Commonwealth v. Sales

173 A.3d 825
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 6, 2017
Docket2057 MDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 173 A.3d 825 (Commonwealth v. Sales) 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. Sales, 173 A.3d 825 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION BY

MOULTON, J.:

Scotty Joe Sales appeals from the November 18, 2016 judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of the 39th Judicial District (Fulton County Branch) following his conviction for driving while. commercial operating privilege is suspended, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1606(c)(l)(ii). For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

On May 16, 2016, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steven R. Morningstar stopped Sales’ tractor trailer on Interstate 70 in Brush Creek Township, Pennsylvania for a speeding violation. At the time, Sales was a Kentucky resident and had a Kentucky commercial driver’s license (“CDL”). Upon accessing Sales’ Kentucky driving record, Trooper Morningstar learned that Sales’ CDL . had been suspended as of March 27, 2016. Trooper Morningstar cited Sales for speeding 1 and for driving while commercial operating privilege is suspended.

On May 26, 2016, a magisterial district judge convicted Sales of speeding and driving while commercial operating privilege is suspended. Sales filed a summary appeal 'with the trial court, which held a de novo hearing on November 18, 2016. The trial court summarized the evidence presented at the hearing as follows:

Trooper Morningstar testified that [on May 16, 2016] he confronted [Sales] about the status of his license;. according to Trooper Morningstar, [Sales’] response was ’ “kind of a head cock, a shoulder shrug.” It appeared to Trooper Morningstar that [Sales] was “indifferent” to the fact that his license was suspended.
Under cross-examination, Trooper Morningstar clarified that [Sales] did not state that he was unaware of the license suspension.[ 2 ] "When asked why his license, was suspended, [Sales] responded with “I don’t know” or “unknown.”
[Sales] took the stand in -his own defense. [Sales] denied any knowledge of his license being suspended at the time he was stopped by Trooper Morningstar. He further denied receiving any letter or information from the [Commonwealth] of Kentucky indicating his license was suspended.

Opinion Sur Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a), 3/9/17, at 3-4 (internal citations omitted) (“1925(a) -Op.”). Further:

The Commonwealth introduced Commonwealth’s Exhibit 1, which consisted of the driving record of [Sales] as reported by the [Commonwealth]- of Kentucky. According -to this record, [Sales’ CDL] was “suspended.” The driving record also establishes that Kentucky, issued a suspension order on March, 27, 2016 for a violation of some type. It further appears that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet issued a previous order of suspension on June 27,2015 for “Failure to Answer Court Summons.”

Id. at 3 (internal citations omitted). At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found Sales guilty of driving while commercial operating privilege is suspended and sentenced him to pay fines and costs in the amount of $1,065. 3

On December 14, 2016, Sales timely appealed to this Court. After Sales filed his Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(b) statement, the trial court issued a Rule 1925(a) opinion. In its opinion, the trial court stated that it had erroneously convicted Sales and concluded that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support the conviction:

In short, there was no evidence presented by the Commonwealth to establish, that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet mailed notice of the suspension to [Sales] by first-class mail, as required by Kentucky law. Further, there was no evidence presented upon which this court could find'[Sales] to have actual notice of the suspension, i.e., no admission by [Sales] that he was aware of the 'suspension or proof of receipt of -notice of the suspension.'
Accordingly, this court is constrained to opine that it erred in finding the Commonwealth’s evidence sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [Sales] had notice of the suspension of his [CDL].

1925(a) Op. at 5 (internal citation omitted).

On appeal, Sales presents one question for our review: “Did the Commonwealth prove [sic] sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that [Sales] had been provided notice that his CDL was suspended so as to convict [Sales] under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1606(c)(l)(ii)?” Sales’ Br. at 6.

Our standard of review of a sufficiency of the evidence claim “is whether, viewing all the evidence admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, there is sufficient evidence to enable the fact finder to find every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Commonwealth v. Heberling, 451 Pa.Super. 119, 678 A.2d 794, 795 (1996). Further:

[W]e may not weigh the evidence and substitute our judgment for that of the fact-finder. In addition, we note that the facts and circumstances established by the Commonwealth need not preclude every possibility of innocence. Any doubts regarding a defendant’s guilt may be resolved by the fact-finder unless the evidence is so weak and inconclusive that as a matter of law no probability of fact may be drawn from the combined circumstances.

Commonwealth v. Vetrini, 734 A.2d 404, 406-07 (Pa.Super. 1999) (quoting Commonwealth v. Cassidy, 447 Pa.Super. 192, 668 A.2d 1143, 1144 (1995)).

The question in this appeal is whether the Commonwealth proved that Sales had notice of the suspension of his Kentucky CDL to support a conviction under section 1606(c)(l)(ii) of the Uniform Commercial Driver’s License Act (“UCDLA”). Our Court addressed the notice requirement under this section in Commonwealth v. Rose, 820 A.2d 164 (Pa.Super. 2003). In that case, Rose was convicted under section 1606(c)(l)(ii) of the UCDLA for driving with a suspended Florida CDL. On appeal, Rose argued that the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had notice that his Florida CDL was suspended. Id. at 168-69.

This Court began by noting that “[t]he issue of whether notice of suspension is required for conviction under [section] 1606-driving while commercial license is suspended, is an issue of first impression before this Court.” Id. at 169.

We have examined [section] 1543 of the Vehicle Code-driving while operating privilege is suspended or revoked to guide our inquiry with respect to [section] 1606 [of the UCDLA]. Pennsylvania case law is well-settled that in order to sustain a conviction under [section] 1543, the Commonwealth must prove that the defendant had actual notice that his license had been suspended or revoked.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
173 A.3d 825, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-sales-pasuperct-2017.