Commonwealth v. Copenhaver
Commonwealth v. Copenhaver
Opinion
Victor Lee Copenhaver (Appellant) appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed after the trial court convicted him of two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and a controlled substance (DUI), 1 possession of a small amount of marijuana, and three summary offenses under the Vehicle Code. Upon review, we affirm.
*959 On August 31, 2015, Adams County Deputy Sheriff Timothy Beall initiated a traffic stop of Appellant's vehicle because it had an expired registration. The trial court provided the following summary:
At trial, Sheriff Deputy Beall testified that after he stopped Appellant's vehicle, he asked Appellant to produce his license, registration, and insurance information. Appellant flailed his hands in the air and stated that he didn't have a license and was suspended. While speaking with Appellant, Sheriff Deputy Beall observed an odor of alcohol and marijuana emanating from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Sheriff Beall noticed that Appellant had blood shot eyes and slurred speech. Sheriff Deputy Beall asked Appellant to exit the vehicle. Appellant complied and stated, "I have a bowl in my pocket." Sheriff Deputy Beall took the smoking device out of Appellant's pocket. In addition, Sheriff Deputy Beall recovered suspected marijuana from the glove box in Appellant's vehicle. Sheriff Deputy Beall advised Appellant that he was going to conduct Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) and then led Appellant to a flat, well-light[ed] area. Appellant showed signs of impairment and stated that he could not complete the SFSTs. For Appellant's safety, Sheriff Deputy Beall concluded the SFSTs. Based on the totality of the circumstances, Sheriff Deputy Beall suspected that Appellant was under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both. Sheriff Deputy Beall took Appellant into custody.
On July 12, 2017, after a bench trial, this Court found Appellant guilty of Driving Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance, as an ungraded misdemeanor (Count 3); Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and a Controlled Substance, as an ungraded misdemeanor (Count 4); Possession of a Small Amount of Marijuana, as an ungraded misdemeanor (Count 5); Registration/Certification of Title, as a summary offense (Count 7); Driving Without a License, as a summary offense (Count 8); and Unauthorized Transfer or Use of Registration, as a summary offense (Count 9). On September 18, 2017, Appellant was sentenced on Count 4 to seventy-two (72) hours to six (6) months partial confinement at the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex. The Sentencing Court sentenced Appellant to pay fines on Counts 5, 7, 8 and 9.
Trial Court Opinion, 11/20/17, at 1-3 (footnotes omitted).
Appellant filed a post-sentence motion, one day late, on September 29, 2017.
See
Pa.R.Crim.P. 720 ("[A] written post-sentence motion shall be filed no later than 10 days after imposition of sentence"). On October 17, 2017, he filed an appeal in this Court at No. 1620 MDA 2017. On February 5, 2018, this Court erroneously quashed the appeal on the basis that Appellant's post-sentence motion was timely and therefore pending before the trial court.
See
Commonwealth v. Dreves
,
*960 Both Appellant and the trial court have complied with Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925.
On appeal, Appellant presents three issues:
1. Do sheriffs and their deputies possess the authority to stop a motorist for an expired registration sticker, a summary violation of the Motor Vehicle Code?
2. Did the Commonwealth possess sufficient evidence to convict [Appellant] of DUI under both 75 Pa.C.S.[A. §] 3802(d)(2) and (d)(3) ?
3. Is the lower court's verdict contrary to the weight of the evidence?
Appellant's Brief at 5.
Appellant first challenges the trial court's denial of his suppression motion. Our standard of review is as follows:
[An appellate court's] standard of review in addressing a challenge to the denial of a suppression motion is limited to determining whether the suppression court's factual findings are supported by the record and whether the legal conclusions drawn from those facts are correct. Because the Commonwealth prevailed before the suppression court, we may consider only the evidence of the Commonwealth and so much of the evidence for the defense as remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Where the suppression court's factual findings are supported by the record, [the appellate court] is bound by [those] findings and may reverse only if the court's legal conclusions are erroneous. Where ... the appeal of the determination of the suppression court turns on allegations of legal error, the suppression court's legal conclusions are not binding on an appellate court, whose duty it is to determine if the suppression court properly applied the law to the facts. Thus, the conclusions of law of the courts below are subject to [ ] plenary review.
Commonwealth v. Mason
,
Appellant claims that "[he] was deprived of his Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 8 guarantees when the trial court failed to suppress evidence that was obtained as the result of an illegal stop and search." Appellant's Brief at 10. Specifically, Appellant asserts that "the deputy sheriff lacked the statutory or common law authority to detain Appellant for an expired registration sticker seen on his vehicle."
"The Fourth Amendment of the Federal Constitution and Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution protect individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures."
Commonwealth v. Walls
,
Although "sheriffs and their deputies are not 'police officers' under the Vehicle Code,"
Marconi
,
This Court, however, has considered whether driving while operating privilege is suspended or revoked, a summary offense under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1543, amounted to "a 'breach of the peace,' as contemplated by our Supreme Court in ...
Leet
...."
