Commonwealth v. Rubin

20 Pa. D. & C.5th 417
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County
DecidedJanuary 10, 2011
Docketno. 1019 of 2009, CR
StatusPublished

This text of 20 Pa. D. & C.5th 417 (Commonwealth v. Rubin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lawrence County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Rubin, 20 Pa. D. & C.5th 417 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

HODGE, J.,

the instant matter, the defendant Michael J. Rubin has filed a pre-trial [419]*419omnibus motion for relief in the form of a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The defendant is charged with theft by deception - false impression (18 Pa.C.S. §3922 §§A1); receiving stolen property (18 Pa.C.S. §3925 §§A); and secure execution of documents by deception (18 Pa.C.S. §4114), and contends that there is insufficient evidence as a matter of law to sustain any of the three charges.

A brief summary of the facts indicates that on or about April 20, 2009 Marian Marks reported to the New Castle City Police that she had been receiving overdue bills for a car loan. Ms. Marks told the police that the vehicle was a 2005 Jeep Liberty, which she believed she had co-signed for on behalf of her neighbor Michael J. Rubin. Ms. Marks then provided Sergeant Kevin Seelbaugh of the New Castle Police Department with a copy of the loans, which were later confirmed to be a personal loan in the amount of $8,625.00.

Officer Seelbaugh then went to the residence of the defendant to locate the vehicle and inquire about the loan. The defendant relayed to Officer Seelbaugh that the car dealership had “messed up the paperwork” and that he was suppose to be the primary loan holder with Ms. Marks merely co-signing on his behalf. The defendant further explained that he had not made any payments on the loan because the vehicle needed repair work done, and he was expecting the dealership to fix the problems.

Officer Seelbaugh indicated in the affidavit of probable cause that he provided the defendant with the opportunity to fix the paperwork for the loan and remedy the situation. [420]*420The defendant failed to take any action and charges were filed five months later on September 22, 2009.

A petition for writ of habeas corpus is the proper means for testing a pretrial finding that the commonwealth has sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case. Commonwealth v. Hendricks, 927 A.2d 289, 290-91 (Pa. Super. 2007). A prima facie case requires sufficient efficient to establish both the commission of a crime and that the accused is probably the person responsible for the crime. Commonwealth v. Fountain, 811 A.2d 24, 25 (Pa. Super. 2002). The commonwealth must set forth enough evidence to establish the existence of each element of the crime/s charged, but need not prove the necessary elements beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Marti, 779 A.2d 1177, 1180 (Pa. Super 2001). Moreover, the evidence presented must be viewed in a light most favorable to the commonwealth, and the commonwealth is entitled to all inferences reasonable drawn from the evidence offered. Id.

The offence of theft by deception - false impression is governed by § 3922 of the crimes code. 18 Pa.C.S. §3922 (a) (1) states:

(a) Offense defined.-A person is guilty of theft if he intentionally obtains or withholds property of another by deception.

Deception is defined as intentionally: (1) creating or reinforcing a false impression; (2) preventing “another from acquiring information which would affect his judgment of a transaction”; or (3) failing “to correct a [421]*421false impression which the deceiver previously created or reinforced.” 18 Pa.C.S.A. §3922(a) (1) - (3).

Section 3922 clearly articulates that it is unlawful for a person to intentionally create a false impression in the mind of another and then use the other person’s reliance of that false impression to acquire their property. Commonwealth v. Linder, 425 A.2d 1126, 1129-30 (Pa.Super. 1981). Therefore, the commonwealth must establish both the presence of a false impression created by the defendant and the reliance upon that impression by the victim. Commonwealth v. Imes, 623 A.2d 859, 862 (Pa. Super. 1993). It is therefore necessary for the commonwealth to establish the victim’s state of mind “in order to satisfy the element of‘creating’ or ‘reinforcing’ the false impression.” Id

At the hearing on defendant’s petition for writ of habeas corpus, the defendant stated that the vehicle itself was registered and titled in the defendant’s name. Defense further argued that the property alleged to have been stolen must belong to another person and cannot be the property of the defendant in order for a crime to occur. For the reasons set forth below, this court must disagree.

In Commonwealth v. Pappas, 845 A.2d 829 (Pa. Super. 2004), the defendant owned and operated a car dealership. Defendant was accused of leading his customers to believe that various cars sold were in excellent condition and had not undergone any extensive repairs. Customers relied on the representations made by the defendant, and subsequently purchased vehicles from them. Pappas, 845 [422]*422A.2d at 834-35.

Regarding each car sale, the defendant was accused of making misrepresentations regarding the history and condition of the vehicles sold; it can be reasonably inferred that the defendant legally transferred titled to the vehicles from his dealership to the purchasing customer. At no point throughout the opinion were there any allegations that the defendant physically stole the vehicles from the customers, but rather fraudulently persuaded them into purchasing the vehicles.

In the case of Commonwealth v. Grife, 664 A.2d 116 (Pa. Super. 1996), the defendant secured a mortgage from Shoppers Publication (“Shoppers”), Inc. for his personal home. Id. at 117. Shoppers extended the loan to the defendant after the defendant presented Shoppers with documentation indicating that all prior mortgages had been satisfied. Id. The defendant then took out another mortgage from a second lender on the same residence and falsely conveyed the previous mortgage to the second lender. Id. at 117-18. Unbelievable as it may seem, defendant again took out another mortgage from a third lender and conveyed similar misrepresentations regarding the title to his residence to the third lender. Id. at 118.

The defendant was ultimately convicted of three counts of theft by deception. On appeal, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in its opinion, referred to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals which set forth in following rationale:

One who has extended credit in reliance upon a [423]*423mortgage on real estate which is falsely represented to be a first mortgage when in fact it is subject to a prior recorded mortgage for more than the land is worth, or is a mortgage upon property which the mortgagor does not own, has been defrauded, even if the debtor has an intent to pay the debt. The lender intended to be a secured creditor but by reason of the false representation his position is for all practical purposes that of an unsecured creditor.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Wheeler
189 A.2d 291 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1963)
Baskerville v. State
327 A.2d 918 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1974)
Commonwealth v. Pappas
845 A.2d 829 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Justice
326 A.2d 564 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1974)
Commonwealth v. Marti
779 A.2d 1177 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Commonwealth v. Schreiber
466 A.2d 203 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Linder
425 A.2d 1126 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Commonwealth v. Imes
623 A.2d 859 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Commonwealth v. Belcher
335 A.2d 505 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1975)
Commonwealth v. Shaffer
420 A.2d 722 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Commonwealth v. Fountain
811 A.2d 24 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Grife
664 A.2d 116 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
Commonwealth v. Hendricks
927 A.2d 289 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Houmis
307 A.2d 339 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
20 Pa. D. & C.5th 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-rubin-pactcompllawren-2011.