Commonwealth v. Feeney

101 A.3d 830, 2014 Pa. Super. 222, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3425, 2014 WL 4980026
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 7, 2014
Docket2764 EDA 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 101 A.3d 830 (Commonwealth v. Feeney) 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. Feeney, 101 A.3d 830, 2014 Pa. Super. 222, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3425, 2014 WL 4980026 (Pa. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

*832 OPINION BY

BOWES, J.:

The Commonwealth appeals from the August 28, 2013 order affirming the dismissal of this action against Appellee Brian Feeney based upon the Commonwealth’s violation of Pa.R.Crim.P. 1013. As the trial court disregarded directly applicable Supreme Court precedent, we reverse.

On February 19, 2011, 1 Feeney was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. At 7:00 p.m. on the day in question, Philadelphia Police Officer Dennis Johnson was in a marked cruiser stopped at the traffic light that controls the intersection of Harbison and Robbins Streets in Philadelphia. Officer Johnson observed Feeney travel through a steady red light and nearly cause an accident. He initiated a traffic stop. Feeney “had a strong odor. of alcohol coming from his breath, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech.” N.T. Hearing, 8/15/11, at 14. Feeney was asked to exit his vehicle and was unable to maintain his balance. Officer Johnson had to catch him to keep him from falling and placed him under arrest for DUI. Feeney’s arraignment was conducted the next day.

Trial was originally scheduled for May 11, 2011, when the Commonwealth was prepared to proceed. Feeney asked for discovery consisting of a videotape of the incident, which did not exist. In June 2011, Feeney filed a motion to suppress, a hearing on that motion occurred on August 15, 2011, and it was denied.

Trial was scheduled for October 7, 2011, but Feeney “failed to appear. The defense attorney accepted service.” N.T. Motion, 5/1/13, at 5. Trial was rescheduled for December 16, 2011. The Commonwealth could not proceed on that date because one of its police witnesses was unable to arrive in court on schedule due to a family emergency. The Commonwealth was ready to try the matter at the next two scheduled trial dates, February 15, 2012, and April 4, 2012, but Feeney asked that the matter be continued.

Trial was re-scheduled for May 25, 2012, when the Commonwealth witnesses were present, and it was prepared to prosecute Feeney. Feeney failed to appear because he did not want to miss work. Id. at 7-8. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest but was subsequently lifted. There were six subsequent trial listings; three were continued at the defense’s request and the Commonwealth was not able to proceed on the other three dates due to the absence of one of its witnesses.

On May 1, 2013, Appellant filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 1013, which was granted by the Honorable Charles Hayden sitting in the Municipal Court of Philadelphia. At that time, the Commonwealth maintained that Feeney waived his right to litigate the Rule 1013 motion when he failed to appear for trial on two occasions. Id. at 13.

Feeney countered that, while he did not appear for trial at two of the listings, his failure to do so was not willfully deliberate. He offered no explanation for his lack of appearance on October 7, 2011. As -to the May 25, 2012 listing, Feeney said that his boss called him and told him that he had to come to work. After Judge Hayden dismissed the case based upon the Commonwealth’s violation of Rule 1013, the Commonwealth appealed that decision to the court of common pleas, which affirmed. This appeal followed. The Commonwealth presents a single issue: “Did the Common Pleas Court, sitting as an appellate court, err in affirming the Municipal Court’s discharge of defendant under Pa.R.Crim.P. 1013 where de- *833 fendant waived his claim by twice failing to appear on days scheduled for trial?” Commonwealth’s brief at 3.

Initially, we note that our standard of review in this context is defined by case law to be the same as the standard applied by Pa.R.Crim.P. 600:

Our standard of review for evaluating claims brought pursuant to Rule of Criminal Procedure 1013 is the same as that applied to claims made under Rule of Criminal Procedure 600. The purpose of the rules is similar, and the case law applies equally to both. When considering any “speedy trial” claim, the proper scope of review is limited to the evidence on the record from the eviden-tiary hearing and the findings of the trial court.... In assessing a Rule 1013 issue, we are confined to determining whether the trial court committed an “abuse of discretion” in reaching its decision.

Commonwealth v. Lynch, 57 A.3d 120, 123 (Pa.Super.2012) (emphasis added) (quoting Commonwealth v. Preston, 904 A.2d 1, 9 (Pa.Super.2006) (en banc)).

Two Supreme Court decisions are pertinent to the Commonwealth’s position herein. We first examine Commonwealth v. Steltz, 522 Pa. 233, 560 A.2d 1390 (1989), which was the origin of this waiver principle. Therein, the court examined former Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100, now embodied in Rule 600. The defendant was charged with various sexual crimes, and his trial was scheduled within his Rule 1100 run date. The defendant originally appeared, but was not present when jury selection was set to begin, so the trial could not proceed. The defendant was arrested shortly thereafter and was not tried until three months later. While the trial court dismissed under Rule 1100, the Court reversed that decision.

Our Supreme Court’s holding was explicit, “One’s voluntary absence from a day set for trial within Rule 1100 is a waiver of that rule. Therefore, his trial thereafter is at the reasonable convenience of the court and the prosecuting authorities.” Id. at 1391. It observed that the rule of criminal procedure governing the commencement of trial “is a procedural rule designed to give reasonable parameters for the commencement of trial” and that it is designed to benefit the accused. Id. It continued that, when defendants voluntarily absent themselves “for whatever reason,” from a scheduled trial, they must wait their “turn [for trial] after the convenience of the others their absence delayed. We cannot, with limited facilities, let one set the rules according to their whim, convenience or wrong.” Id.

That holding was recently applied in Commonwealth v. Brock, 619 Pa. 278, 61 A.3d 1015 (2013). Therein, the court ruled that a defendant waives his right to seek dismissal under Rule 600 “by failing to appear for a trial listing.” Id. at 1016. In that case, Brock’s trial was continued a number of times, but was eventually listed for trial about twenty-one months after the charges had been filed. He did not appear at that time, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Police went to his home once to serve the warrant, but made no efforts thereafter to locate Brock. He was arrested on unrelated charges about eleven months later. Sixteen months after his arrest, Brock maintained that the charges should be dismissed under Rule 600.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 A.3d 830, 2014 Pa. Super. 222, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3425, 2014 WL 4980026, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-feeney-pasuperct-2014.