Commonwealth v. Ciccola

894 A.2d 744, 2006 Pa. Super. 23, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 60
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 7, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 894 A.2d 744 (Commonwealth v. Ciccola) 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
Commonwealth v. Ciccola, 894 A.2d 744, 2006 Pa. Super. 23, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 60 (Pa. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

BENDER, J.

¶ 1 This is an appeal from a judgment of sentence imposed upon Appellant after he was convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) in a bench trial. Appellant raises two issues for our review: whether 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802 et seq. violates the substantive due process guarantees of the United States and/or Pennsylvania constitutions and; whether defendant’s right to counsel under the United States and/or Pennsylvania Constitution was violated? We affirm.

¶ 2 Appellant was arrested for DUI after the vehicle he was driving was stopped by State College Police Officer W.C. Muse on College Avenue in State College, Pennsylvania, at approximately 3:46 a.m., on April 25, 2004. Officer Muse stopped Appellant after observing his vehicle stray into a portion of the roadway lined for parking cars and after being informed via police radio that the registration to Appellant’s vehicle had been suspended. After approaching Appellant’s vehicle and interacting with Appellant, Officer Muse was able to detect a strong odor of alcohol and observed a “bar stamp” on the back of Appellant’s hand. Officer Muse further observed that Appellant’s eyes were bloodshot and his face was flushed. Appellant was then asked to exit his vehicle and perform field sobriety tests. Since Appellant had informed Officer Muse that he had lower back problems, Appellant was not asked to perform the one-leg stand test. However, Appellant performed the heel-to-toe test and, in the estimation of Officer Muse, failed that test. Appellant also submitted to a preliminary breath test (PBT) which gave a reading of .10%. Trial Court Opinion, 10/18/04, at 2. Appellant was then arrested and transported to Mount Nittany Medical Center for a blood test.

¶ 3 Upon arriving at Mount Nittany Medical Center, Appellant was read the implied consent warnings contained on PennDOT Form DL-26. Thus, Appellant was informed that he did not have a right to consult with an attorney prior to deciding whether or not to consent to chemical testing of his blood alcohol content (BAC).1 Appellant told Officer Muse that he would consent to chemical testing after he saw the certifications of the medical technician who would be drawing his blood. However, Officer Muse informed Appellant that due to the time of day, he would not have an opportunity to inspect those documents prior to issuing consent. Officer Muse then again reviewed the implied consent warnings found on Form DL-26 and apprised Appellant of the consequences of refusing to consent to a BAC test. Despite the warnings, Appellant refused to give his consent and no chemical testing was performed.

¶ 4 On July 20, 2004, Appellant filed an omnibus pre-trial motion averring that Officer Muse lacked probable cause to arrest Appellant for DUI. On August 4, 2004, Appellant supplemented his omnibus pre[746]*746trial motion and averred that evidence of Appellant’s refusal to consent to chemical testing should be suppressed as Appellant was denied an opportunity to consult with counsel prior to making the important decision whether to submit to chemical testing. A hearing was held on Appellant’s motion on September 7, 2004, and the court issued an order denying Appellant’s motion on October 18, 2004. Appellant proceeded to a bench trial on January 5, 2005, and, at the conclusion of that trial, was convicted of DUI and two summary offenses. The present appeal followed.

¶ 5 Appellant first asserts that various aspects of the new DUI law are violative of substantive due process guarantees due to vagueness and/or overbreadth. More specifically, Appellant contends that the provisions of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(2), 3802(b) and 3802(c), which tie illegality to registering, within two hours of driving or operating a motor vehicle, a BAC within one of three delineated subclasses, are vague and/or overbroad. Sections 3802(a)(2), (b) and (c) provide:

(a) General Impairment.—
(2) An individual may not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that the alcohol concentration in the individual’s blood or breath is at least 0.08% but less than 0.10% within two hours after the individual has driven, operated or been in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle.
(b) High rate of alcohol. — An individual may not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that the alcohol concentration in the individual’s blood or breath is at least 0.10% but less than 0.16% within two hours after the individual has driven, operated or been in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle.
(c) Highest rate of alcohol. — An individual may not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that the alcohol concentration in the individual’s blood or breath is 0.16% or higher within two hours after the individual has driven, operated or been in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle.

¶ 6 The gist of Appellant’s argument is that the terms of section 3802 do not make it illegal to drive with a BAC of .08% or greater but, rather, the terms of section 3802 makes it illegal to drive after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such as to produce a BAC reading in excess of .08% or greater within two hours of driving. Thus, the literal terms of section 3802 would allow an individual to violate the terms of the statute even though he/ she never drove a vehicle at a time when his/her BAC exceeded .08%.2 Appellant argues that the above feature of the statute creates arbitrariness, vagueness and acts to criminalize constitutionally protected conduct. The problem with Appellant’s argument is that he was not convicted [747]*747under one of the sections he contends is unconstitutional.

¶ 7 As noted above, Appellant refused to consent to submit to a BAC test. In the absence of a BAC test, the Commonwealth was forced to proceed under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(a)(1), which reads:

An individual may not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle after imbibing a sufficient amount of alcohol such that the individual is rendered incapable of safely driving, operating or being in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle.

As such, Appellant was not convicted of violating section 3802(a)(2), (b) or (c), which contains the language Appellant asserts violates the constitution. In Commonwealth v. Dodge, 287 Pa.Super, 148, 429 A.2d 1143, 1146 (1981), we stated:

While a defendant in an enforcement proceeding generally has standing to assert in his defense any claim, including the constitutionality of a statute, that challenges the authority of the state to impose its force upon him, he does not have standing to object to the constitutionality of a statute unless he is affected by the particular feature alleged to be in conflict with the constitution.

(Citations omitted.) Under the principle enunciated in Dodge, since Appellant was not convicted of violating section 3802(a)(2), (b) or (c), he has no standing to challenge the constitutionality of those provisions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
894 A.2d 744, 2006 Pa. Super. 23, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 60, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-ciccola-pasuperct-2006.