Commonwealth v. Kishbaugh

11 Pa. D. & C.3d 146, 1979 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 239
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedApril 2, 1979
Docketnos. 1481, 338-S and 339-S of 1977
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 11 Pa. D. & C.3d 146 (Commonwealth v. Kishbaugh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Kishbaugh, 11 Pa. D. & C.3d 146, 1979 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 239 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1979).

Opinion

DAVISON, J.,

We have before the court en banc defendant’s post-trial motions, which raise, inter alia, the question of the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s vehicular homicide statute, following his conviction thereunder.

Defendant, Henry A. Kishbaugh, was charged with homicide by vehicle1 and the summary of[148]*148fenses of reckless driving2 and following too closely3 after a collision which occurred on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on September 7, 1977. Kishbaugh was operating a tractor trailer which collided with the rear of a disabled vehicle occupied by a Louis Marinari which was being towed by another vehicle driven by his sister-in-law, Frances Fessmeyer. Marinari died in the burning automobile as a direct result of the accident.

Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of homicide by vehicle and, by virtue of Com. v. Campana,4 by the trial judge of reckless driving and following too closely.

Defendant’s motions raise numerous contentions. First he alleges that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a finding of violation of the following too closely provisions of the Vehicle Code. This is critical, since a conviction for vehicle homicide is dependent upon a showing of violation of some other traffic regulation. Defendant argues, as we understand it, that the only evidence of following too closely was circumstantial in nature in that there was no eye witness testimony as to the distance between the tractor trailer driven by defendant and the vehicle occupied by decedent prior to the collision. However, he cites no authority for what he proposes to be the proposition that direct evidence is necessary to support a conviction for following too closely.

[149]*149In determining whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the verdict, the facts, and all reasonable inferences arising therefrom, must be viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth: Com. v. Jacobs, 247 Pa. Superior Ct. 373, 372 A. 2d 873 (1977). In so viewing the evidence, on the sunny clear day of this tragic occurrence, we regard the roadway to have been straight and level and visibility excellent. There were no truck skidmarks prior to impact, no truck skidmarks indicating that defendant attempted to swerve his vehicle prior to collision, and the witness behind defendant’s vehicle observed no ignition of defendant’s brake lights prior to impact nor any attempt by defendant to maneuver to avoid collision. Kishbaugh admitted that he had taken his eyes off the road when cigarette ashes had blown in his eyes and that he did not immediately apply his brakes even when he sighted the Marinari vehicle. The collision was a violent one, the tractor trailer traveling some 306 feet after impact, breaking through a turnpike guard rail and coming to rest about 100 feet from the berm of the road.

While the mere happening of an accident does not prove that defendant was following too closely, it is well recognized that proof of attendant circumstances, that is circumstantial evidence, may provide sufficient showing of negligence or statutory violation even absent direct evidence: Com. v. Gill, 120 Pa. Superior Ct. 22, 182 A. 2d 103(1935); Com. v. El-Amin, 247 Pa. Superior Ct. 222, 372 A. 2d 18 (1977).

From the above circumstantial evidence, the fact finder could reasonably have concluded not simply that a collision occurred, but that, in failing to see what should have been a plainly visible vehicle on [150]*150this four lane super highway until he was virtually on top of it, defendant had been inattentive for a substantial period of time without attempting to slow down and had approached and followed the Marinari vehicle more closely than was “reasonable and prudent.” See Meek v. Allen, 162 Pa. Superior Ct. 495, 58 A. 2d 370 (1948).

Defendant’s second contention is that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the reckless driving charge. Here, too, circumstantial evidence is sufficient to prove the violation: Com. v. El-Amin, supra. To constitute reckless driving, the conduct must amount to careless disregard of the rights and safety of others: Com. v. Podrasky, 250 Pa. Superior Ct. 57, 378 A. 2d 450 (1977); that is, something less than willful and wanton conduct yet more than ordinary negligence: Com. v. El-Amin, supra. Defendant cites, and we have reviewed, numerous cases in which the evidence was found insufficient to sustain the charge of reckless driving. See Com. v. Stephens, 179 Pa. Superior Ct. 255, 115 A. 2d 904 (1955); Com. v. Stosny, 152 Pa. Superior Ct. 236, 31 A. 2d 582 (1943); Com. v. Forrey, 172 Pa. Superior Ct. 65, 92 A. 2d 233 (1952). However, those cases involve circumstances where the consequences of the drivers’ negligence could not have been foreseen, and so the acts were found not to rise to the level of careless disregard. The facts and reasonable inferences in the case at bar support the conclusion either that defendant had his eyes off the road for so substantial a period of time as to be totally unaware of plainly visible vehicles in front of him, or that he was aware of the existence of such vehicles and failed to take any precautionary actions when forced to take his eyes off the road for a short time because of blowing cigarette ashes. In [151]*151either case, it was reasonably foreseeable a collision could occur, and that element of foreseeability places this case closer to Com. v. Kmit, 81 D. & C. 135 (1951), in which reckless driving was found, than to defendant’s cited cases.

We hold that reckless driving and following too closely were properly submitted to the fact finder and that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdict.

We next consider defendant’s contentions that the offense of vehicle homicide should be more properly regarded as a summary offense in that it is an absolute liability statute containing no culpability requirements for conviction, and that there was error in the jury charge relative to the definition of reckless driving.

Section 302 of the Crimes Code, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §302, sets forth the general rule that a culpability element is necessary for conviction under the Crimes Code, and various cases have held that where a Crimes Code provision is silent as to a culpability requirement one will be inferred: Waldron Appeal, 237 Pa. Superior Ct. 298, 353 A. 2d 43 (1975); Com. v. Black, 251 Pa. Superior Ct. 539, 380 A. 2d 911 (1977).

However, Crimes Code section 305(a)(2) states that culpability requirements do not apply to: “(2) offenses defined by statutes other than this title, in so far as a legislative purpose to impose absolute liability for such offenses or with respect to any material element thereof plainly appears.” Further, section 305(b) provides that absolute liability statutes outside the code will be deemed summary offenses “unless a subsequent statute otherwise provides: : . . ” Therefore, if an intent to impose absolute liability plainly appears in a non-[152]*152Crimes Code statute, any culpability requirement for conviction is eliminated. In addition, if the statute was enacted subsequent to the Crimes Code and is explicitly graded as something other than a summary offense, then even if it imposes absolute liability it will not be treated as a summary offense.

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Bluebook (online)
11 Pa. D. & C.3d 146, 1979 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-kishbaugh-pactcompllehigh-1979.