In the Interest of: P.S., a Minor, Appeal of: P.S. , 2017 Pa. Super. 70 ( 2017 )


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  • J-A01018-17
    
    2017 Pa. Super. 70
    IN THE INTEREST OF: P.S., A MINOR                 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
    PENNSYLVANIA
    APPEAL OF P.S., A MINOR
    No. 577 WDA 2016
    Appeal from the Orders of March 28, 2016 and April 11, 2016
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
    Juvenile Division at No(s): CP-02-JV-000183-2015,
    CP-02-JV-0001963-2015, FID 02-FN-034554-2010 and SID 429-53-30-0
    BEFORE: BOWES, OLSON and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.
    OPINION BY OLSON, J.:                                 FILED MARCH 17, 2017
    Appellant, P.S., a juvenile, appeals from the order entered on March
    28, 2016 adjudicating him delinquent of three offenses1 without further
    disposition, as well as a subsequent dispositional order, following the
    revocation of his probation, entered on April 11, 2016.           Upon careful
    consideration, we affirm Appellant’s adjudications for receiving stolen
    property and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, but vacate his
    adjudication for flight to avoid apprehension.        Further, we affirm the
    dispositional order entered on April 11, 2016.
    The trial court summarized the facts of this case as follows:
    Officer Steven Kester[,] a police officer with the North
    Braddock Police Department[,] stated that on Sunday,
    January 17, 2016 at approximately [8:10 p.m.], he and a
    ____________________________________________
    1
    The trial court adjudicated Appellant delinquent of receiving stolen
    property, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3925, flight to avoid apprehension, 18 Pa.C.S.A.
    § 5126, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, 75 Pa.C.S.A.
    § 3733.
    *Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
    J-A01018-17
    fellow officer were on patrol when they came into contact
    with a Jeep SUV. According to Officer Kester, he ran the
    license plate number of the Jeep SUV because moments
    before, he had learned from the East Pittsburgh Police
    Department that a Jeep SUV had been reported stolen.
    Upon confirmation that the license plate on the vehicle
    matched that of the Jeep SUV that was reported stolen,
    Officer Kester testified that they activated their lights and
    siren on the police vehicle and attempted to stop the Jeep
    SUV. Officer Kester testified that instead of stopping, the
    Jeep SUV ‘took off, went down a couple [of] streets, turned
    down a back alley along the train tracks, lost control on a
    dirt road and smashed into a tree.’ Officer Kester added
    that once the vehicle took off, it traveled at a rate above
    the speed limit for approximately one-half mile before the
    driver lost control of the Jeep SUV on an icy, dirt road,
    which caused the vehicle to slide sideways and impact a
    tree head-on. The collision with the tree then caused the
    Jeep SUV to be knocked down onto the railroad tracks.
    Officer Kester testified that when the Jeep SUV crashed, the
    police car was approximately twenty feet behind the Jeep
    forcing them to slam on their brakes.
    Once the vehicle stopped, Officer Kester was able to
    determine the number of occupants in the Jeep SUV vehicle
    because both the headlights of the police vehicle and the
    ‘overhead take down lights’ were extremely bright and
    illuminated the interior of the Jeep SUV. Officer Kester saw
    three occupants ‘bail’ out of the Jeep SUV from the
    passenger side of the vehicle and flee the scene. Officer
    Kester stated he was pretty sure that the individual behind
    the steering wheel was wearing a puffy, blue coat. This
    person was also the last one to exit the vehicle. The other
    two occupants were wearing black hoodies.
    Officer Kester pursued the person wearing the blue jacket.
    He followed him down a hill, at times tripping and falling.
    Officer Kester stated that during the foot chase, the person
    in the blue jacket was never more than twenty to thirty feet
    ahead of him.
    Once they reached Corey Street, Officer Kester stated he
    began yelling ‘Taser’ as he was running close behind the
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    individual. Shortly afterwards, the individual ‘put his hands
    up and turned around.’ He then surrendered himself to the
    officer.   This person was later determined to be P.S.,
    [Appellant] in this case.
    In court, Officer Kester testified that Appellant was ‘wearing
    basically the same thing’ in court that day that he was
    wearing the night of his arrest: a blue jacket similar to the
    one hanging from [A]ppellant’s chair and a headband he
    observed [A]ppellant wearing in the hallway. Officer Kester
    identified [Appellant] as the person who ‘was driving the car
    that night.’
    Continuing in his testimony, Officer Kester explained that
    [A]ppellant told him that he had been at a friend’s home
    earlier that evening, that the friend had called a ‘jitney’ for
    him, and that this jitney was the same vehicle in which he
    was riding when the police pulled up behind them.
