Com. v. Morton, L.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 15, 2026
Docket625 MDA 2025
StatusUnpublished
AuthorLazarus

This text of Com. v. Morton, L. (Com. v. Morton, L.) 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. Morton, L., (Pa. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

J-S40008-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : LAMAR MORTON : : Appellant : No. 625 MDA 2025

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered April 22, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-41-CR-0001036-2024

BEFORE: LAZARUS, P.J., PANELLA, P.J.E., and MURRAY, J.

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, P.J.: FILED: JANUARY 15, 2026

Lamar Morton appeals from the judgment of sentence, entered in the

Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County, following his convictions of one

count each of driving under the influence (DUI)—controlled substance,1

careless driving,2 driving unregistered vehicle,3 driving while operator

privilege suspended or revoked,4 driving without a license,5 and failure to use

safety belt.6 After careful review, we affirm on the basis of the well-written

____________________________________________

1 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(d)(2).

2 Id. at § 3714(a).

3 Id. at § 1301(a).

4 Id. at § 1543(a).

5 Id. at § 1501(a).

6 Id. at § 4581(a)(2)(ii). J-S40008-25

opinion authored by the Honorable Eric R. Linhardt. See Trial Court Opinion,

6/5/25, at 1-16.

We adopt the trial court’s factual summary set forth in its opinion, see

id. at 3-7, but provide a truncated version here. On March 18, 2024, at 3:47

a.m., Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Troopers Nicklas D. Coulston and

Matthew Patrick executed a vehicle stop on Morton’s vehicle at the intersection

of Walnut and Grace Streets in the City of Williamsport, Lycoming County.

Trooper Coulston spoke with Morton and observed that his eyes were glassy,

bloodshot, and dilated, and he detected an odor of burnt marijuana coming

from Morton’s breath. Morton did not have a driver’s license, his operating

privileges had been suspended, he was not wearing a seatbelt, his vehicle was

unregistered, and he did not have a medical marijuana card. As a result of

his observations, Trooper Coulston asked Morton if he had smoked marijuana

that night and Morton responded that he had smoked marijuana in the last

two hours. Trooper Coulston then performed Standardized Field Sobriety

Tests (SFSTs), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE)

tests, and a modified Romberg test.

Trooper Coulston administered the walk-and-turn and one-leg-stand

SFSTs,7 as well as ARIDE testing. During the walk-and-turn, Morton was

unable to maintain the starting position, started the test too soon, stopped ____________________________________________

7 We note that Trooper Coulston also performed the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) SFST, but the trial court did not rely on the HGN as evidence of impairment and, thus, we do not reference it further. See Trial Court Opinion, 6/5/25, at 6 n.31.

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walking during the test, raised his arms, missed the heel-to-toe movement,

stepped off the line, and made an improper turn. During the one-leg-stand

SFST, Morton swayed, put his foot down, and used his arms to balance.

During the ARIDE test, where a pen was circled around Morton’s head and

Morton was instructed to follow it with his eyes, Morton’s eyes did not

converge. Trooper Coulston also administered the modified Romberg test,

where Morton was directed to tilt his head back and close his eyes, count to

thirty and, when he believes thirty seconds have elapsed, to tilt his head

forward and say “stop.” During the modified Romberg, Morton exhibited

eyelid tremors, opened his eyes during the test, and took forty-eight seconds

to say “stop.” All of these clues exhibited that Morton was under the influence

of a controlled substance.

As a result of Morton’s performance on the SFSTs, ARIDE, and modified

Romberg, he was transported to UPMC Williamsport Hospital for a blood draw.

Trooper Coulston read Morton the DL-26B form, and Morton refused the blood

draw. Morton was released from custody and sent home.

On August 2, 2024, the Commonwealth charged Morton, via Criminal

Information, with the above-mentioned offenses. On January 27, 2025, the

trial court conducted a non-jury trial, after which it found Morton guilty of all

charges. The trial court ordered a pre-sentence investigation report and

deferred sentencing. On April 22, 2025, the trial court sentenced Morton to

an aggregate sentence of two to six weeks’ imprisonment in the county jail,

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and fines totaling $1,610.00.8 Morton did not file a post-sentence motion.

Morton filed a timely notice of appeal and a court-ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)

concise statement of errors complained of on appeal.9

Morton now raises the following claim for our review: “Was [the]

evidence sufficient to convict [Morton of DUI—controlled substance]?” Brief

for Appellant, at 8.

Morton challenges his DUI—controlled substance conviction and

contends that the Commonwealth failed to present sufficient evidence that he ____________________________________________

8 The trial court imposed Morton’s term of imprisonment on his conviction of

DUI—controlled substance. The trial court imposed the fines as follows: $100.00 Act 198 Fee and a $1,000.00 fine for Morton’s conviction of DUI— controlled substance; $25.00 fine for Morton’s conviction of careless driving; $75.00 fine for Morton’s conviction of driving unregistered vehicle; $200.00 fine for Morton’s conviction of driving while operating privileges suspended or revoked; $200.00 for Morton’s conviction of driving without a license; and $10.00 fine for Morton’s conviction of failure to use safety belt.

9 On September 24, 2025, this Court remanded to the trial court for a determination of whether Morton’s appellate counsel had abandoned him for failure to file the appropriate number of brief copies. See Remand Jurisdiction Retained Order, 9/24/25, at 1-2; see also Order, 418 Judicial Administration Docket, at II(I) (Pa. 2014) (per curiam) (“Within seven days of the submission of any electronic filing, the electronic filer shall submit to the court a paper version of the electronic filing with as many copies as the court requires.”).

On September 30, 2025, the trial court issued an order and opinion finding that Morton’s appellate counsel had not abandoned him, but that the Lycoming County Public Defender’s office was experiencing technical issues with PACfile. See Order and Opinion, 9/30/25, at 2-3. The trial court found that appellate counsel had not received notices from this Court requiring hard copies of Morton’s brief. See id. Additionally, appellate counsel, on October 1, 2025, filed an application to reinstate Morton’s appeal and submitted the requisite number of paper copies. See Application, 10/1/25. On October 14, 2025, this Court granted appellate counsel’s application and reinstated Morton’s appeal. See Order, 10/14/25. This case is now properly before us.

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was impaired. See Brief for Appellant, at 13-21. Morton argues that the

Commonwealth failed to show he was unable to operate his vehicle safely

where Trooper Coulson only testified to the outcome of the SFSTs but had

observed no driving infractions. See id. at 14-19. Morton posits that merely

failing SFSTs with no evidence of unsafe driving cannot satisfy the elements

of DUI—controlled substance. See id. Morton further asserts that the

Commonwealth failed to present any expert testimony regarding “how long

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Com. v. Morton, L., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-morton-l-pasuperct-2026.