Commonwealth v. Lynn

455 A.2d 691, 309 Pa. Super. 439, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2432
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 21, 1983
DocketNo. 260
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 455 A.2d 691 (Commonwealth v. Lynn) 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. Lynn, 455 A.2d 691, 309 Pa. Super. 439, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2432 (Pa. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

WICKERSHAM, Judge:

On September 26, 1978, Officer Clarence Harvey, an undercover narcotics officer, approached appellant who was seated in a double-parked white Datsun station wagon in the vicinity of the 4800 blocks of Westminster and Wyalusing Avenues near St. Bernard Avenue in Philadelphia.

Q Now, Officer Harvey, I’m going to direct your attention, if I may, to September the 26th, 1978. You were a Philadelphia Police Officer?
A Yes, I was.
Q On that date, and in conjunction with your official capacity, did you have occasion to come into contact with Bobby Lynn, the defendant in this case?
A That’s correct.
I observed a white Datsun station wagon double-parked in this block.
I pulled up behind the station wagon, got out, and approached the operator. I asked the operator if he was Bobby, and he stated that he was. I then asked him if I could get a $25 bag, meaning a $25 bag of heroin. He then said, “Yeah. Follow me.”
I then got back into my car, and I followed him to the 4800 block of Wyalusing Avenue, where he parked. He then signalled for me to come to him, and I got out of my vehicle and walked up to his auto. He then asked me to give him the money. I then handed him a 20-dollar bill and a ten-dollar bill. The serial numbers were prerecorded before leaving the Narcotic Unit. He then handed me [441]*441a five-dollar bill and a glazed paper packet, containing a white powder.

Record at 6-8.

On January 24, 1979, at the conclusion of his undercover assignment, Officer Harvey arrested defendant at his residence.

Defendant was charged with knowingly or intentionally possessing a controlled substance and with manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, as set forth in Information No. 317, March Term 1979. Defendant’s pre-trial motion to dismiss the information on the basis of pre-arrest delay was denied by the Honorable Nicholas A. Cipriani.

On November 21, 1979, the Honorable Marvin R. Halbert, sitting without a jury, found defendant guilty of both charges. On January 16, 1980, post-verdict motions were denied and defendant was sentenced to three years probation. This appeal followed.1

In Commonwealth v. Daniels, 480 Pa. 340, 390 A.2d 172 (1978), our supreme court considered appellant’s claim that the delay between the victim’s death and appellant’s arrest constituted a deprivation of due process of law.

At the outset, we note that appellant’s claim is not directed toward a denial of his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial after arrest.... Rather, this claim is concerned with a deprivation of due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment by reason of a delay between the commission of an alleged criminal offense and the accusation of the defendant by means of complaint or indictment. This distinction was made clear in United [442]*442States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 313-21, 92 S.Ct. 455, 459-463, 30 L.Ed.2d 468, 474-79 (1971). The Marion Court further noted that statutes of limitation do not provide the sole protection for one who complains of delay prior to formal accusation, and that “the Due Process Clause ... would require dismissal of the indictment if it were shown at trial that the pre-indictment delay in this case caused substantial prejudice to [defendants’] rights to a fair trial and that the delay was an intentional device to gain tactical advantage over the accused.”
Marion was further elucidated in United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977). In that case, the defendant was able to demonstrate that two witnesses assertedly material to his defense had died during a preindictment delay. The Court, however, rejected his claim “that due process bars prosecution whenever a defendant suffers prejudice as a result of preindictment delay.” 431 U.S. at 789, 97 S.Ct. at 2048, 52 L.Ed.2d at 758-59. Instead, it held that an inquiry into the prosecution’s reasons for the delay is not required until a claim of prejudice to the accused is made out.
“[Marion ] establishes only that proof of actual prejudice makes a due process claim concrete and ripe for adjudication, not that it makes the claim automatically valid ... Marion makes clear that proof of prejudice is generally a necessary but not sufficient element of a due process claim ...”

Id. 480 Pa. at 353-54, 390 A.2d at 179.

See also Commonwealth v. DeMarco, 281 Pa.Super. 62, 421 A.2d 1147 (1980), where we said:

The first contention of the defendant is that he was prejudiced by the fact that he was arrested two and one-half months after the offense occurred. His point being that the lapse of time caused difficulty in establish[443]*443ing an alibi defense and because of the transient nature of his fellow inmates it was difficult for him to garner his witnesses.
‘Courts which have confronted due process questions of this nature have employed a balancing test in which the need for the delay is measured against the prejudice to the accused’s interest in a reliable process of guilt determination. United States v. Feldman, 425 F.2d 688 (3rd Cir.1970); United States v. Jones, 322 F.Supp. 1110 (E.D.Pa.1971); State v. Rountree, 106 NJ.Super. 135, 254 A.2d 337 (N.J.C.C.1969). This test was approved in Commonwealth v. McCloud, supra, [218 Pa.Super.] at 237 [275 A.2d 841 (1971) ] where we gave full recognition and approval to the legitimate police purposes often served by delaying arrests in order to conduct full criminal investigations.
The mere fact of an unjustified delay, however, is insufficient to justify the dismissal of the charges. Rather, an evaluation of the case against the accused and an examination of the prejudice resulting from the delay must now be made. See United States v. Jones, supra.’
Id. [Commonwealth v. DeRose ] 225 Pa.Super. [8] at 10-12, 307 A.2d [425] at 427.
We have employed the balancing test referred to hereinabove as applied to the facts of the instant case and we agree with the lower court that the delay period was comparatively slight and that no prejudice has been shown to have resulted to the appellant, DeMarco. The mere assertion of prejudice is not enough to warrant dismissal of the informations. No delay of two and one-half months has been held sufficient to constitute a denial of due process. United States v. Jones, 322 F.Supp. 1110 (E.D.Pa.1971) (five month delay); Woody v. [444]*444

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Bluebook (online)
455 A.2d 691, 309 Pa. Super. 439, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2432, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-lynn-pasuperct-1983.