    Appellant also denied knowing the other two passengers in
    the vehicle.
    The Commonwealth called [R.C.2] as its second witness.
    [R.C.] testified that she had been the owner of a green,
    2003 Jeep Liberty that was stolen from her residence
    located in the Regent Square neighborhood of the City of
    Pittsburgh. While [R.C.] could not remember the exact date
    her 2003 Jeep was stolen, [R.C.] testified it was taken on a
    Friday because when she went out on Saturday morning to
    use the vehicle, her car was missing. The police were called
    and a report was made. [R.C.] testified that she was
    notified on Monday or Tuesday by the police that her vehicle
    had been found abandoned and damaged in North
    Braddock. She testified that she had not left the keys in her
    vehicle, that she did not know Appellant and that she had
    not given him permission to operate or drive her vehicle.
    The Commonwealth rested its case after the conclusion of
    the testimony of [R.C.]. Appellant presented no witnesses.
    Trial Court Opinion, 7/12/2016, at 5–8 (record citations omitted).
    ____________________________________________
    2
    We use the victim’s initials to protect her identity.
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    Procedurally, the case progressed as follows.    On January 25, 2016,
    the Commonwealth filed a delinquency petition against Appellant charging
    him with the aforementioned charges, as well as possession of a controlled
    substance,3 a charge the Commonwealth eventually withdrew.           Because
    Appellant was on probation as the result of a prior adjudication of
    delinquency for retail theft, the trial court scheduled a joint hearing on
    February 22, 2016, to address the alleged probation violations and the new
    offenses.     The trial court, however, continued the hearing because the
    alleged victim was unavailable.
    On March 28, 2016, the trial court found Appellant delinquent of the
    aforementioned charges.           The trial court, however, did not impose a
    disposition on the new adjudications. Instead, it entered an order on March
    28, 2016 stating, “[Appellant] is ADJUDICATED DELINQUENT and no further
    disposition is ordered because [Appellant] is currently under the court’s
    supervision” on his previous adjudication for retail theft. Order, 5/28/2016,
    at 1. Immediately after the adjudication hearing, the trial court proceeded
    to a review hearing on the alleged probation violations. The trial court found
    that Appellant was not meeting the terms and conditions of his probation
    and that probation was no longer appropriate. Accordingly, the trial court
    revoked Appellant’s probation on the underlying retail theft adjudication and
    ____________________________________________
    3
    35 P.S. § 780–113(a)(16).
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    ordered that Appellant be committed to the Penn Hills Community Intensive
    Supervision Program (CISP). When the trial court ordered the commitment
    to CISP, Appellant became agitated.       Thus, the trial court continued the
    dispositional hearing on the probation violation until the following day to
    reconsider whether CISP was an appropriate placement for Appellant and to
    explain his post-dispositional rights. On March 29, 2016, the trial court
    deferred further disposition on the probation violation until April 11, 2016.
    On April 11, 2016, the trial court entered a probation violation dispositional
    order, directing placement with the Outside-In Residential Program.         On
    April 22, 2016, Appellant filed a single notice of appeal from the March 28,
    2016 order adjudicating him delinquent and imposing no further disposition
    on the new delinquency adjudications. Appellant’s April 22, 2016 notice also
    appealed from the dispositional order entered on April 11, 2016 for violating
    the terms of probation following the prior adjudication for retail theft.
    Before we turn to the merits of this case, we must address several
    procedural irregularities. Initially, we note that the trial court recommends
    in its Rule 1925(a) opinion that “because the [A]ppellant has not filed an
    appeal as to the April 11, 2016 order entered, that his appeal should be
    quashed for failing to timely file his appeal.” Trial Court Opinion, 7/12/2016,
    at 4. However, upon review of the record, Appellant filed a single notice of
    appeal captioned with the docket numbers from both the underlying retail
    theft adjudication and new adjudications, purporting to appeal “from the
    March 28, 2016, March 29, 2016, and April 11, 2016 dispositional orders.”
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    Notice of Appeal, 4/22/2016.    Thus, we reject the trial court’s suggestion
    that we quash the appeal for failing to file a notice of appeal from the April
    11, 2016 order.
    We recognize however, that “[w]here [] one or more orders resolves
    issues arising on more than one docket or relating to more than one
    judgment, separate notices of appeal must be filed.” Note to Pa.R.A.P. 341,
    citing Commonwealth v. C.M.K., 
    932 A.2d 111
    , 113             n.3 (Pa. Super.
