Commonwealth, Aplt. v. Stotelmyer, D.

110 A.3d 146, 631 Pa. 213, 2015 Pa. LEXIS 357
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 17, 2015
Docket73 MAP 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 110 A.3d 146 (Commonwealth, Aplt. v. Stotelmyer, D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth, Aplt. v. Stotelmyer, D., 110 A.3d 146, 631 Pa. 213, 2015 Pa. LEXIS 357 (Pa. 2015).

Opinions

OPINION

Justice EAKIN.

This appeal by the Commonwealth raises the issue of whether a defendant is statutorily eligible, within the meaning of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9802, to receive a county intermediate punishment sentence when a mandatory minimum sentence applies under 18 Pa.C.S. § 7508. We conclude the Superior Court erred in holding such an offender is eligible, and accordingly, reverse.

After state police seized over two and one-half pounds of marijuana from appellee’s residence pursuant to a search warrant, appellee was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (PWID)1 and possession of drug paraphernalia.2 Appellee entered an open guilty plea to PWID, and the Commonwealth nolle prossed the remaining charge. After entry of the plea, the Commonwealth entered notice of its intent to seek application of the mandatory minimum one-year sentence of incarceration pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 7508, which provides:

(a) General rule. — Notwithstanding any other provisions of this or any other act to the contrary, the following provisions shall apply:
(1) A person who is convicted of violating section 13(a) (14), (30) or (37) of the act of April 14, 1972 (P.L. 233, No. 64), known as The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, where the controlled substance is marijuana shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment and a fíne as set forth in this subsection:
[216]*216(i) when the amount of marijuana involved is at least two pounds, but less than ten pounds ...; one year in prison and a fine of $5,000 or such larger amount as is sufficient to exhaust the assets utilized in and the proceeds from the illegal activity....

Id., § 7508(a)(1)(f) (emphasis added).

Following a hearing, the trial court determined the Commonwealth proved by a preponderance of the evidence that appellee possessed over two pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute it, invoking § 7508’s mandatory minimum sentencing provisions. However, the trial court instead sentenced appellee to county intermediate punishment, imposing six months of work release from the county jail followed by six months of electronic home monitoring. See Trial Court Order, 10/12/11, at 1.

Following the denial (by operation of law) of its motion to modify sentence,3 the Commonwealth appealed to the Superior Court. In its Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) Opinion, the trial court stated that, at the time of sentencing, it believed appellee’s sentence was supported by the sentencing guidelines, and the Commonwealth had not objected. The trial court explained it never realized the sentence was illegal because there was no hearing on the Commonwealth’s motion. The trial court concluded it had erred in imposing the sentence and requested the Superi- or Court vacate the sentence and remand for further proceedings. See Trial Court Opinion, 6/25/12, at 2-3.

Nevertheless, the Superior Court rejected the challenge to the sentence, holding “[u]nder applicable precedent, if a person is statutorily eligible for county intermediate punishment, a county intermediate sentence may be imposed, even when a mandatory minimum sentence is applicable.” Commonwealth v. Stotelmyer, No. 566 MDA 2012, unpublished memorandum at 13 (Pa.Super. filed March 19, 2013). The court began its analysis by noting 42 Pa.C.S. § 9721(a), which governs sen[217]*217tencing in general and provides seven sentencing options, includes county intermediate punishment. Subsection (a.l) of the statute provides subsection (a) does not apply where there is a mandatory minimum sentence, unless specifically authorized under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9763, which relates to sentences of county intermediate punishment. The court concluded that appellee’s sentence was a permissible form of county intermediate punishment under § 9763, and therefore the exception in subsection (a.l) prescribing the imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence did not apply.

In support of its holding, the court relied on Commonwealth v. Williams, 941 A.2d 14 (Pa.Super.2008) (en banc), Commonwealth v. Mazzetti, 615 Pa. 555, 44 A.3d 58 (2012) (per curiam), and Commonwealth v. Hansley, 616 Pa. 367, 47 A.3d 1180 (2012). In Williams, the Superior Court held, notwithstanding the driving under the influence (DUI) statute’s requirement of mandatory terms of imprisonment for DUI recidivists, a defendant convicted of a second DUI offense could be sentenced to county intermediate punishment, so long as the program was qualified and the defendant was a qualified “eligible offender” under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9804, the intermediate punishment program statute. Williams, at 26 (citations omitted); see 42 Pa.C.S. § 9804(b)(1)© (providing only “eligible offenders” shall be sentenced to county intermediate punishment); id., § 9802 (defining “eligible offender” as, inter alia, person convicted of offense who would otherwise be sentenced to county correctional facility).

In Mazzetti, this Court held the Commonwealth’s waiver of the school zone mandatory minimum sentence, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6317(a), at the original sentencing precluded the Commonwealth from seeking its application following revocation of probation. Mazzetti, at 60. The Superior Court cited Mazzetti for the proposition that this Court “has noted that § 9721(a.1) permits the imposition of intermediate punishment despite the fact that there is a pertinent mandatory minimum sentence of incarceration.” Stotelmyer, at 8 (citing Mazzetti, at 66 (“[S]ection 9721(a.1) acknowledges that 42 Pa.C.S. § 9763 authorizes the trial court to impose a sentence of [218]*218county intermediate punishment even if there is an applicable mandatory minimum.”)).

In Hansley, this Court held the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive (RRRI) Act, 61 Pa.C.S. § 4501 et seq.,4 applied to a school zone mandatory minimum sentence imposed pursuant to §§ 6317 and 7508 of the Act. Hansley, at 1188. We concluded the Act’s definition of “eligible offender” included various eligibility requirements that excluded many crimes, but not drug offenses. Id.

Based on its interpretation of the above cases, the Superior Court narrowed the inquiry to whether 42 Pa.C.S. § 9763 authorizes imposition of county intermediate punishment for a defendant who is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence under 18 Pa.C.S. § 7508. The court looked to the County Intermediate Punishment Act’s definition of “eligible offender”:

Subject to section 9721(a.l) (relating to sentencing generally), a person convicted of an offense who would otherwise be sentenced to a county correctional facility, who does not demonstrate a present or past pattern of violent behavior and who would otherwise be sentenced to partial confinement pursuant to section 9724 (relating to partial confinement) or total confinement pursuant to section 9725 (relating to total confinement).

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Bluebook (online)
110 A.3d 146, 631 Pa. 213, 2015 Pa. LEXIS 357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-aplt-v-stotelmyer-d-pa-2015.