Commonwealth v. Karns

50 A.3d 158, 2012 Pa. Super. 154, 2012 WL 3055787, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1598
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 27, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by99 cases

This text of 50 A.3d 158 (Commonwealth v. Karns) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme 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. Karns, 50 A.3d 158, 2012 Pa. Super. 154, 2012 WL 3055787, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1598 (Pa. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION BY

DONOHUE, J.:

Charles Earns (“Earns”) appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on February 15, 2011, by the Court of Common Pleas, Bedford County, following his convictions of two counts of Driving Under the Influence (“DUI”) — general impairment and DUI — highest rate of alcohol.1 After careful review, we vacate the judgment of sentence for DUI — highest rate of alcohol and remand for resentencing.

The events giving rise to this appeal began on the evening of April 9, 2009. That night, Officer Patterson of the Bed-ford Borough Police Department was on general patrol during the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift. N.T., 10/27/2010, at 61. Officer Patterson received a report of a vehicle nearly hitting two women in the area of the PennWest Bar. Id. at 61-62. After speaking with the women regarding the incident and obtaining a description of the vehicle in question, Officer Patterson began to search for a large gold or tan Chevrolet SUV with mud and grass protruding from the undercarriage. Id. at 68-65. Officer Patterson found a vehicle matching this description parked near a bar located within three to four blocks of where the women reported last seeing the vehicle. Id. at 64-65. Officer Patterson turned his vehicle around and saw a man, later identified as Earns, get into the vehicle and drive away. Id. at 65-66.

Officer Patterson followed Earns and initiated a stop after observing Earns’ failure to use his turn signal, followed by [160]*160watching Earns’ vehicle cross over the centerline twice within a short distance. Id. at 66. Officer Patterson approached the vehicle and noted the smell of alcohol emanating from within. Id. at 67. He also observed that Earns’ eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. Id. Officer Patterson instructed Earns to exit the vehicle to conduct field sobriety tests, which Earns failed. Id. 67-68. For these reasons, Officer Patterson concluded that Earns was intoxicated and unable to safely operate a motor vehicle. Id. at 71. Earns submitted to blood testing at UPMC Bed-ford Memorial Hospital, where his blood alcohol content (“BAC”) was determined to be 189 mg/dl or .189%. Id. at 71-72, 170, 242.

During its case in chief, the Commonwealth called the following witnesses: Officer Patterson; Harry Evans, the laboratory phlebotomist who drew the blood sample from Earns at UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital; and Christine Ickes (“Ickes”), the medical lab scientist at UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital who prepared and analyzed Earns’ blood sample. Id. at 42, 25; 60-61, 66; 164, 168. At the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s evidence, Earns moved for a judgment of acquittal on both counts of DUI, which the trial court denied. Id. at 262. Earns then presented the testimony of Dr. Joseph Citron, an expert in analytical chemistry and toxicology as well as standardized field sobriety testing. Id. at 285-86.

At the conclusion of the non-jury trial, the trial court found Earns guilty of the above referenced crimes and imposed a sentence of six to twenty-three and one half months of imprisonment in the Bed-ford County Jail for his conviction of DUI — highest rate of alcohol. The trial court found that the conviction for DUI— general impairment merged with the DUI — highest rate of alcohol conviction for sentencing purposes. Judgment of Sentence, 2/15/2011. Earns filed a post-sentence motion, which the trial court denied on June 27, 2011. Earns thereafter filed a timely notice of appeal followed by a Rule 1925(b) statement.

On appeal, Earns raises the following three issues for our review:

[1]. When testing non whole blood, the Commonwealth must present evidence that a conversion factor accepted by the scientific community was used. The Commonwealth did not present any evidence whatsoever that a conversion factor relied upon by the scientific community was used. Did the trial court commit an error of law in finding [Earns] guilty?
[2]. Exculpatory materials must be turned over to the defendant even when they are potentially inadmissible. The District Attorney knew that the hospital that tested [Earns’] blood was changing its alcohol blood testing procedures following [Earns’] alcohol blood test, but elected not to disclose that information to [Earns]. Did the Commonwealth violate the Brady rule?
[3]. Where a defendant meets the statutory eligibility requirements for the Intermediate Punishment Program [TPP’], a county cannot condition acceptance upon additional eligibility requirements. The trial court made a finding of fact that [Earns] met the statutory eligibility requirements, but denied him pursuant to county requirements. Did the trial court err?

Appellant’s Brief at l.2

In his first issue on appeal, Earns challenges the sufficiency of the evidence presented by the Commonwealth to sustain [161]*161his conviction for DUI — highest rate of alcohol. When reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, our standard of review is as follows:

The standard we apply in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is whether viewing all the evidence 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. In applying the above test, we may not weigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for the fact-finder. In addition, we note that the facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth need not preclude every possibility of innocence. Any doubts regarding a defendant’s guilt may be resolved by the fact-finder unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive that as a matter of law no probability of fact may be drawn from the combined circumstances. 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 record must be evaluated and all evidence actually received must be considered. Finally, the finder 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. LaBenne, 21 A.3d 1287, 1289 (Pa.Super.2011).

To be convicted of DUI — highest rate of alcohol,3 an individual’s BAC must be .16% or higher. See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(c). Here, Ickes testified to a BAC of .189%, but Earns contends her testimony was insufficient as a matter of law because the Commonwealth failed to produce evidence of a conversion factor that is generally accepted in the scientific community. Appellant’s Brief at 32.

With respect to the BAC requirements, this Court recently stated:

The general rule for alcohol related DUIs is that only tests performed on whole blood will sustain a conviction under Section 3802. Thus, evidence of blood serum, plasma or supernatant[4] testing, without conversion, will not suffice. See e.g., Commonwealth v. Renninger, [452 Pa.Super. 421] 682 A.2d 356 (Pa.Super.1996); Commonwealth v. Michuck, [454 Pa.Super.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
50 A.3d 158, 2012 Pa. Super. 154, 2012 WL 3055787, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1598, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-karns-pa-2012.