Commonwealth v. Quinn

45 Pa. D. & C.5th 130
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedJanuary 2, 2015
DocketNo. CR-3417-2014
StatusPublished

This text of 45 Pa. D. & C.5th 130 (Commonwealth v. Quinn) 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. Quinn, 45 Pa. D. & C.5th 130 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

Opinion

STEINBERG, J.,

The defendant, Courtney Quinn, is charged with Homicide by Vehicle,1 Involuntary Manslaughter,2 Recklessly Endangering Another Person3 (2 counts), and various traffic violations. It is alleged that on April 12, 2014, the defendant, while driving northbound in her 2011 Hyundai Elantra on State Route 145, fell asleep and crossed over into the southbound lane of traffic. Her actions caused a head-on collision with a Volkswagen Jetta operated by Jennifer Ebert. Ms. Ebert [132]*132and her granddaughter, P.E., suffered serious injuries as a result of the collision, and Ms. Ebert succumbed to her injuries.

On October 17,2014, counsel for the defendant filed an “omnibus pretrial motion” seeking to suppress statements made by the defendant to both Pennsylvania State Police and Emergency Medical Personnel. During the hearings on these motions, which were held on October 28, 2014 and November 18, 2014, the Commonwealth presented the testimony of Christopher Fegley and Stephen Hall, paramedics with Cetronia Ambulance Corps., and Trooper Ryan Seiple and Trooper Jason Myers of the Pennsylvania State Police. Additionally, the Commonwealth introduced into evidence the waiver of rights and consent to search form signed by the defendant.4

The evidence revealed that on April 12,2014, Paramedic Fegley was dispatched to a vehicle crash on State Route 145 at approximately 8:30 a.m., and upon his arrival, observed the defendant in her vehicle with heavy damage to the driver’s side. The defendant, who was trapped in the car, was administered 100 micrograms of Fentanyl to relieve her pain and anxiety. Following her extraction from her vehicle, she was placed in an ambulance, and transported to Lehigh Valley Hospital. While doing so, Paramedics Fegley and Hall, in the performance of their duties, asked the defendant some biographical information regarding her name, address, and date of birth, which she answered appropriately. She was also asked questions to [133]*133determine her mental status in order to establish the nature of her illness or mechanism of injury. In that regard, Paramedic Fegley asked the defendant “what happened.” She responded that she worked late and “believes she may have fallen asleep while driving.” The defendant was given a second dose of Fentanyl in the ambulance for her pain.

Trooper Seiple also reported to the scene of the incident and briefly spoke to the defendant, who relayed that she did not recall what happened. Later that afternoon, he attempted to speak to the defendant at the hospital where her family members, including her step-father, were present, but she could not recall the events leading up to the collision. The defendant did, however, confirm her step-father’s explanation of her employment details prior to getting behind the wheel of her car.

On April 12, 2014, Trooper Myers was dispatched to Lehigh Valley Hospital to interview the defendant. Upon introducing himself, the defendant fell asleep, but awoke shortly thereafter. She then told him that she “had not slept in a while” and explained in more detail both her employment and school schedule. Following the interview, which lasted less than ninety minutes, Trooper Myers requested consent to search the defendant’s cell phone. The “waiver of rights and consent to search” form was read to her “verbatim” by Trooper Myers, after which the defendant acknowledged that she understood it, and then signed it.

During the interview, the defendant remembered very [134]*134little, if anything, about the collision. She also fell asleep several times and complained of pain while Trooper Myers was present. Trooper Myers inquired about her condition, and was told by a nurse that the defendant would be okay. He departed the hospital without arresting the defendant, and did not do so until June 23, 2014.

On April 29, 2014, after the defendant was released from Lehigh Valley Hospital, Trooper Seiple spoke with her by phone. The defendant was unable to provide any details regarding the collision.

Discussion

The defendant seeks to suppress the statements she made to the paramedics who responded to the collision to assist the injured, and the Pennsylvania State Police who interviewed her both at the scene of the collision, and later at the hospital. She contends that her statements should be suppressed because: (1) she was not advised of her Miranda warnings prior to her statements; and (2) her statements were involuntary because of her physical and mental condition caused by the collision. It is also alleged that she was unable to voluntarily consent to a search of her cell phone for the same reasons.

A. Statements To Paramedics

Miranda warnings are only required in a custodial interrogation. Commonwealth v. Housman, 986 A.2d 822, 839 (Pa. 2009). Custodial interrogation has been defined as “questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise [135]*135deprived of [] [her] freedom of action in any significant way.” Commonwealth v. Mannion, 725 A.2d 196, 200 (Pa. Super. 1999); see also Commonwealth v. Garvin, 50 A.3d 694, 698 (Pa. Super. 2012); Commonwealth v. Gonzalez, 979 A.2d 879, 887-888 (Pa. Super. 2009) quoting Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444 (1996). The United States Supreme Court has stated the “ultimate inquiry is...whether there [was] a ‘formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement’ of the degree associated with a formal arrest.” Commonwealth v. Boczkowski, 846 A.2d 75, 90 (Pa. 2004) quoting Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318, 322 (1994).

Here, the defendant was neither in custody nor was she subject to interrogation when she told the paramedics that she may have fallen asleep while behind the wheel of her vehicle. She was being treated, not interrogated, and the paramedics’ inquiries were not at the behest of law enforcement. Neither of the paramedics possessed the status of law enforcement for purposes of custodial interrogation. Their presence at the site of the collision was not to further a criminal investigation.

“The determination of whether statements were elicited at a custodial interrogation must be made in light of the totality of [the] circumstances involved, and the status of the questioner is only one of the relevant circumstances.” Commonwealth v. Heggins, 809 A.2d 908, 915 (Pa. Super. 2002)(collecting cases) quoting Commonwealth v. McGrath, 470 A.2d 487, 493 (Pa. 1983)(counselors at juvenile placement facility were providing treatment and were not the equivalent of law enforcement, and so Miranda [136]*136did not apply.). See also People v. Jones,

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Stansbury v. California
511 U.S. 318 (Supreme Court, 1994)
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132 S. Ct. 1181 (Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Newcomb
679 S.E.2d 675 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2009)
Commonwealth v. McGrath
470 A.2d 487 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1984)
Commonwealth v. Fento
526 A.2d 784 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Commonwealth v. Perry
379 A.2d 545 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
Commonwealth v. Chacko
459 A.2d 311 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Mannion
725 A.2d 196 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Hunt
398 A.2d 690 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Commonwealth v. Grimes
648 A.2d 538 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Commonwealth v. Gonzalez
979 A.2d 879 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. McQuaid
417 A.2d 1210 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Commonwealth v. Heggins
809 A.2d 908 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Smith
555 A.2d 185 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1989)
Commonwealth v. Housman
986 A.2d 822 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2009)
Commonwealth v. Perez
845 A.2d 779 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Johnson
727 A.2d 1089 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Perry
710 A.2d 1183 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Kemp
961 A.2d 1247 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
45 Pa. D. & C.5th 130, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-quinn-pactcompllehigh-2015.