    2007). In C.M.K., this Court quashed a single appeal from two judgments of
    sentence imposed on codefendants who were convicted and sentenced
    individually on different charges. 
    C.M.K., 932 A.2d at 112
    . We noted that
    the filing of the joint appeal in that instance was unworkable because the
    appeals required individualized arguments, separate appellate analyses of
    the evidence, and distinct examination of the different sentences imposed.
    
    Id. This case
    is distinguishable from C.M.K.
    While our Supreme Court recognized that the practice of appealing
    multiple orders in a single appeal is discouraged under Pa.R.A.P. 512 (joint
    appeals), it previously determined that “appellate courts have not generally
    quashed [such] appeals, provided that the issues involved are nearly
    identical, no objection to the appeal has been raised, and the period for
    appeal has expired.” K.H. v. J.R., 
    826 A.2d 863
    , 870 (Pa. 2003) (citation
    omitted).   Here, Appellant presents intertwined issues related to his new
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    adjudications and revocation disposition, the Commonwealth has not
    objected,4 and the appeal period has expired. Hence, we decline to quash
    the appeals because Appellant filed a single appeal from the two orders at
    issue.
    Finally, we must address whether we have jurisdiction to hear
    Appellant’s appeal as it pertains to the March 28, 2016 order imposing no
    further disposition on the new delinquency adjudications. More specifically,
    we must determine whether that order constitutes a final order. Appellant
    addresses this subject in his first issue presented on appeal, wherein he
    avers:
    1. Should Appellant’s appeal be permitted to proceed as is,
    inasmuch as (A) with respect to his appeal from the
    delinquency-without-disposition judgment order that was
    entered in CP-02-JV-0000183-2016, that order was the
    juvenile equivalent of a judgment of conviction without
    further punishment in an adult case, and was thus an
    appealable final order; and, furthermore (B) with respect
    to his error in taking a single appeal from the March 28,
    2016 delinquency-without-disposition judgment order
    entered in CP-02-JV-0000183-2016 and from the
    resultant April 11, 2016 probation violation disposition
    order that was entered (by the same judge) in CP-02-JV-
    0001963-2015, that error should be excused since it did
    not deprive this Court of jurisdiction, since the
    Commonwealth has indicated that it does not object to
    the taking of a single appeal rather than of two separate
    appeals, and since the error was de minimus given the
    ____________________________________________
    4
    See Commonwealth’s Brief, at 15 n.7 (“The Commonwealth does not
    believe that the instant appeal should be defeated simply because of this
    procedural error on [] [A]ppellant’s part but would [] leave the decision to
    this Court.”).
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    great likelihood that two separate appeals would have
    been consolidated into a single appeal anyway given the
    interrelation of the two cases?
    Appellant’s Brief at 5.
    “In juvenile proceedings, the final [o]rder from which a direct appeal
    may be taken is the [o]rder of [d]isposition, entered after the juvenile is
    adjudicated delinquent.” Commonwealth v. S.F., 
    912 A.2d 887
    , 888–889
    (Pa. Super. 2006).   “The order of disposition in a juvenile matter is akin to
    the judgment of sentence in a criminal matter in that both are final orders
    subject to appeal.” In re M.D., 
    839 A.2d 1116
    , 1119 (Pa. Super. 2003).
    Here, there is no dispute that the April 11, 2016 order is a final order.
    In this case, however, in its March 28, 2016 order the trial court
    adjudicated Appellant delinquent of the three new offenses without further
    disposition.   If we were to read the trial court’s declarations solely as
    adjudications, and not a disposition, Appellant’s new adjudications would be
    essentially unreviewable.      However, the record reveals that the trial court
    never intended to impose penalty on those new offenses, recognizing that
    Appellant was already under the court’s supervision and he had violated
    probation. Thus, the order entered on March 28, 2016, imposing no further
    penalty on the new adjudications was the disposition of that matter.
    Compare Commonwealth v. Rubright, 
    414 A.2d 106
    , 109 (Pa. 1980) (in
    criminal court, a “determination of guilt without further penalty … constitutes
    a final, appealable order.”)
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    Based upon the foregoing, we conclude that both orders are properly
    before us.    Here, Appellant’s notice of appeal filed on April 22, 2016
    specifically raised challenges to two final orders, entered on March 28, 2016
    and April 11, 2016, within the 30-day appeal period pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.
    903(a).   Hence, we may exercise appellate jurisdiction and we decline
    quashal in this case. Accordingly, we turn now to address the merits of
    Appellant’s appellate claims.
