Com. v. Sitler, R. ( 2015 )

J-A33034-14
2015 Pa. Super. 122
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellant
v.
ROBERT N. SITLER
Appellee No. 3051 EDA 2013
Appeal from the Order of November 1, 2013
In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County
Criminal Division at No.: CP-46-CR-0000389-2013
BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., WECHT, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.*
CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION BY WECHT, J.:FILED MAY 21, 2015
I join the learned Majority in two respects. First, I agree with the
Majority that, because Sitler has not yet pleaded guilty to any crimen falsi
offenses, the issue of whether any evidence pertaining to those particular
offenses would be admissible at Sitler’s homicide by vehicle trial is not yet
ripe for review. See Maj. Op. at 8-9. I also agree with the Majority in
upholding the trial court’s order holding the evidence related to Sitler’s
consumption of three alcoholic beverages approximately three hours before
driving the truck inadmissible. Id. at 13-18. I join those portions of the
Majority’s opinion.
____________________________________________
*
Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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However, I disagree with the Majority’s conclusion that Sitler’s prior
vehicular manslaughter conviction in Alabama was inadmissible at Sitler’s
upcoming trial. In my view, the Commonwealth correctly asserts that
Sitler’s conviction was admissible as a prior bad act pursuant to Pa.R.E.
404(b) to prove Sitler’s knowledge that his conduct could result in the death
of another person for purposes of proving, inter alia, the recklessness
element of homicide by vehicle. See Brief for Commonwealth at 29-30.1
Thus, I respectfully dissent from the portion of the Majority’s opinion holding
otherwise.2
Evidence of prior bad acts is governed by Rule 404(b) of our rules of
evidence.
Evidence of prior bad acts is generally inadmissible to prove
character or to show conduct in conformity with that character.
Pa.R.E. 404(a)(1). Such evidence is, however, admissible when
offered to prove other relevant facts, such as motive,
opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity,
absence of mistake, or res gestae to give context to events
surrounding a crime. While evidence of prior bad acts may be
relevant and admissible, due to the potential for
____________________________________________
1
The Commonwealth also notes in its brief that the prior conviction
would be relevant to demonstrate “lack of accident” under Rule 404(b). See
Brief for Commonwealth at 23. However, the Commonwealth does not
develop this argument. Rather, the Commonwealth focuses the entirety of
its argument upon the knowledge exception to Rule 404’s general
proscription on the admission of prior bad acts. Thus, I will not address the
Commonwealth’s “lack of accident” argument.
2
Because the Majority aptly has summarized the factual and procedural
history of this case, I need not repeat that information here.
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misunderstanding, cautionary instructions are sometimes
required.
Commonwealth v. Reid, 99 A.3d 427, 451 (Pa. 2014) (citations omitted).
“The Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a
defendant has committed the particular crime of which he is accused, and it
may not strip him of the presumption of innocence by proving that he has
committed other criminal acts.” Commonwealth v. Ross, 57 A.3d 85, 98-
99 (Pa. Super. 2012) (en banc) (citations omitted).
As the Majority notes, in Ross, an en banc panel of this Court
acknowledged the possibility that Rule 404(b)(2)’s exceptions could swallow
the general rule. The Ross panel offered the following caution:
The purpose of Rule 404(b)(1) is to prohibit the admission of
prior bad acts to prove “the character of a person in order to
show action in conformity therewith.” Pa.R.E. 404(b)(1). While
Rule 404(b)(1) gives way to recognized exceptions, the
exceptions cannot be stretched in ways that effectively eradicate
the rule. With a modicum of effort, in most cases it is possible
to note some similarities between the accused’s prior bad act
conduct and that alleged in a current case. To preserve the
purpose of Rule 404(b)(1), more must be required to establish
an exception to the rule—namely a close factual nexus sufficient
to demonstrate the connective relevance of the prior bad acts to
the crime in question. . . . [T]his Court has warned the prior bad
acts may not be admitted for the purposes of inviting the jury to
conclude that a defendant is a person “of unsavory character”
and thus inclined to have committed the crimes with which
he/she is charged. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Kjersgaard,
419 A.2d 502, 505 (Pa. Super. 1980).
Ross, 57 A.3d at 105-06 (citation modified). I have considered this
warning. Upon reviewing the issue carefully, I nonetheless conclude that
there exists in this case “a close factual nexus sufficient to demonstrate the
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connective relevance” of Sitler’s prior conviction for vehicular manslaughter
to the principal charge at issue in the present case.
