Commonwealth v. Exley

17 Pa. D. & C.4th 285, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 104
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Crawford County
DecidedNovember 13, 1992
Docketno. 1991-713
StatusPublished

This text of 17 Pa. D. & C.4th 285 (Commonwealth v. Exley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Crawford County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Exley, 17 Pa. D. & C.4th 285, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 104 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1992).

Opinion

MILLER, P.J.,

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The defendant, Sylvia May Exley, went to the home of Patricia Maerten on Park Lane Drive, Vernon Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The defendant allegedly punched in the rear sliding glass door and pried it open. In the process of gaining entry, she tore some drapes. Once inside, she allegedly grabbed Maerten and threatened her with bodily harm. A citation for a summary offense of defiant trespass (18 Pa.C.S. §3503(b)) was issued to the defendant on June 2, 1992. She pled guilty to that charge on June 2nd.

A criminal complaint was subsequently filed charging defendant with criminal mischief (18 Pa.C.S. §3304) and harassment (18 Pa.C.S. §2709) in connection with her actions at the Maerten residence. The defendant moves to quash the information contending that the current prosecution is barred by the rules of joinder, 18 Pa.C.S. §110, the doctrine of collateral estoppel and the double jeopardy clauses of the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions.

DISCUSSION

A. Claims under 18 Pa.C.S. §110 and the Doctrine of Collateral Estoppel.

Title 18 Pa.C.S. §110 requires all criminal violations arising from the same criminal episode and within the [287]*287jurisdiction of a single court to be brought in one prosecution. Section 110 does not apply to the disposition of summary offenses. Therefore, section 110 will not bar the current prosecution because the prior offense, defiant trespass was a summary violation. Commonwealth v. Beatty, 500 Pa. 284, 290, 455 A.2d 1194, 1198 (1983); Commonwealth v. Taylor, 513 Pa. 547, 553, 522 A.2d 37, 39 (1987); Commonwealth v. Bellezza, 412 Pa. Super. 469, 603 A.2d 1031, 1034-35 (1992).

Collateral estoppel principles could not bar the current prosecution because the defendant had pled guilty to the defiant trespass charge. The Commonwealth is not attempting to relitigate facts that were decided against it in a former prosecution.

B. Claim under the Double Jeopardy Clause.

The Double Jeopardy Clause states: “(N) or shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” U.S. Const., Amend V. The double jeopardy prohibition is enforceable against the states through the 14th Amendment. Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969). The double jeopardy clause of Article I, §10 of the Pennsylvania Constitution does not afford any greater protection to citizens than that afforded by the Fifth Amendment. Gundy v. Commonwealth, Pa. Board of Probation & Parole, 82 Pa. Commw. 618, 623, 478 A.2d 139, 142 (1984).

The U.S. Supreme Court broadened the reach of the double jeopardy; clause in Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 1084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990). The charges in Grady arose from a traffic accident. On the day of the accident, the defendant was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and with failing to keep right [288]*288of the median, a summary traffic offense under New York law. Two months later, the defendant was indicted on charges of reckless manslaughter, second-degree vehicular homicide, criminally negligent homicide and reckless assault.

The court acknowledged that the pending charges must pass the traditional Blockburger test.1 “If application of that test reveals that the offenses have identical statutory elements or that one is a lesser included offense of the other then the inquiry must cease, and the subsequent prosecution is barred.” Id. at 561. The court promulgated a second test that the subsequent charges also must satisfy.

“Thus, a subsequent prosecution must do more than merely survive the.Blockburger test.... [T]he double jeopardy clause bars any subsequent prosecution in which the government, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in that prosecution, will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted. This is not an ‘actual evidence’ or ‘same evidence’ test. The critical inquiry is what conduct the state will prove, not the evidence the state will use to prove that conduct.” 109 L.Ed.2d at 564.

The court applied its new “conduct” test to the defendant’s case and found that the double jeopardy clause barred the prosecution. “By its own pleadings, the state has admitted that it will prove the entirety of the conduct for which Corbin was convicted — driving while intoxicated and failing to keep right of the median — to establish essential elements of the homicide and assault offenses.” 109 L.Ed.2d at 565.2

[289]*289The import of Grady v. Corbin was clarified by the court in United States v. Felix, 112 S.Ct. 1377, 118 L.Ed.2d 25 (1992).

The court in Felix emphasized that the Grady v. Corbin conduct test is not a same evidence test. Our inquiry must focus on whether the prosecution will prove the conduct for which the defendant previously was prosecuted to establish an essential element of one of the current charges. We now evaluate defendant’s double jeopardy claim under the two-test framework established in Grady v. Corbin.

(1) The Blockburger test.

A comparison of the statutory elements of the offenses at issue with the summary offense of defiant trespass reveal that defiant trespass contains at least one element of proof not required for the current offenses. A person is guilty of defiant trespass under 18 Pa.C.S. §3503(b)(l)(iii) if, knowing he is not licensed or privileged to do so, enters or remains in any place as to which notice against trespass is given by fencing or other enclosure manifestly designed to exclude intruders. The basic element of defiant trespass is an unprivileged entry. An unprivileged entry is not an element of criminal mischief or harassment.

Criminal mischief and harassment each contain at least one element of proof that is not required for defiant trespass. Criminal mischief as defined in 18 Pa.C.S. §3304(a)(l) requires damage to be inflicted on another’s tangible property through the intentional or reckless use of a harmful force. Defiant trespass does not require use of a harmful force or property damage. Harassment, as defined in 18 Pa.CS. §2709(1) requires a person to make or attempt to make physical contact or threaten [290]*290physical contact with another with the intent to harass or annoy. Physical contact or threat of physical contact with another is not an element of defiant trespass. Therefore, the current prosecution survives the Blockburger test.

(2) The Grady v. Corbin “conduct” test.

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Related

Blockburger v. United States
284 U.S. 299 (Supreme Court, 1931)
Benton v. Maryland
395 U.S. 784 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Grady v. Corbin
495 U.S. 508 (Supreme Court, 1990)
United States v. Felix
503 U.S. 378 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Beatty
455 A.2d 1194 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Taylor
522 A.2d 37 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Commonwealth v. Yingling
595 A.2d 169 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Matter of Huff
582 A.2d 1093 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Commonwealth v. Kline
592 A.2d 730 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Commonwealth v. Labelle
579 A.2d 1315 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Commonwealth v. Bellezza
603 A.2d 1031 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Caufman
611 A.2d 1300 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Bomboy v. Erie Airways, Inc.
604 A.2d 1026 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Gundy v. Commonwealth
478 A.2d 139 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
17 Pa. D. & C.4th 285, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-exley-pactcomplcrawfo-1992.