    Appellant presents the following, additional issues for our review:
    2. Was the Commonwealth’s evidence at Appellant’s March
    28, 2016 adjudicatory hearing insufficient to permit
    deeming him, a 15-year-old youth, to be a juvenile
    delinquent on CP-02-JV-0000183-2016 due to his
    commission of the delinquent act of 18 Pa.C.S.[A.]
    § 3925[,] [r]eceiving [s]tolen [p]roperty ([a]utomobile) on
    January 17, 2016 since it failed to prove, beyond a
    reasonable doubt, three things that it had to prove given
    the allegations that it made – namely, (A) that the Jeep
    SUV that Appellant occupied on that date, not further
    described, was the same green 2003 Jeep Liberty SUV, not
    further described, that was taken on an unspecified date
    from outside the residence of the woman that the
    Commonwealth asserted was ‘the victim;’ (B) that
    Appellant drove that Jeep SUV on the evening in question
    rather than being a mere passenger of that vehicle; and
    (C) that Appellant knew or suspected that the vehicle that
    he occupied was a stolen vehicle?
    3. Was the Commonwealth’s evidence at Appellant’s March
    28, 2016 adjudicatory hearing also insufficient to permit
    deeming him to be a juvenile delinquent on CP-02-JV-
    0000183-2016 due to his commission of the delinquent
    acts, on January 17, 2016, of 75 Pa.C.S.[A.] § 3733
    [f]leeing or [e]luding a police officer and of 18 Pa.C.S.[A.]
    § 5126 [f]light to [a]void [a]pprehension since it also failed
    to prove (A) that Appellant drove the Jeep SUV that he
    occupied, as required by 75 Pa.C.S.[A.] § 3733, and (B)
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    that he faced, when he fled from the police after the Jeep
    SUV that he occupied had crashed, a scheduled trial in an
    adult criminal case or, alternatively, a scheduled sentencing
    hearing in such a case, as is required by 18 Pa.C.S.[A.]
    § 5126?
    4. Should the decision of the juvenile court below deeming
    Appellant to have violated his probation on CP-02-JV-
    0001963-2015 be vacated since it was predicated entirely
    upon Appellant having committed the delinquent acts
    referred to in CP-02-JV-0000183-2016?
    Appellant’s Brief at 5-7.
    Appellant’s second and third claims challenge the sufficiency of the
    evidence to support his adjudications and revocation of his probation. When
    examining a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting an
    adjudication of delinquency, this Court employs a well-settled standard of
    review:
    When a juvenile is charged with an act that would constitute
    a crime if committed by an adult, the Commonwealth must
    establish the elements of the crime by proof beyond a
    reasonable doubt. When considering a challenge to the
    sufficiency of the evidence following an adjudication of
    delinquency, we must review the entire record and view the
    evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth.
    In determining whether the Commonwealth presented
    sufficient evidence to meet its burden of proof, the test to
    be applied is whether, viewing the evidence in the light
    most favorable to the Commonwealth and drawing all
    reasonable inferences therefrom, there is sufficient evidence
    to find every element of the crime charged. The
    Commonwealth may sustain its burden of proving every
    element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt by wholly
    circumstantial evidence.
    The facts and circumstances established by the
    Commonwealth need not be absolutely incompatible with a
    defendant's innocence. Questions of doubt are for the
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    hearing judge, unless the evidence is so weak that, as a
    matter of law, no probability of fact can be drawn from the
    combined circumstances established by the Commonwealth.
    The finder of fact is free to believe some, all, or none of the
    evidence presented.
    In Interest of J.G., 
    145 A.3d 1179
    , 1188 (Pa. Super. 2016) (internal
    citations omitted).
    In     his    second     issue     presented,    Appellant   argues     that    the
    Commonwealth          failed   to    produce   sufficient   evidence   to   support   his
    adjudication for receiving stolen property in three respects:
    first, that the Jeep SUV that he occupied on January 17,
    2016 was the same Jeep Liberty SUV that was owned by the
    putative victim; second, that he drove or otherwise
    controlled that car on January 17, 2016; and third, that he
    knew or suspected that it was a stolen car.
    Appellant’s Brief at 31.       More specifically, with regard to the first allegation,
    Appellant claims that, “instead of proving that Appellant had [R.C.’s] car, all
    the Commonwealth showed was that he occupied a car and that her [car]
    had been stolen. It never connected the two cars.” 
    Id. at 36
    (emphasis
    in original).      Appellant argues that the victim did not provide identifying
    information including her license plate or vehicle identification number,
    characteristics of the vehicle, or a precise date she reported the car stolen or
    the police recovered it.            
