Com. v. Trejo, A.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 28, 2024
Docket2376 EDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Trejo, A. (Com. v. Trejo, A.) 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. Trejo, A., (Pa. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

J-S23011-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : ANITA D. TREJO : : Appellant : No. 2376 EDA 2023

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered July 19, 2023 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Criminal Division at No: CP-09-CR-0006234-2021

BEFORE: STABILE, J., KING, J., and COLINS, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: FILED OCTOBER 28, 2024

Appellant, Anita D. Trejo, appeals from the judgment of sentence

imposed on July 19, 2023, made final by the denial of her post sentence

motion on August 16, 2023. Her convictions of aggravated assault by vehicle

while driving under the influence (“DUI”) and DUI-highest rate arose from a

motor vehicle accident that occurred on September 26, 2021, after which

Appellant was transported to Abington Memorial Hospital for treatment. In

addition to challenging the discretionary aspects of her sentence, Appellant

contends that the trial court erred in allowing testimony regarding her blood

alcohol content (“BAC”) results generated for Appellant’s hospital treatment.

Upon review, we affirm.

The trial court aptly summarized the factual and procedural background:

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S23011-24

Appellant was driving to her boyfriend’s house after indulging in an alcoholic drink – a Long Island Iced Tea – from a local bar, Debbie’s Place. As she approached the intersection of Street Road and Willow Penn Drive in Southampton Township, she failed to yield to oncoming traffic and made a left-hand turn into another vehicle driven by Sean Breslin (hereinafter “Mr. Breslin”) with Alyssa Wawrzyniak (hereinafter “Victim”) in the front passenger’s seat. Mr. Breslin had the right-of-way and attempted to avoid the collision but did not have enough time or distance to do so. Mr. Breslin’s vehicle rolled and hit a guardrail and he testified that when his car came to a stop, he looked over at Victim and noticed “she had blood coming out of her mouth and she looked dead.” Mr. Breslin dragged Victim, who was “unconscious and not moving [with her] eyes wide open” out of the car and a bystander asked to perform CPR until police officers arrived. Mr. Breslin testified that he was in shock.

Mr. Breslin sustained a burn on his forehead and nose and a cleft ankle, which required physical therapy and still makes it difficult for him to drive for long periods of time. Victim, then just 21- years-old, sustained numerous, severe injuries including a fractured right femur, a fractured left humerus, a fractured jaw, and [a] hole in her heart. These injuries required four extensive surgeries, including heart surgery, and left Victim with a rod in her leg, a plate in her arm, and plate in her jaw. [Victim] remained in the hospital for two weeks after the collision and had to undergo months of physical therapy. She was unable to walk without the assistance of a walker and had to be on a liquid diet for two months because she was unable to chew solid foods. At the time of trial, approximately 18 months after the collision, Victim still had extensive, noticeable scars from her injuries. Additionally, Victim testified that she continues to suffer from anxiety that happens when she is in the car and approaching an intersection and that she is no longer able to enjoy activities such as ice skating, roller skating, and hiking and the pain has impacted her ability to work. Appellant’s BAC at the time of the collision was 0.21 – over two times the legal limit.

After a trial by jury, on March 29, 2023, Appellant was found guilty of Aggravated Assault by Vehicle while [DUI], [DUI]: General Impairment – first offense, [DUI]: Highest Rate of Alcohol – first offense, and Vehicle Turning Left. Sentencing was deferred for 90 days to obtain a Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (hereinafter “PSI”).

-2- J-S23011-24

Trial Court Opinion, 11/14/23, at 1-3. On July 19, 2023, Appellant was

sentenced to 18 to 48 months of incarceration with 12 months of consecutive

probation. Appellant filed a post sentence motion, which was denied. This

timely appeal followed. Both the trial court and Appellant have complied with

Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

On appeal, Appellant presents the following issues:

A. Did the trial court err in permitting the Commonwealth to introduce evidence of Appellant’s medical records?

B. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in sentencing Appellant by failing to consider all relevant factors, by imposing a manifestly excessive sentence and by relying on the nature of the offense and other improper factors?

Appellant’s Brief at 5.

Appellant first claims that the trial court erred in permitting the

Commonwealth to introduce Appellant’s medical records “for the purpose of

showing the results of [a] lab test as to Appellant’s BAC. In doing so, the

[trial] court exceeded the permissible use of hospital records, in violation of

Appellant’s confrontation rights.” Id. at 14. Additionally, Appellant argues

that her blood was drawn for purposes of litigation and not for medical

treatment, and as such, the toxicology report was inadmissible hearsay. Id.

at 21-23.

Recently, this Court held that a toxicology report prepared for medical

treatment was not testimonial in nature and therefore, not subject to the

protections of the Confrontation Clause. See Commonwealth v. Banko, 268

-3- J-S23011-24

A.3d 484 (Pa. Super. 2022), appeal denied, 279 A.3d 1176 (Pa. 2022). The

Confrontation Clause “prohibits out-of-court testimonial statements by a

witness unless the witness is unavailable and the defendant had a prior

opportunity for cross-examination.” Id. at 487 (citation omitted) (emphasis

in the original).

In Banko, the defendant was transported to the hospital following a

motor vehicle accident. Id. at 487. The hospital drew his blood into several

trauma panels as part of their standard procedure. Id. “The panels were

placed by a lab tech into a Ziploc bag and were sent through a pneumatic tube

to the lab” where the samples were then centrifuged by a lab assistant, who

testified to the process at trial. Id. at 487-88.

After a sample is centrifuged, “a medical technologist places the tube

on the Roche machine, where a reagent is added, causing a reaction. A

calibration curve then produces a BAC result that is entered in the computer.”

Id. at 488. “Basically, the technologist opens the tube, places it in a rack,

hits a button, and 10 minutes later you have results, which are automatically

entered into the computer and auto-filled in the patient’s medical record.” Id.

(quotation marks and citation omitted).

After an extensive analysis of the Supreme Court of the United States’

decisions in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), Melendez-Diaz

v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305 (2009), and Bullcoming v. New Mexico,

564 U.S. 647 (2011), as well as this Court’s prior decision in Commonwealth

-4- J-S23011-24

v. Barton-Martin, 5 A.3d 363 (Pa. Super. 2010), we concluded that the

defendant

fail[ed] to appreciate one critical distinction between the case before us and the ones on which he relies.

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Related

Crawford v. Washington
541 U.S. 36 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
557 U.S. 305 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Begley
780 A.2d 605 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Commonwealth v. Bowen
975 A.2d 1120 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Williams
715 A.2d 1101 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Fowler
893 A.2d 758 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Commonwealth v. Devers
546 A.2d 12 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. MacIas
968 A.2d 773 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Mazer
24 A.3d 481 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Commonwealth v. Franklin
446 A.2d 1313 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Commonwealth v. Barton-Martin
5 A.3d 363 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Commonwealth v. Zirkle
107 A.3d 127 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Com. v. Clemat, P.
2019 Pa. Super. 273 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Com. v. Trejo, A., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-trejo-a-pasuperct-2024.