Commonwealth v. Doleno

633 A.2d 203, 430 Pa. Super. 1, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3737
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 4, 1993
DocketNo. 1127; No. 00622
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 633 A.2d 203 (Commonwealth v. Doleno) 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. Doleno, 633 A.2d 203, 430 Pa. Super. 1, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3737 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

HESTER, Judge:

Harry G. Doleno appeals from the January 30, 1992 judgment of sentence1 of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. After his hearing, appellant was found guilty and fined $12,460.00 plus costs. For the reasons set forth, we are constrained to vacate the judgment of sentence and discharge appellant.

The procedural history of this case may be summarized as follows. On November 8, 1989, Bethel Park Police Officer Robert D. Gary, Jr. cited appellant for driving a vehicle over the restricted weight or size limit in violation of The Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 4902(a). A violation of this section constitutes a summary offense. On January 29, 1990, a District Justice found appellant guilty and levied the noted fine in accord with that subsection.

On February 9, 1990, appellant filed an appeal from the summary conviction to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and a trial date was set for March 19, 1990. Neither appellant nor his counsel appeared for the trial which, nonetheless, was held in absentia. Appellant was found guilty and fined $12,460.00 plus costs. Appellant filed exceptions with the trial court. In a June 29, 1990 hearing, appellant’s attorney accepted full responsibility for his and appellant’s absence, claiming that his own error in transcribing the trial date resulted in the ex parte trial. After appellant’s motion for arrest of judgment was denied, he filed a notice of appeal with this court. We reversed the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas and remanded the case for a new trial.

At trial, Officer Gary testified that he saw appellant driving a J & J Doleno Refuse truck on Clifton Road, a restricted roadway. The officer testified that in accordance with Penn-Dot specifications, vehicles using the roadway are not to [4]*4exceed a maximum weight of ten tons unless the driver is making a local delivery on the roadway. However, the officer stated specifically that he did not remember why the roadway had a restricted weight.

After stopping appellant, the officer asked him if he was making a local pick-up. When appellant replied that he was not, the officer took appellant’s vehicle to a nearby flat weigh scale located at South Hills Movers which was certified by the Department of Agriculture and Bethel Park Police. The vehicle was weighed by a certified weightmaster, and registered 68,740 ■ pounds, or 40,740 pounds over the restricted weight. The officer, who could not produce a certificate of accuracy for the scale, testified that as he had brought it with him to the ex parte hearing, it should be a matter of court record.

In his defense, appellant, who had been a driver for the refuse company since 1977, testified that on November 8,1989, he had made at least nineteen local stops before he was stopped by Officer Gary. Appellant testified that he was on his way to his next pick-up at the time the officer stopped him, and “[he] didn’t know which way to go or how to do it because there’s a lot of roads posted in that part of Bethel Park.” Notes of Testimony (“N.T.”), 1/30/92, at 14. Appellant claimed that driving his vehicle on the restricted roadway was necessary in order to reach his next customer. In rebuttal, Officer Gary detailed the path by which appellant would have needed to travel in order to avoid the restricted roadway. The officer testified that appellant “used Clifton Road as a cut through.” N.T., 1/30/92, at 19.

Appellant also testified that later that day, when he had completed the remainder of his stops, he went to the landfill and weighed in at an amount lighter than the moving company’s scales had registered. Appellant testified that he could not produce the receipt because, “It was so long ago, [he] lost the paper to prove it____” N.T., 1/30/92, at 17.

Based on this testimony, the trial court found appellant guilty of driving his vehicle in violation of 75 Pa.C.S. § 4902(a) (emphasis added):

[5]*5(a) Restrictions based on condition of highway or bridge. — The Commonwealth and local authorities with respect to highways and bridges under their jurisdictions may prohibit the operation of vehicles and may impose restrictions as to the weight or size of vehicles operated upon a highway or bridge whenever they determine that the highway or bridge may be damaged or destroyed unless use by vehicles is prohibited or the permissible size or weight of vehicles 'is reduced. School buses, emergency vehicles and vehicles making local deliveries or pickups may be exempted from restrictions on the use of highways imposed under this subsection.

75 Pa.C.S. § 4902(b) outlines the other reason why roadways and bridges may be weight restricted.

(b) Restrictions based on traffic conditions. — The
Commonwealth and local authorities with respect to highways and bridges under their jurisdictions may prohibit the operation of vehicles and may impose restrictions as to the weight or size of vehicles operated upon a highway or bridge whenever they determine that hazardous traffic conditions or other safety factors require such a prohibition or restriction. School buses, emergency vehicles and vehicles making local deliveries or pickups may be exempted from restrictions on the use of highways imposed under this subsection.

The fines provided for the subsections are as follows:

(g) Penalty.—
(1) Any person operating a vehicle or combination upon a highway or bridge in violation of a prohibition or restriction imposed under subsection (a) is guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $75, except that any person convicted of operating a vehicle with a gross weight on excess of a posted weight shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $150 plus $150 for each 500 pounds, or part thereof, in excess of 3,000 pounds over the maximum allowable weight.
[6]*6(2) Any person operating a vehicle or combination in violation of a prohibition or restriction imposed under subsection (b) is guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $25 and not more than $100.

Following this judgment against him, appellant filed a motion in arrest of judgment averring that the Commonwealth had failed to establish a prima facie case against appellant because it failed to produce evidence that the scale used to weigh his vehicle was accurate; failed to produce the reason why the roadway was restricted as to weight; and failed to negate appellant’s contention that he was involved in a local delivery when cited. In the alternative, appellant argues that the prosecution against him is barred under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5553(e) as the trial was held over two years after the commission of the offense. The trial court denied appellant’s motions, and this appeal followed.

On appeal, appellant argues that the Commonwealth failed to present sufficient credible evidence to sustain his summary conviction. Specifically, he claims that the Commonwealth failed to establish that the weigh scale was accurate. Furthermore, he argues that because the Commonwealth did not disprove his contention that he was in the process of making a local pick-up at the time he was cited, he is exempt under the terms of the statute.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
633 A.2d 203, 430 Pa. Super. 1, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3737, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-doleno-pasuperct-1993.