Commonwealth v. Mangiaracina

60 Pa. D. & C.2d 703, 1973 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 380
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedApril 6, 1973
Docketnos. 363 to 363-71 of 1972
StatusPublished

This text of 60 Pa. D. & C.2d 703 (Commonwealth v. Mangiaracina) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Mangiaracina, 60 Pa. D. & C.2d 703, 1973 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 380 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1973).

Opinion

SATTERTHWAITE, P. J.,

Defendant has been indicted upon a total of 120 indictments, the collective gravamen of which is to accuse him (1) of bribery and corrupt solicitation of the State Police officer in charge of a motor vehicle operator s license examining station to influence him in certifying eight particular persons as having successfully passed the licensing examination when, in fact, none had taken the examination, and (2) of forgery and falsification, as an alleged coconspirator with such officer in charge, of official reports and records pertaining to such licensing examinations. Defendant’s motion to quash each and every of these indictments has been argued before a court en banc.

The first 48 of these, nos. 363 through 363-47, inclusive, were precisely and exactly duplicated by another 48, nos. 363-A through 363-47-A, inclusive, apparently for the reasons that the former had been endorsed as approved in error as a matter of form by the foreman of the indicting grand jury and without proper notice to defendant. It is agreed that those bearing the “A” subscript were to be substitutionary therefor. Accordingly, indictments nos. 363 through 363-47, [705]*705inclusive, may be and hereby are summarily quashed as surplusage, without further consideration.

The scheme of the remaining 72 indictments is to charge defendant in nine indictments, each containing two to six counts, with criminality as to the situation of one of the parties who had so illegally obtained a motor vehicle operator’s license, and to repeat each such combination of nine indictments as to each of the eight such parties. Those relating to the improper licensing of one Carmen Ibarrondo were typical: nos. 363-A and 363-1-A, respectively, charged that defendant feloniously made and uttered [felonies under section 1014 of The Penal Code of June 24, 1939, P. L. 872,18 PS §5014], and conspired with the State Police officer in charge to make and utter [misdemeanors under section 302, 18 PS §4302], forged instruments in that a certain report of operator’s examination (form SP9-081) and a report of an examiner’s daily work sheet (form SP9-082) contained information, including the signature of the purported examiner, which had been forged with respect to the said Carmen Ibarrondo’s purported examination. Nos. 363-2-A, 363-3-A, and 363-4-A, respectively, charged that defendant made false statements on forms SP9-081, SP9-082 and SP9-083, matters within the jurisdiction of an agency of the Commonwealth, and used such false documents [misdemeanors under section 328, 18 PS §4328], and conspired with the State Police officer in charge so to do, to falsely report that Carmen Ibarrondo had taken and successfully passed the operator’s examination. No. 363-40-A charged that defendant committed bribery [a misdemeanor under section 303, 18 PS §4303] and corrupt solicitation [a misdemeanor under section 304, 18 PS §4304] of the State Police officer, and conspired with him and another to do so, to influence him in a matter pending [706]*706before him and pertaining to his office and so obtain an operator’s license for Carmen Ibarrondo without her having undergone an examination therefor. Nos. 363-48 charged defendant with having forged [a felony under section 1020, 18 PS §5020], and conspiracy with the State Police officer in charge to forge, the certificate known as form SP9-081, Report of Operator’s Examination, and certain information thereon, including the signature of the examiner, with respect to the purported examination of Carmen Ibarrondo; nos. 363-49 and 363-50 similarly charged defendant with forging, and conspiracy to jforge, certificates known as forms SP9-082 and SP9-083, Examiner’s Daily Worksheet, and Daily Summary of Station Activities, respectively.

The dates of the offenses alleged in the 72 indictments ranged from June 10, 1969, to December 10, 1969, all more than two years prior to May 5, 1972, and November 17,1972, the respective dates of approval by the grand jury, but less than five years prior thereto. The principal ground of defendant’s motion to quash, of course, is the statute of limitations. Two statutes are involved.

The first is the Act of March 31, 1860, P. L. 427, sec. 77, as amended, 19 PS §211, which provides, in relevant part, as follows:

“All indictments . . . [except murder and voluntary manslaughter] . . . shall be brought or exhibited within the time and limitation hereafter expressed, and not after; that is to say, all indictments and prosecutions for . . . forgery . . . shall be brought or exhibited within five years next after the offense shall have been committed; and all indictments and prosecutions for other felonies not named or excepted heretofore in this section, and for all misdemeanors, perjury excepted, shall be brought or exhibited within [707]*707two years next after such felony or misdemeanor shall have been committed; . . . And provided also, That indictments for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or for extortion or blackmail by color of office, or for embezzlement of public moneys or property or fraudulent conversion of public moneys or property, or for any misdemeanor in office, or for any conspiracy to commit any of said offenses heretofore or hereafter committed by any officer or employee of this Commonwealth or of any agency thereof, or of any city, county, borough, township or school district or of any agency thereof, and their accomplices and confederates, may be brought or exhibited at any time within two years from the time when said public officer or said employee shall have ceased to occupy such office or such employment, but in no event more than six years from the commission of the offense." (Italics supplied.)

The second relevant statute is the Act of March 23, 1877, P. L. 26, 19 PS §212, which reads as follows:

“The offense of forgery, whether the same be a misdemeanor or felony, shall not be held barred by the statute of limitations, when the indictment therefor shall have been brought or exhibited within five years next after the offense has been committed.”

Under these statutory provisions, all indictments and the several counts thereof in the instant case not charging the offenses of forgery must be quashed as brought too late since the two-year, and not the five-year, term of limitations would be applicable. All of the charges, except forgery, are either felonies not enumerated in the five-year limitations provisions of 19 PS §211, or misdemeanors. None of the charges is for malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfesance in office, or for extortion or blackmail, or for embezzlement or fraudulent conversion of public property, or for [708]*708misdemeanor in office, or for conspiracy or as accomplices to commit any such offense; the public employe exception in 19 PS §211 accordingly has no application: Commonwealth v. Burns, 197 Pa. Superior Ct. 282, 290-291 (1961), even overlooking the fact that the indictments are silent with respect to the termination of the State Police officer’s public employment less than two years prior to approval of the subject indictments. Compare Commonwealth v. Cody, 191 Pa. Superior Ct. 354, 358-59 (1959).

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178 A.2d 619 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 Pa. D. & C.2d 703, 1973 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-mangiaracina-pactcomplbucks-1973.