Com. v. McConnell, J.

2020 Pa. Super. 300, 244 A.3d 44
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 30, 2020
Docket103 MDA 2020
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 2020 Pa. Super. 300 (Com. v. McConnell, J.) 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. McConnell, J., 2020 Pa. Super. 300, 244 A.3d 44 (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-A29037-20

2020 PA Super 300

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JOSEPH A. MCCONNELL : : Appellant : No. 103 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered December 18, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-36-SA-0000299-2019

BEFORE: DUBOW, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and COLINS, J.*

OPINION BY COLINS, J.: FILED DECEMBER 30, 2020

Appellant, Joseph A. McConnell appeals from the judgment of sentence

imposed following his conviction of the summary offense of disorderly

conduct.1 We affirm.

On the evening of May 31, 2019, Appellant turned on eight construction-

grade floodlights in the backyard of his home in Manheim Township directed

towards the home of his neighbor, Gregory Meglic, whose own backyard lights

were a source of disturbance to Appellant. At least seven neighbors

complained to the police about Appellant’s floodlights. Police responded, and

Appellant agreed, after more than 45 minutes of discussion with police, to turn

off the floodlights. The lights were on for approximately two hours in total.

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S. § 5503(a)(4). J-A29037-20

On June 3, 2019, the Manheim Township Police Department filed a

citation charging Appellant with summary disorderly conduct. On July 11,

2019, Appellant was convicted by a magisterial district judge and ordered to

pay a $25 fine along with costs. Appellant filed a timely appeal to the Court

of Common Pleas of Lancaster County (“trial court”) for a trial de novo.

At the December 18, 2019 trial, Mr. Meglic testified that he had

previously had “no issues” with Appellant whose home is directly behind his

own. N.T., 12/18/19, at 4. Mr. Meglic stated that he had two light strings

around the area of his pool and a motion-detecting security light on his home

that pointed down towards his pool. Id. at 4-5, 9. On the evening of May 31,

2019, Mr. Meglic watched Appellant move the eight construction floodlights

onto his back porch and point them towards Mr. Meglic’s property. Id. at 5.

Appellant turned the lights on at approximately 9 pm, and Mr. Meglic

subsequently called the police. Id. at 4-5, 10. Mr. Meglic described the lights

as causing annoyance and alarm, stating that they “penetrated every []

window [] on the backside of our house.” Id. at 8, 10. In addition, the lights

confused his son’s friend who was playing in the pool at the time that the

lights were turned on. Id. at 5. Appellant eventually turned the lights off at

approximately 11 pm, but only after Mr. Meglic agreed to turn off his security

light at the request of a police officer. Id. at 8, 11.

Another of Appellant’s neighbors, Jennifer Kane, testified that she was

reading a magazine on her living room sofa at approximately 8:45 pm on May

31, 2019 when Appellant turned on the floodlights. Id. at 12-14. Ms. Kane

-2- J-A29037-20

described the lights as being so bright that they lit up her entire house and

that they were visible “nine houses down.” Id. at 12-13. Ms. Kane stated

that the lights caused her annoyance and alarm as she was pregnant at that

time and was unable to relax in her own home after a strenuous shift as a

nurse. Id. at 13-14. Appellant stipulated that another neighbor, Andrea

Veikle, would have testified at trial that the lights were on from 8:45 pm to

11 pm on May 31, 2019 and caused her annoyance and alarm. Id. at 14-15.

Lieutenant Charles Melhorn, the patrol commander of the Manheim

Township Police Department on the evening of May 31, 2019, testified that he

received a call for assistance at approximately 9:15 pm from the first officer

responding to the scene who had made contact with Appellant but been unable

to convince him to turn off the floodlights. Id. at 15-16, 19. When Lieutenant

Melhorn arrived, he described Mr. Meglic’s backyard as being “lit up like

Wrigley Field,” and he could not determine how many individual lights were

present “because it was just a sea of light.” Id. at 16. Lieutenant Melhorn

further stated that “with the naked eye[,] you couldn’t even look in the

direction of the lighting arrangement.” Id. at 16-17. The Manheim Township

Police Department received seven or eight complaints in total regarding the

lights, one from a house at least a hundred yards away from the offending

lights. Id. at 17.

Lieutenant Melhorn and the other officer approached Appellant’s house,

and Appellant at first refused to turn the lights off, reasoning that because

Manheim Township had informed him that Mr. Meglic’s backyard lights were

-3- J-A29037-20

not proscribed by local ordinance, he was not violating any law. Id. at 17-18,

21-22. Lieutenant Melhorn advised Appellant that he was committing a

disorderly conduct offense and that the offense could be prosecuted as a

misdemeanor if he refused to turn the lights off. 2 Id. at 18. Appellant still

refused. Id. at 18-19. Eventually, after further pleas from the first officer

who arrived on the scene, Appellant turned off the lights approximately 45

minutes after Lieutenant Melhorn’s arrival. Id. at 19-20.

Appellant testified that he had previously hired an attorney to file a

complaint with Manheim Township regarding his objection to the “totality of

the lighting” in Mr. Meglic’s backyard, including the string lights, a “green glow

from the swimming pool,” tiki torches, the motion-detecting security light, and

the light from a fire pit on the property. Id. at 26. Appellant also asked his

attorney to address the fire pit with the Township as his wife was a recent

cancer survivor and the smoke was entering their house. Id. The Township

agreed with Appellant’s attorney that the fire pit violated the local burn ban

but informed him that the local ordinance did not address lighting. Id. at 26-

27. Appellant stated that he “put up the lights to make a statement” and he

thought that if he was cited and fined for his conduct, he would later be able

to go in front of a judge to explain why he did what he did and the judge would ____________________________________________

2 See 18 Pa.C.S. § 5503(b) (“An offense under this section is a misdemeanor

of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.”).

-4- J-A29037-20

also be able to address Mr. Meglic’s lighting at the same hearing. Id. at 27,

29-30. Appellant admitted on cross examination that he had never

approached Manheim Township in an effort to have them amend the ordinance

to address excessive lighting. Id. at 30.

At the conclusion of trial, the trial court found Appellant guilty of

disorderly conduct and imposed a fine of $200 plus costs. Appellant filed a

timely appeal of the judgment. Appellant timely filed a statement of errors

complained of on appeal as directed by the trial court, and the trial court

issued its opinion on March 6, 2020.

Appellant raises the following issue on appeal: “Did the trial court err

in determining that the evidence presented by the Commonwealth was

sufficient to establish Appellant’s guilt for disorderly conduct beyond a

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2020 Pa. Super. 300, 244 A.3d 44, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-mcconnell-j-pasuperct-2020.