Quinn v. Dep't of Transportation

20 Pa. D. & C.5th 266
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedDecember 15, 2010
Docketno. 0282
StatusPublished

This text of 20 Pa. D. & C.5th 266 (Quinn v. Dep't of Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quinn v. Dep't of Transportation, 20 Pa. D. & C.5th 266 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

BLASI, J.,

Following an official notice of suspension of driving privileges from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Ticensing (“PennDOT”), the petitioner, Daniel Quinn, appealed to this court which held a de novo hearing on August 18,2010. Thereafter, this court entered an order granting petitioner’s appeal of his operating privilege suspension and rescinded the order of PennDOT dated September 8,2009. PennDOT [268]*268filed this timely appeal to the Commonwealth Court.

On appeal, PennDOT complains of the following matters:

1. The trial court erred in sustaining Quinn’s appeal where the department met its burden of proving a valid suspension pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547 based upon his refusal to submit to chemical testing after being arrested by a police officer who had reasonable grounds to believe he violated 75 Pa. C.S. § 3802 and advised of the implied consent law, and where Quinn failed to present a valid defense.
2. The trial court erred in prohibiting the department’s police officer witness from testifying as to statements made to him by a witness who had observed Quinn operating his vehicle and leaving the scene, as such statements are admissible for the purpose of proving the officer’s state of mind in establishing the reasonableness of his belief that Quinn violated § 3802 and was not being offered to prove his truth. Spera v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 817 A.2d 1236 (Pa. Cmwlth.), appeal denied, 841 A.2d 534 (Pa. 2003); Duffy v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 696 A.2d 6 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1997).
3. The department cannot be certain of any other reasoning used by the trial court in reaching its decision and respectfully requests that it be permitted to argue in its appellate brief any other issue that may be raised in the court’s opinion.
The standard of review in a license suspension case [269]*269is to determine whether the factual findings of this court are supported by competent evidence and whether this court committed an error of law or an abuse of discretion. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Boucher, 547 Pa. 440, 691 A.2d 450 (Pa. 1997).

Section 1547 of the vehicle code entitled “chemical testing to determine amount of alcohol or controller substance,” provides in pertinent part:

(a) General Rule. - Any person who drives, operates or is in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle in this commonwealth shall be deemed to have given consent to one or more chemical tests or breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of blood or the presence of a controlled substance if a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person to have been driving, operating or in actual physical control of the movement of a vehicle...(1) in violation of section...3802 (relating to driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance).
(b) Suspension for refusal. — (1) If any person placed under arrest for a violation of section 3802 is requested to submit to chemical testing and refuses to do so, the testing shall not be conducted but upon notice by the police officer, the department shall suspend the operating privilege of the person as follows...for a period of 12 months...(2) It shall be the duty of the police officer to inform the person that: (i) the person’s operating privilege will be suspended upon refusal to [270]*270submit to chemical testing; and...75 Pa. C.S. Section 1547 (a), (b).

It is well established that in order to sustain a suspension of operating privileges the licensee: (1) was arrested for driving under the influence by a police officer who had reasonable grounds to believe that the licensee was operating or was in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; (2) was asked to submit to a chemical test; (3) refused to do so; and (4) was warned that refusal might result in a license suspension. Banner v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 558 Pa. 439, 737 A.2d 1203 (Pa. 1999). This court based its decision on prongs 1, 2 and 3 as listed above.

As was stated previously, PennDOT must as a threshold matter establish that the arresting police officer had reasonable grounds to believe that the petitioner operated or physically controlled the vehicle’s movement while under the influence of alcohol. This court must consider the totality of circumstances and determine as a matter of law whether a person in the position of the arresting officer could have reasonably reached this conclusion. Banner v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 737 A.2d 1203, 1207 (Pa. 1999).

The testimony in the instant case on the issue of reasonable grounds began the with the testimony of Officer Soroka, who was the arresting officer. PennDOT on direct started its questioning as follows:

Q. Okay, I see. And were you on duty Thursday, August 20, 2009?
[271]*271A. That’s correct.
Q. And in the early morning hours of that date, did you have occasion to encounter the petitioner, Mr. Quinn?
A. I did.
Q. And how did you come to encounter Mr. Quinn?
A. I received a radio call for an accident at 2nd and - South 2nd and Fitzgerald Street, at which time, I found vehicles that were damaged, and one of the vehicles that was damaged was blocking Fitzgerald Street out of the running lane of 2nd Street, and I had witnesses tell me that — (N.T. - @ 5-6).

At this point petitioner made an objection stating his reasons that what was to be stated by the officer was hearsay which the court “sustained.” PennDOT argues that what the officer would have testified to was admissible under “state of mind” exception to the hearsay rule.

It has long been held that “questions concerned with the admission or exclusion of evidence are within the sound discretion of the trial court.” Lewis v. Mellor, 393 A.2d 941 (Pa. Super. 1978). Further a court’s evidentiary rulings must be guided by well-established principle in this commonwealth that “nothing is more adamantly established in American trial procedure that no one may testify to what somebody else told him [/her].” Gunter v. Constitution State Service Company, 638 A.2d 233 (Pa. Super. 1994) allocator denied, 652 A.2d 1324 (1994). Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered into evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. [272]*272Heddings v. Steele, 514 Pa. 569,

Related

Heddings v. Steele
526 A.2d 349 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
Banner v. COM., DEPT. OF TRANSP.
737 A.2d 1203 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Lewis v. Mellor
393 A.2d 941 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Spera v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing
817 A.2d 1236 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Gunter v. Constitution State Service Co.
638 A.2d 233 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
COM., DEPT. OF TRANSP. v. Boucher
691 A.2d 450 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
COM., DEPT. OF TRANS. v. Scott
684 A.2d 539 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 Pa. D. & C.5th 266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quinn-v-dept-of-transportation-pactcomplphilad-2010.