Sitler is charged with, inter alia, homicide by vehicle. A person is
guilty of homicide by vehicle if he “recklessly or with gross negligence
causes the death of another person while engaged in the violation of any law
of this Commonwealth or municipal ordinance applying to the operation or
use of a vehicle . . ., when the violation is the cause of death.” 18 Pa.C.S. §
3732(a). Recklessness, an essential element of homicide by vehicle, is
defined as follows:
A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an
offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and
unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result
from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree
that, considering the nature and intent of the actor’s conduct
and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a
gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable
person would observe in the actor’s situation.
18 Pa.C.S. § 302(b)(3) (emphasis added). Thus, the mens rea of
recklessness implicates knowledge in two ways: (1) the actor must
consciously (i.e., with knowledge) disregard a substantial and unjustifiable
risk; and (2) the risk that the actor disregards is measured by the
circumstances known to the actor. By any reasonable measure, Sitler’s
knowledge that his conduct created a risk that he subsequently disregarded
is central to the Commonwealth’s case against him. Facially, therefore,
Sitler’s prior conviction for vehicular manslaughter would be admissible
pursuant to the knowledge exception codified in Pa.R.E. 404(b)(2).
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However, per Ross, I must ascertain whether a close factual nexus exists
between the two events before determining admissibility with finality.
The Commonwealth alleges that Sitler, driving his pick-up truck,
followed perilously close to the rear bumper of Ms. Qawasmy’s van. When
Ms. Qawasmy activated her turn signal and initiated a right hand turn, Sitler
purportedly revved his engine, sped past Ms. Qawasmy’s van, and struck a
pedestrian, all while driving at least fifteen miles per hour over the speed
limit. The facts of Sitler’s Alabama conviction bear a sufficient resemblance
to those in the case sub judice. In 2006, Sitler pleaded guilty to vehicular
manslaughter, a crime which also requires a demonstration of recklessness.
In that case, Sitler was driving closely behind another vehicle early in the
morning through a dense fog. When the driver in front of Sitler applied his
brakes, Sitler swerved around that driver and hit an oncoming vehicle, killing
a person inside. Sitler pleaded guilty to the crime, including the factual and
legal averment that his actions were reckless and that said recklessness
resulted in the death of another person.
Although the facts of the cases differ in trivial ways, the commonalities
between the two are amply sufficient to create the necessary nexus
rendering the Alabama conviction admissible in the instant case. In both
cases, Sitler was operating a motor vehicle too closely to another vehicle
while travelling at an excessive speed and attempted to pass the other
vehicle when it braked; that combination of factors led to the death of
another person while Sitler attempted the pass. Because of these
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similarities, I would hold that the Alabama conviction is admissible to
demonstrate that Sitler knew that his hazardous driving created a
substantial risk that the death of another may result therefrom. The
conviction is also relevant to prove not only that Sitler knew of the risk, but
also that he consciously disregarded it.
Finally, even though facially admissible, the probative value of prior
bad acts evidence must still outweigh its “potential for unfair prejudice.”
Pa.R.E. 404(b)(2). There is inherent prejudice any time a prior bad act such
as a criminal conviction is introduced against a criminal defendant. That is
why we have been, and should be, very cautious in our evaluation of these
claims, and also why the en banc panel issued the warning excerpted from
Ross above. However, recklessness is a component central to a homicide
by vehicle prosecution, and knowledge is essential to that proof. As such,
the prior conviction in this case has significant probative value. The
probative value would outweigh any potential prejudice that might inhere
from the introduction of the prior crime, particularly if the crime is
introduced to the jury along with a cautionary instruction by the trial court.
See Russell, 938 A.2d at 1092 (holding that admission of prior juvenile
adjudication to prove arsonist’s knowledge of accelerants was not unfairly
prejudicial because, inter alia, the evidence was accompanied by a curative
instruction.).
For all practical purposes, the Majority’s conclusion that the evidence
was inadmissible rests exclusively upon its premise that everyone who
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drives knows that driving recklessly creates risk to other drivers and
pedestrians. See Maj. Op. at 12, 13. However, the inquiry is not so simple.
As set forth above, proof of knowledge plays a vital role in the
Commonwealth’s burden of proof for a homicide by vehicle prosecution. The
Majority ignores this role in toto, apparently believing that, because every
driver knows that driving recklessly creates risk, no other evidence of
knowledge has any probative value. I simply cannot ignore the probative
value that Sitler’s prior conviction has in a case such as this, as the Majority
would.
In my view, the trial court abused its discretion by granting Sitler’s
motion in limine. For the preceding reasons, I would hold that Sitler’s prior
conviction is admissible pursuant to Pa.R.E. 404(b)(2). Because the Majority
concludes otherwise, I respectfully dissent.
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