Commonwealth v. Dagutis

11 Pa. D. & C.5th 507
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedMarch 22, 2010
Docketno. 7898-2008
StatusPublished

This text of 11 Pa. D. & C.5th 507 (Commonwealth v. Dagutis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Dagutis, 11 Pa. D. & C.5th 507 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

WAITE, J.,

INTRODUCTION

This matter involves a charge and conviction of Brian Dagutis for driving under the influence (DUI) based primarily, although not exclusively, on the testimony of a consultant to a private, for-profit testing laboratory, over defense objections. The consultant in question was a former owner of the laboratory where the subject testing was done. There was no issue made regarding the skill and experience of the consultant in the field of forensic testing of blood for alcohol content (BAC). The determination of guilt that we made based on that evidence was called into question by the defendant/appellee [509]*509in post-trial motions. Upon consideration of a confluence of new and critical developments in decisional law almost simultaneously emanating from the United States Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court at about the time of our original decision, compelled us to decide that the evidence offered by the Commonwealth through its consultant was flawed.

In a case of first impression for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on the issue of “at the time of driving” requirement for general impairment DUI charges obliged our reconsideration of Count I of the charges against appellee. The offense was borderline in respect to appellee’s BAC, and the general observations of the arresting officers who conducted field sobriety tests were questionable in that they were not authorized or recognized by the National Highway Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation caused us to conclude that the evidence sans the BAC evidence was not sufficiently reliable and persuasive to support the finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, we reversed ourselves and found appellee not guilty.

STATEMENT OF MATTERS COMPLAINED OF ON APPEAL

The Commonwealth filed the following statement of matters complained of on appeal, which we repeat verbatim as follows:

“(1) The trial court erred in substituting a judgment of not guilty despite the guilty verdict originally entered by the same.

“(2) The trial court erred in reassessing the credibility and weight of the evidence presented by the Common[510]*510wealth expert, Dr. Siek, and the defense expert, Dr. Lage.

“(3) If the trial court intended to determine by its order that the evidence was insufficient, it failed to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth and incorrectly determined the evidence to be insufficient.

“(4) If the trial court intended to determine by its order that the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence, it abused its discretion and failed to grant a new trial.”

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In significant respects, the issue presented is one of statutory interpretation, which, as a question of law, is subject to a de novo standard of review in the appellate courts. Commonwealth v. Segida, 985 A.2d 871 (Pa. 2009) citing Commonwealth v. Hoke, 599 Pa. 587, 962 A.2d 664 (2009). “Pursuant to the Statutory Construction Act, our task in interpreting a statute is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the General Assembly.” Id. “The Statutory Construction Act admonishes that “[w] hen the words of a statute are clear and free from all • ambiguity, the letter of it is not to be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing its spirit.” Id.

The trial court must be able and willing to review its own rulings in a matter of great importance to the litigants and to change its mind and correct legal errors if adequate grounds are presented by the moving party. Otherwise, the rules in respect to post-trial procedures are rendered hollow, meaningless and a useless exercise in futility. [511]*511Instead, we accept the invitation to review our ruling particularly where fundamental changes obtain in the field of evidence related to the issues appropriately raised and preserved by appellee.

The standard to be applied in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is whether viewing all the evidence properly admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, there is sufficient evidence to enable the fact-finder to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Hutchinson, 947 A.2d 800, 805-06 (Pa. Super. 2008), appeal denied, 2009 WL 2947378 (2009); Commonwealth v. Andrulewicz, 911 A.2d 162, 165 (Pa. Super 2006). It is not clear that this rule applies, as urged by the Commonwealth, with respect to the grant of post-trial motions, but our ultimate disposition is the same in either case.

After excluding certain factual conclusions and expert opinions rendered by the consultant, the remaining evidence was inconclusive and lacked the reliability essential to establish all the elements of the offenses charged. Therefore, we found that the Commonwealth did not sustain its burden of proof by the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. We considered all of the other evidence in the case from the entirety of the record and even evaluating it in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth to the logical extensions of that evidence and we still had a reasonable doubt. Thus, the conclusion that we reached in respect to the reversal of the verdict was commanded under all of the circumstances.

The issues raised by the appellant/Commonwealth are adequately dealt with as conflated.

[512]*512RELEVANT RECENT APPELLATE COURT DEVELOPMENTS

As noted, the subject case was before this court for decision on March 18, 2009. Within the ten-day time limit, appellee filed his post-trial motions. During the time of our consideration of those post-trial motions, on June 25,2009, the United States Supreme Court decided Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 129 S.Ct. 2527 (2009). In general terms, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, rejected the notion that in a drug trial, the prosecution may introduce certificates in the nature of affidavits of laboratory analysts, the contents of which provide that material seized by police was a controlled substance without calling the analyst who conducted the analytical procedures because the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right of confrontation recognized in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004) is violated thereby.

On January 25,2010, the United States Supreme Court in Briscoe v. Virginia, 2010 WL 246152, 130 S.Ct. 1316 (2010), vacated a judgment of conviction of a drug suspect where the trial court held that the failure of a defendant to call the analyst who conducted the analytical procedures was a waiver of his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation. Per curiam, the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s decision as being inconsistent with the Court’s opinion in Melendez.

Justice Scalia explained that the states have relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Briscoe v. Virginia
559 U.S. 32 (Supreme Court, 2010)
Ohio v. Roberts
448 U.S. 56 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Crawford v. Washington
541 U.S. 36 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
557 U.S. 305 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Hoke
962 A.2d 664 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Segida
985 A.2d 871 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Modaffare
601 A.2d 1233 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Duda
923 A.2d 1138 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Andrulewicz
911 A.2d 162 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Commonwealth v. Segida
912 A.2d 841 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Commonwealth v. Hutchinson
947 A.2d 800 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 Pa. D. & C.5th 507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-dagutis-pactcomplbucks-2010.