-Trial Motion for Extraordinary Relief requesting reconsideration of the motion to suppress the blood test results and the ruling to allow the amendment to the criminal information. We held a hearing on this Motion, which occurred on August 27, 2012. At this hearing, the defense argued three issues: (1) the police did not have probable cause to request a chemical test pursuant to the implied consent law; (2) [Laureano]’s consent was not knowing and voluntary because the police did not explain that the blood test results could be used against him in criminal charges; and (3) the Commonwealth should not have been permitted to amend the criminal information after both parties had rested.

We found that [Laureano]’s arguments on the voluntary nature of [his] consent had merit, and we reversed our original decision of May 15, 2012, thereby granting the motion to suppress. Because the Commonwealth could not meet its burden of proof without the suppressed evidence, we additionally vacated the conviction - also from May 15, 2012 - by an Order dated August 30, 2012. We did not reach the implied consent or amended criminal information issues at that time.

The Commonwealth appealed our decision to suppress the blood test, which led to the Superior Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court considering this case. The Superior Court initially upheld our decision but the Commonwealth’s Petition for Allowance of Appeal was granted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Smith, 77 A.3d 562 (Pa. 2013), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court remanded the case to the Superior Court, which overturned our suppression of the blood test. The case was then remanded to us for sentencing.

Sentencing was scheduled for November 19, 2014. [Laureano] again offered an oral Motion for Extraordinary Relief, arguing that we were incorrect in allowing the Commonwealth to amend its criminal information following the close of testimony at the trial. We considered argument from both sides on this point and consulted case law, after which we determined that it had been incorrect to allow the Commonwealth to amend its information following the close of testimony. We therefore

-3- J-A01038-18

reversed our original decision in this matter and, since the Commonwealth was unable to meet its burden of proof under [Section] 3802(d)(1)(i), found [Laureano] not guilty. The Commonwealth then filed an appeal on December 18, 2014, and timely filed their Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal on January 7, 2015.

Thereafter, we filed our Opinion on January 30, 2015. On November 17, 2016, the Superior Court decided that we improperly granted [Laureano]’s Motion for Extraordinary Relief instead of waiting for a post -sentence motion, and thus, our Order of November 19, 2014 was reversed, and the case was remanded for sentencing.

On remand, a sentencing hearing was held on March 24, 2017. At the conclusion of that hearing we sentenced [Laureano] to imprisonment in the Bucks County Correctional Facility for not less than 90 days nor more than 6 months. [He] was also ordered to pay the costs of prosecution, as well as a fine of $1,500.00. [Laureano] was released on his own recognizance pending appeal or post -sentence motion.

On March 31, 2017, [Laureano] filed a post -sentence motion, asking us to arrest judgment or order a judgment of acquittal. A hearing was held on June 6, 2017, regarding [his] post -sentence motion. After the hearing, on June 9, 2017, we granted [Laureano’s] motion requesting a judgment of acquittal based on our legally erroneous trial ruling permitting the Commonwealth to amend the information.

Trial Court Opinion, 7/17/2017, at 1-4 (record citations omitted).1 The

Commonwealth filed this appeal.2

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Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Laureano, R., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-laureano-r-pasuperct-2018.