Commonwealth v. Dellavecchia

725 A.2d 186, 1998 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4651
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 31, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 725 A.2d 186 (Commonwealth v. Dellavecchia) 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. Dellavecchia, 725 A.2d 186, 1998 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4651 (Pa. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

JOYCE, J.:

This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence, as made final by the denial of post-sentencing motions,1 entered after Appellant, James Dellavecchia, was convicted of aggravated assault,2 simple assault,3 recklessly endangering another person4 and driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).5 For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for resentencing. Before addressing the merits of Appellant’s [187]*187claims, we will recount the pertinent facts underlying this appeal.

During the evening hours of August 17, 1993, sixteen (16) year old Cynthia Harrison sat in the front passenger seat of a 1988 Camaro owned by her boyfriend’s father, Joseph Fiscaro. Ms. Harrison’s eighteen (18) month old niece, Nina, sat on Ms. Harrison’s lap. The Camaro was parked in the parking lane outside of Mr. Fiscaro’s business.

As Mr. Fiscaro and his son stepped outside, they noticed a black truck traveling in the parking lane at a speed well in excess of the posted limit of thirty-five (35) miles per hour. The truck, which was driven by Appellant, collided with the Camaro, became airborne, landed on a Toyota Camry that was parked in front of the Camaro, flipped over and finally landed on its roof. Police and medical personnel were thereafter summoned to the scene.

The victims were transported to the hospital for treatment.6 The investigating police officer detected an odor of alcohol emanating from Appellant’s breath. Consequently, Appellant was arrested and transported to the police station. Testing revealed that Appellant had a blood-alcohol content of .194%. As a result, he was charged with various offenses arising out of this incident.

Appellant initially pled guilty to the crimes in November, 1994. However, he was later permitted to withdraw his plea. Appellant waived his right to be tried by a jury. Following a bench trial held in May and August of 1995, Appellant was convicted of the above offenses.7

The trial court sentenced Appellant to five and one-half (5/t) to fifteen (15) years of imprisonment with regard to each of his aggravated assault convictions; these sentences were directed to run concurrently. He also received an additional sentence of one (1) to two (2) years for his DUI conviction. Appellant timely filed post-sentencing motions which were denied by the trial court. Appellant timely appealed8 and presents the following issues for review: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to show that Appellant had the requisite mens rea to sustain his convictions for aggravated assault; and (2) whether the sentencing court abused its discretion by failing to credit Appellant for the time served under house arrest prior to trial.

Before addressing the merits of these issues, we note that a three-judge panel of this Court initially authored a memorandum that reversed Appellant’s aggravated assault convictions. Commonwealth v. Dellavecchia, No. 926 Philadelphia 1996 (Pa.Super. filed October 9, 1997) (unpublished memorandum). The Commonwealth filed a petition for rear-gument before the court en banc. The petition was granted. Accordingly, the panel’s prior disposition was withdrawn and the matter was reargued before the court en banc. We issued an opinion affirming the judgment of sentence. Commonwealth v. Dellavecchia, No. 926 Philadelphia 1996 (Pa.Super. filed Dec. 31, 1998) (en banc). Within days of the filing of our en banc disposition, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Commonwealth v. Comer, 552 Pa. 527, 716 A.2d 593 (1998). Because Comer is dispositive, we withdrew our en banc disposition and directed the parties to file supplemental briefs addressing Comer. Briefs have now been [188]*188received and this matter is ripe for resolution.

Appellant initially challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for aggravated assault insofar as it relates to the mens rea element.

In determining whether the Commonwealth has met its burden of proof, the test to be applied is: [w]hether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, and drawing all reasonable inferences favorable to the Commonwealth, there is sufficient evidence to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The Commonwealth may sustain its burden of proving every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt by means of wholly circumstantial evidence. Moreover, in applying the above test, the entire trial record must be evaluated and all evidence actually received must be considered. Finally, the trier of fact while passing upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence produced, is free to believe all, part or none of the evidence.

Commonwealth v. Valette, 531 Pa. 384, 388, 613 A.2d 548, 549 (1992) (citations and quotation marks omitted). We shall consider Appellant’s arguments in accordance with this standard.

A person commits the crime of aggravated assault if he attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another or causes such injury intentionally, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2702(a)(1).9 In construing the mens rea element of recklessness, our Supreme Court has repeatedly held:

[M]ere recklessness is insufficient to support a conviction for aggravated assault, which requires a higher degree of culpability, i.e., that which considers and then disregards the threat necessarily posed to human life by the offending conduct. There must be an element of deliberation or conscious disregard of danger not present to the same extent in, e.g., reckless endangerment.. .or driving while intoxicated. ... [F]or the degree of recklessness contained in the aggravated assault statute to occur, the offensive act must be performed under circumstances which almost assure that injury or death will ensue. The recklessness must, therefore, be such that life threatening injury is essentially certain to occur. This state of mind is, accordingly, equivalent to that which seeks to cause injury.

Commonwealth v. Comer, 552 Pa. 527, 532, 716 A.2d 593, 596 (1998) (quoting Commonwealth v. O’Hanlon, 539 Pa. 478, 482, 653 A.2d 616, 618 (1995)).10

Pursuant to Commonwealth v. Comer, we are constrained to conclude that the evidence here is insufficient to establish the mens rea element needed to sustain Appellant’s convictions for aggravated assault. In Comer, the defendant ingested alcohol and “downers” or “muscle relaxants” while attending a party. Comer, 552 Pa. at 530, 716 A.2d at 595. The defendant and a companion left the party and decided to go to another bar. Id. The defendant, who drove at an excessive rate of speed, caused his vehicle to leave the roadway and crash into a bus stand. Id.

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Commonwealth v. Dellavecchia
725 A.2d 186 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
725 A.2d 186, 1998 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-dellavecchia-pasuperct-1998.