Commonwealth v. Odle

16 Pa. D. & C.3d 750, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 238
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cambria County
DecidedOctober 29, 1980
Docketno. 0415-80
StatusPublished

This text of 16 Pa. D. & C.3d 750 (Commonwealth v. Odle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cambria County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Odle, 16 Pa. D. & C.3d 750, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 238 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1980).

Opinion

RUFE, J.,

Marvin D. Odie, hereinafter defendant, operator of a certain 1974 GMC tractor with a Fruehauf trailer, was travelling west on U.S. Route 422 on Wednesday, April 9, 1980. At a point approximately four miles west of Ebensburg, Blacklick Township, Cambria County, the spare tire located under the trailer became dis[751]*751lodged and struck a pedestrian who was walking along the berm. The impact resulted in the death of the pedestrian, Paul Scansaroli.

The investigating officer, Corporal Richard K. Hassinger of the Pennsylvania State Police, interviewed defendant and other witnesses prior to filing Accident Report no. A2-206885. The officer, who was in uniform at the scene, did not issue a citation at the scene.

On April 18, 1980, nine days after the incident, Corporal Hassinger filed Citation no. M-420245 in the office of District Magistrate Francis P. Brosius. The citation alleged that defendant had violated section 4522(a) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S.A. §4522(a), in that defendant had operated his vehicle in contravention of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation 392.9, (3), 49 C.F.R. §392.9, i.e., failure to securely fasten spare tire so as to prevent its falling off the trailer rack. Section 4522 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S.A. §4522, a summary offense, provides that:

“(a) General Rule. — No person shall drive a vehicle on any highway in violation of any provision of a Federal Statute or regulation relating to any type of equipment or documents used in the vehicle while engaged in interstate commerce.
“(b) Penalty. — Any person violating this section is guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $100.”

A summons was issued on April 18, 1980 by Magistrate Brosius and forwarded to defendant by certified mail. A plea of not guilty was entered and a hearing held on May 17, 1980. Defendant, who was not represented by counsel, was found guilty of violating 75 Pa.C.S.A. §4522(a).

[752]*752An appeal was entered on June 4, 1980 in the Court of Common Pleas of Cambria County. An omnibus pretrial motion for relief was filed on or about July 24, 1980, and it is upon this motion that this court will rule.

Three major issues have been raised by the parties to this prosecution. Primary among these is whether or not the citation was properly issued and, if not, whether the summary conviction based thereupon should be quashed.

Defendant has argued that the failure of the investigating officer to strictly comply with the provisions of Pa.R.Crim.P. 51(A)(1)(a) warrants the quashing of the citation. In arguing, defendant cites Com. v. Jonnet, 265 Pa. Superior Ct. 315, 401 A. 2d 1228 (1979), as being controlling. That case stands for the principle that strict, rather than substantial, compliance with the letter of Rule 51 must be demonstrated. That rule, however, must be examined in toto rather than piecemeal.

Pa.R.Crim.P. 51(A)(1)(b) authorizes the delayed filing of a citation when it is not feasible to issue one to the defendant at the scene. Here, the investigating officer testified that while it was possible for him to have cited defendant for violation of 75 Pa.C.S.A. §4522(a), he would have been unable to specify which Federal regulation or statute had been breached. By delaying issuance of the citation until such time as the officer could determine the exact segment of the Federal motor carrier safety act as was pertinent, the officer did not prejudice defendant and, in fact, made it easier for him to prepare his defense. Thus, the conduct of the officer was not unreasonable under the circumstances and the motion to quash will be denied.

Now this court is faced with the thornier issue of [753]*753whether or not section 4522 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S.A. §4522, is unconstitutional. Defendant has raised numerous theories which could cause this statute to topple. We shall address each of these in its turn.

Initially, defendant urges that by adopting section 4522, the legislature of the Commonwealth has impermissibly delegated its lawmaking duties to the Federal Government. While not looked upon favorably by the courts, delegation has been found to be permissible in certain instances. As early as the mid-1800’s the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was called upon to make a determination of the viability of a delegation. In Locke’s Appeal, 72 Pa. 491 (1873), the court held that: “The legislature cannot delegate its power to make a law; but it can make a law to delegate a power to determine some fact or state of things upon which the law makes, or intends to make, its own action depend.” In essence, the court was saying that deference to another body’s enactments should be for definitional purposes rather than for the mere expediency of not having to draft and enact one’s own statutes or regulations.

This interpretation of the holding was affirmed more recently in East Suburban Press, Inc. v. Twp. of Penn Hills, 40 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 438, 397 A. 2d 1263 (1979). There the court ascertained that a delegation for the purpose of status-finding is allowable even in the absence of specific guidelines for the delegatee. However, when such a delegation is for rule-making purposes, the delegatee must be bounded by explicit standards.

In the instant case such a delegation would not be permissible as the Congress and Federal agencies would not be bound by any guidelines promulgated [754]*754by the state. Thus, the attempted delegation of rule-making authority proposed by section 4522 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S.A. §4522, would fall.

Two other cases which permitted incorporation of Federal pronouncements are distinguishable. In Com. v. Alderman, 275 Pa. 483, 119 Atl. 551 (1923), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the adoption of the Federal definition of “intoxicating liquors” was not a delegation but an acknowledgement of the inevitable. Since the Eighteenth Amendment was the law of the land, the state’s interpretation would be inoperative if it conflicted with the Federal law.

In the case before us, however, there is no succumbing to the inevitable in that the Federal regulations are not intended to preempt the field: 49 C.F.R. §390.30. Further, in Alderman, the legislature had specifically incorporated the definition of intoxicating liquors while here there is not even a reference to which Federal regulations are to be included within the scope of section 4522.

Amidon v. Kane, 2 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 367 (1971), presented a case in which the state legislature had adopted the definition of taxable income as set forth in the Internal Revenue Code. In holding such an adoption to be constitutional, the court implied that such was permissible only so long as the state acted affirmatively in the future to adopt any changes enacted. The state could not sit passively by and allow Congress to legislate for it.

A contrary situation exists here in that the state has given Congress and the Federal agencies carte blanche. It has retained no power to adopt or amend the regulations enacted, Com. v. Tarabilda, 222 Pa. Superior Ct. 237, 294 A. 2d 830 (1972), nor to delete any future enactments: Com. v. Warner Bros. [755]*755Theatres, Inc., 345 Pa.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Jonnet
401 A.2d 1228 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Commonwealth v. Tarabilda
294 A.2d 830 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)
Commonwealth v. Warner Bros. Theatres, Inc.
27 A.2d 62 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1942)
Commonwealth ex rel. McClain v. Locke
72 Pa. 491 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1873)
Commonwealth v. Alderman
119 A. 551 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1923)
Holgate Bros. v. Bashore
200 A. 672 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1938)
Amidon v. Kane
279 A.2d 53 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
East Suburban Press, Inc. v. Township of Penn Hills
397 A.2d 1263 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 Pa. D. & C.3d 750, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-odle-pactcomplcambri-1980.