In Re TEH

928 A.2d 318
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 28, 2007
StatusPublished

This text of 928 A.2d 318 (In Re TEH) 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
In Re TEH, 928 A.2d 318 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

928 A.2d 318 (2007)

In the Interest of T.E.H., a Minor.
Appeal of T.E.H.
In the Interest of A.M., a Minor.
Appeal of A.M.
In the Interest of M.M.B., a Minor.
Appeal of M.M.B. a Minor, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted August 14, 2006.
Filed June 28, 2007.

*319 Jennifer L. LaBelle, York, for appellants.

Peter M. Vaughn, Asst. Dist. Atty., York, for Com., appellee.

BEFORE: JOYCE, PANELLA and COLVILLE[*], JJ.

OPINION BY PANELLA, J.:

¶ 1 Appellants, T.E.H., A.M., and M.M.B. (collectively, "the juveniles"), challenge the validity of the DNA Act, 44 PA. CONS.STAT. ANN. § 2316, in this consolidated appeal from the orders entered on January 12, 2006, by the Honorable John C. Uhler, Court of Common Pleas of York County. After careful review, we affirm with respect to T.E.H., and reverse with respect to A.M. and M.M.B.

¶ 2 T.E.H. was adjudicated delinquent on September 19, 2003, on charges of carrying an unlicensed firearm,[1] and possession of a firearm by a minor.[2] Subsequently, the trial court entered a disposition order placing T.E.H. on formal probation, from which T.E.H. was discharged on March 14, 2005. Thereafter, on October 18, 2005, T.E.H. was adjudicated *320 delinquent on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle,[3] recklessly endangering another person,[4] fleeing and eluding,[5] and possession of a small amount of marijuana.[6] Pursuant to these adjudications, the trial court entered a disposition order placing T.E.H. in a residential treatment program. The trial court ordered DNA sampling pursuant to the DNA Act due to the September 19, 2003 felony adjudications.

¶ 3 A.M. was adjudicated delinquent on April 19, 2004, on charges of possession of a small amount of marijuana,[7] simple assault,[8] and retaliation against a witness.[9] Pursuant to these adjudications, the trial court entered a disposition order placing A.M. on formal probation, from which he was discharged on January 25, 2005.

¶ 4 Thereafter, on June 6, 2005, A.M. was adjudicated delinquent on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia,[10] operation of a motor vehicle without insurance,[11] and operation of an uninspected motor vehicle.[12] Pursuant to these adjudications, the trial court entered a disposition order placing A.M. on formal probation, as well as ordering DNA sampling pursuant to the DNA Act.

¶ 5 M.M.B. was adjudicated delinquent on April 29, 2003 on charges of carrying an unlicensed firearm,[13] and possession of a firearm by a minor.[14] Pursuant to these adjudications, the trial court entered a disposition order placing M.M.B. on formal probation, from which M.M.B. was discharged on August 23, 2004.

¶ 6 Thereafter, on March 18, 2005, M.M.B. was adjudicated delinquent on charges of false identification to law enforcement.[15] Pursuant to this adjudication, M.M.B. was placed on formal probation. Thereafter, on June 27, 2005, the trial court held a hearing on charges that M.M.B. had violated the conditions of his probation. At the conclusion of this hearing, the trial court ordered that M.M.B. submit to DNA sampling pursuant to the DNA Act.

¶ 7 All three juveniles filed timely motions to quash the DNA sampling. Subsequently, the trial court, on January 12, 2006, entered an order denying the motion to quash. Each juvenile filed a timely appeal. These appeals were consolidated, sua sponte, by this Court on March 13, 2006.

¶ 8 On appeal, the juveniles raise numerous issues which challenge the applicability and constitutionality of the DNA Act. Appellants' Brief, at 4.

¶ 9 The juveniles' first argument is that the trial court's application of the DNA Act retroactively appended a condition on dispositions that had already been fully served. In the cases of A.M. and M.M.B., each juvenile had been successfully discharged from their respective disposition of formal probation pursuant to felony *321 adjudications prior to January 31, 2005, the effective date of the most recent amendment of the DNA Act. In contrast, T.E.H. was still subject to the dispositional order entered pursuant to his felony adjudication on January 31, 2005. In each case, the trial court only ordered the DNA sampling pursuant to subsequent misdemeanor and summary offenses.

¶ 10 In their reply brief, the Appellants contend that our recent decision in Commonwealth v. Bingaman, 895 A.2d 622 (Pa.Super.2006), appeal denied, 588 Pa. 768, 905 A.2d 499 (2006), "clearly establishes that Appellants in the instant mater are not subject to the requirements of the DNA Act, and consequently, the trial court erred in directing them to submit DNA samples." Appellants' Reply Brief, at 3.

¶ 11 The Commonwealth, in its sur reply brief, concedes that M.M.B. is "probably not subject to the [DNA] Act" pursuant to this Court's intervening decisions in Commonwealth v. Derk, 895 A.2d 622 (Pa.Super.2006), appeal denied, 589 Pa. 718, 907 A.2d 1101 (2006), and its companion case, Commonwealth v. Bingaman. Appellee's Sur Reply Brief, at 4. However, the Commonwealth argues that, pursuant to Derk, the trial court's action in ordering T.E.H. to submit to DNA testing was proper. Finally, the Commonwealth argues that, while technically in violation of the holding in Derk, the trial court's action in ordering A.M. to submit to DNA testing should be affirmed on grounds of public policy.

¶ 12 In Derk and Bingaman, this Court was presented with consolidated appeals from sentences imposed pursuant to shoplifting convictions predicated on conduct prior to the effective date of the most recent amendments to the DNA Act. The first defendant, Derk, had pled guilty to a felony shoplifting charge on March 19, 2005, and had been immediately sentenced to five years probation. The second defendant, Bingaman, had pled guilty to two misdemeanor shoplifting charges on January 6, 2005, and had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of five days to twenty-three months. Bingaman, however, had a prior record of a felony conviction dating seven years from before the effective date of the new DNA Act, i.e., January 31, 2005. In each case, the trial court ordered the defendant to submit to DNA sampling pursuant to the DNA Act.

¶ 13 On appeal, both defendants argued that the trial court's action in ordering DNA sampling constituted an ex post facto violation. The Derk panel found that DNA sampling pursuant to the DNA Act was not punitive either in intent or in effect. Derk, 895 A.2d at 630. Since Derk had pled guilty to a felony and was therefore subject to the dictates of the DNA Act, the Derk panel affirmed her judgment of sentence. Id.

¶ 14 In contrast, the panel noted that Bingaman had pled guilty only to misdemeanor charges which are not predicate offenses under the DNA Act. Id., at 631. Furthermore, Bingaman was not under supervision for his prior felony conviction at the time of the effective date of the DNA ACT, but had only been imprisoned because he was unable to post bail on the two current misdemeanor charges. Id., at 632. In vacating Bingaman's judgment of sentence in part, the Derk panel noted that

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In the Interest of T.E.H.
928 A.2d 318 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
928 A.2d 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-teh-pasuperct-2007.