Commonwealth v. Murray

749 A.2d 513, 2000 Pa. Super. 84, 2000 Pa. Super. LEXIS 294
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 21, 2000
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 749 A.2d 513 (Commonwealth v. Murray) 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. Murray, 749 A.2d 513, 2000 Pa. Super. 84, 2000 Pa. Super. LEXIS 294 (Pa. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

EAKIN, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) under 75 Pa.C.S. Section 3731(a)(4), and chal-' lenges the constitutionality of Section 3731(a.l). Finding the statute to be constitutional and the evidence sufficient, we affirm.

¶ 2 At approximately 2:08 a.m., on June 13, 1997, appellant was stopped by a police officer for making an illegal right turn at a red light. The officer smelled alcohol on appellant, who admitted he had two or three beers at a local tavern. When appellant failed field sobriety tests, the officer arrested him for DUI and took him to a hospital, where he consented to chemical testing of his blood. The 2:42 a.m. test revealed his blood alcohol content (BAC) was .14%. Appellant was charged with DUI under 75 Pa.C.S. Sections 3731(a)(1) and 3731(a)(4), which provide:

*515 (a) Offense defined. — A person shall not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle in any of the following circumstances:
(1) While under the influence of alcohol to a degree which renders the person incapable of safe driving.
* * *
(4) While the amount of alcohol by weight in the blood of:
(i) an adult is 0.10% or greater —

75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a)(1) and (4). Appellant was also charged with the summary offense of making a right turn at a red light where a sign prohibits such turn. 1 75 Pa.C.S. § 3112(a)(3)(h).

¶ 3 Following denial of his motion to suppress his statements and the BAC results, appellant proceeded to a jury trial. The Commonwealth introduced the BAC result into evidence through the testimony of Janice Lee Smith, a medical technologist who did not draw the blood and had no involvement in the testing process. In response to defense counsel’s questioning, Ms. Smith said it was conceivable appellant’s BAC may have been under .10% at the time he drove. Defense counsel then attempted to elicit Ms. Smith’s opinion concerning appellant’s BAC at the time he was driving, and the Commonwealth objected. The trial court sustained the objection, as Ms. Smith was not qualified to render such an opinion.

¶4 The trial court instructed the jury that since appellant’s BAC was above .10% at the time of testing and the test was performed within three hours of driving, the jury was permitted to infer appellant’s BAC was .10% or above at the time he was driving. This instruction was given pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. Section 3731(a.l), which provides:

(a.l) Prima facie evidence.—
(1) It is prima facie evidence that:
(i) an adult had .10% or more by weight of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving, operating or being in actual physical control of the movement of any vehicle if the amount of alcohol by weight in the blood of the person is equal to or greater than .10% at the time a chemical test is performed on a sample of the person’s breath, blood or urine;
(2) For the purposes of this section, the chemical test of the sample of the person’s breath, blood or urine shall be from a sample obtained within three hours after the person drove, operated or was in actual physical control of the vehicle.

75 Pa.C.S. § 3731(a.l)(l)-(2).

¶ 5 The jury convicted appellant under Section 3731(a)(4), and acquitted him under Section 3731(a)(1). Appellant appealed to this Court, challenging the constitutionality of Section 3731(a.l), both facially and as applied to him. A divided panel of this Court held Section 3731(a.l) unconstitutional for the same reasons the Supreme Court found the former Section 3731(a)(5) unconstitutional in Commonwealth v. Band, 545 Pa. 297, 681 A.2d 162 (1996). 2 The case was reargued before this Court en banc, and we now address the following issues:

1) Is 75 Pa.C.S. Section 3731(a.l) unconstitutional on its face or as applied in this case?
*516 2) Was it error for the trial court to instruct the jury that it could find appellant guilty of driving while his BAC was .10% or greater?

¶ 6 In evaluating a constitutionality challenge,

[T]here is a strong presumption in the law that legislative enactments do not violate the constitution. Moreover, there is a heavy burden of persuasion upon one who challenges the constitutionality of a statute. While penal statutes are to be strictly construed, the courts are not required to give the words of a criminal statute their narrowest meaning or disregard the evident legislative intent of the statute. A statute, therefore, will only be found unconstitutional if it “clearly, palpably and plainly” violates the constitution.

Barud, at 165 (citations omitted). Appellant argues Section 3731(a.l) is vague and overbroad. With respect to such claims, we note:

As generally stated, the void for vagueness doctrine requires that a penal statute define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Due process requirements are satisfied if the statute provides reasonable standards by which a person may gauge their future conduct.
A statute is “overbroad” if by its reach it punishes constitutionally protected activity as well as illegal activity.

Id. (citations omitted).

¶ 7 Section 3731(a)(4) was enacted in 1982, making it illegal to drive with a BAC of .10% or greater. This statute prohibits a specific BAC level while driving; testing necessarily takes place after driving, so in close cases the Commonwealth often presented expert “relation-back” testimony to establish what the BAC would have been at the time of driving. Appellate courts were then asked to determine whether such testimony is a prerequisite to conviction under Section 3731(a)(4).

¶8 In Commonwealth v. Speights, 353 Pa.Super. 258, 509 A.2d 1263 (1986), appeal denied, 517 Pa. 594, 535 A.2d 83 (1987), the defendant was charged under Section 3731(a)(4), having had a BAC of .12% two hours and forty-five minutes after he drove. This Court concluded the evidence was sufficient to support an (a)(4) conviction without relation-back testimony. In so holding, we emphasized that the legislature has provided a method whereby a defendant may challenge the reliability of BAC test results. See 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547. We further observed:

[Sjubsection 1547(h) of the Vehicle Code allows a defendant to introduce into evidence the results of an additional blood alcohol test performed by a physician of the defendant’s own choosing.

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Bluebook (online)
749 A.2d 513, 2000 Pa. Super. 84, 2000 Pa. Super. LEXIS 294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-murray-pasuperct-2000.