Commonwealth v. Lockridge
,
[The defendant's] interpretation of Leet illogically limits the authority of a trained deputy to issuing citations for only those violations of the Vehicle Code that involve behavior or action similar to those actions prohibited under the disorderly conduct provision of the Crimes Code. Were we to interpret Leet as narrowly as [the defendant] suggests, a deputy would be prohibited from enforcing [S]ection 1543(b) of the Vehicle Code, even if violated in his presence, because the operation of a motor vehicle while under suspension does not necessarily involve, 'on any part of the driver, any intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, or recklessly create risks thereof.' 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5503. Such an interpretation of Leet defies logic, and we find [the defendant's] 'breach of the peace' argument devoid of merit.
Id. at 169-70 (citation and footnote omitted).
On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed our decision, but did so on a different basis. The Supreme Court emphasized that "[t]he power to arrest, as
Leet
instructs us, emanates from the common law. The filing of a citation, however, concerns a process that is among those set out in the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure for commencing a summary action."
Lockridge
,
[T]he Superior Court was correct to distinguish Leet and apply the Rules [of Criminal Procedure] to determine whether [the deputy sheriff] had the authority to file the Citation. We also conclude that it was not necessary for the Superior Court to pass upon [the defendant's] contention regarding a breach of the peace as discussed in Leet , for that aspect of Leet's discussion has no relevance to an analysis of law enforcement authority which is premised on the Rules.
Mindful of the foregoing, we turn to the suppression record in this case. There was no testimony at the suppression hearing. Rather, in lieu of testimonial evidence, the parties stipulated to the following facts:
1. On August 31, 2015, Adams County Deputy Sheriff Timothy Beall conducted a vehicle stop of the vehicle operated by [Appellant], Victor Copenhaver;
2. The vehicle stop occurred as a result of the deputy sheriff observing the tailgate to the pickup truck operated by the [Appellant] being in a down position. This caught his attention. He further observed that the registration on the pickup truck was expired, and additionally, the registration number was identified as belonging to a vehicle other than the one on which it was attached;
3. Deputy Sheriff Beall has the equivalent training and qualifications to a Pennsylvania police officer as he has undergone the Act 120 waiver course and is a former Maryland police officer;
4. At the time of the vehicle stop, the deputy sheriff was acting in the capacity as a deputy sheriff in Adams County;
5. The vehicle stop of [Appellant's] vehicle occurred within Adams County jurisdictional limits.
See Pre-Trial Order, 1/15/16, at 1.
Per the stipulated record, Deputy Beall had the same training and qualifications as a police officer in Pennsylvania, as he completed the "Act 120 waiver course" and was previously employed as a Maryland police officer.
In his next two issues, Appellant challenges the sufficiency and weight of the evidence presented at trial.
A claim challenging the sufficiency of the evidence is a question of law. Evidence will be deemed sufficient to support the verdict when it establishes each material element of the crime charged and the commission thereof by the accused, beyond a reasonable doubt. ... When reviewing a sufficiency claim the court is required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner giving the prosecution the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the evidence.
Commonwealth v. Dale
,
With regard to a weight of the evidence claim:
When the challenge to the weight of the evidence is predicated on the credibility of trial testimony, our review of the trial court's decision is extremely limited. Generally, unless the evidence is so unreliable and/or contradictory as to make any verdict based thereon pure conjecture, these types of claims are not cognizable on appellate review. "Moreover, where the trial court has ruled on the weight claim below, an appellate court's role is not to consider the underlying question of whether the verdict is against the weight of the evidence." "Rather, appellate review is limited to whether the trial court palpably abused its discretion in ruling on the weight claim."
Commonwealth v. Gibbs
,
Upon review of Appellant's sufficiency and weight claims, together with the record and prevailing legal authority, we conclude that the Honorable Thomas R. Campbell, sitting as the trial court and finder of fact, has authored a comprehensive opinion addressing these issues. Accordingly, we adopt that portion of Judge Campbell's opinion as our own. See Trial Court Opinion, 11/20/17, at 6-10 (finding credible the Commonwealth's direct and circumstantial evidence that Appellant operated a vehicle with red eyes and slurred speech; that odors of alcohol and marijuana emanated from Appellant's vehicle; that suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia were discovered inside Appellant's vehicle; and Appellant exhibited signs of impairment during the course of standardized field sobriety tests, leading the trial court to conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the "necessary elements of the offenses, and prove beyond a *964 reasonable doubt that Appellant committed the offenses").
In sum, Appellant's claims do not merit relief, and we therefore affirm the judgment of sentence. Because we have partially adopted the trial court's opinion, we direct the parties to include it in any future filings relating to the merits of this appeal.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.
75 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3802(d)(2), (3).
In Marconi , the Supreme Court stated:
It has been suggested, in the Vehicle Code context, that all criminal violations represent breaches of the peace, and, therefore, there is no need to distinguish between sheriffs' peacekeeping powers and Code enforcement activities. This sort of oversimplification, however, does not provide the necessary grounding for a reasoned judicial opinion. First, Vehicle Code enforcement entails more than just arrests for criminal violations, as exemplified by the present case concerning the establishment of checkpoints to conduct suspicionless stops. Second, there are Vehicle Code violations constituting summary offenses which do not readily comport with the conception of a breach of the peace, for example, the failure to employ a seat belt.
Marconi
,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.