    Id. at 36
    -28.    Appellant claims Officer Kester’s
    testimony that he learned that the car was stolen from a dispatch over the
    police radio was limited on hearsay grounds and could not be used as
    substantive, corroborative evidence that the car Appellant was riding in was,
    in fact, stolen.     
    Id. at 38
    n.23. Appellant next claims the Commonwealth
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    failed to prove he controlled the automobile because Officer Kester
    equivocated and offered a vague description of Appellant in the driver’s seat
    and then speculated that Appellant was the driver because he was the last
    occupant to exit the passenger side of the vehicle due to damage to vehicle.
    
    Id. at 42-50.
      Appellant further claims that there was no evidence that he
    had cause to know that the car had been stolen (because there was no
    damage to the steering column or ignition), he believed he was riding in a
    jitney, and his flight should not be evaluated as indicia of guilt of receiving
    stolen property. 
    Id. at 51-56.
    Our legislature has defined receiving stolen property as follows:
    (a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of theft if he
    intentionally receives, retains, or disposes of movable
    property of another knowing that it has been stolen, or
    believing that it has probably been stolen, unless the
    property is received, retained, or disposed with intent to
    restore it to the owner.
    (b) Definition.--As used in this section the word
    “receiving” means acquiring possession, control or title, or
    lending on the security of the property.
    18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3925.
    “Based upon this definition, this Court has identified the elements of
    the crime [] to be: (1) intentionally acquiring possession of the movable
    property of another; (2) with knowledge or belief that it was probably
    stolen; and (3) the intent to deprive permanently.”       Commonwealth v.
    Robinson, 
    128 A.3d 261
    , 265 (Pa. Super. 2015) (citation omitted).            A
    fact-finder may infer guilty knowledge that property was stolen based upon
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    the recency of the theft, the place or manner of possession, alterations to
    the property indicative of theft, the defendant's conduct or statements at the
    time of arrest (including attempts to flee apprehension), a false explanation
    for the possession, the location of the theft in comparison to where the
    defendant gained possession, the value of the property compared to the
    price paid for it, or any other evidence connecting the defendant to the
    crime.    
    Id. at 268
    (citations omitted).
    Here, the trial court found the Commonwealth’s witnesses credible.
    Trial Court Opinion, 7/12/2016, at 9. We will not usurp that determination.
    While the victim could not remember her license plate number or the exact
    date she contacted police, she confirmed that she had reported her car
    stolen.   
    Id. Officer Kester
    testified that he “confirm[ed] that the license
    plate on the Jeep matched the license plate on the car reported stolen.” 
    Id. When police
    activated their overhead lights and sirens, the vehicle sped off.
    
    Id. at 11.
    Officer Kester recognized Appellant as the driver based upon his
    “blue puffy jacket” which Appellant also wore to court as identified by Officer
    Kester. 
    Id. at 9-10
    and n.4.     Moreover, the trial court found “[t]he fact that
    the person wearing the blue jacket (later identified a[s] Appellant) was the
    last to exit the car [on the passenger side of the vehicle] was significant in
    establishing the identity of the driver” because “it would take the driver
    more time to exit on the passenger side, because the front passenger [had]
    to exit first and the driver [had] to climb over the console.” 
    Id. Appellant -
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    fled, a foot chase ensued, and police eventually apprehended Appellant. 
    Id. at 10.
    We conclude that the Commonwealth introduced sufficient evidence to
    support Appellant’s adjudication for receiving stolen property.           The vehicle
    was reported stolen, police confirmed it, and Appellant was in possession of
    it. While Appellant claims he believed he was in a jitney, the trial court was
    free to infer that was a false explanation for the possession, because
    Appellant was in fact driving.        Moreover, Appellant fled from police twice,
    initially in the vehicle during the traffic stop and then later on foot when the
    car crashed.        Based upon all evidence, Appellant was in possession of a
    stolen car and the trial court properly inferred Appellant’s guilty knowledge.
    Accordingly, we affirm Appellant’s adjudication for receiving stolen property.
    In   his   third   issue   presented,     Appellant   contends    that   the
    Commonwealth failed to prove sufficiently his adjudications for fleeing or
    eluding police and flight to avoid apprehension.           Pertaining to fleeing or
    eluding police, Appellant reiterates his argument that the Commonwealth
    failed to prove that he was driving.5          Appellant’s Brief at 60.    Regarding
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    5
    “Any driver of a motor vehicle who willfully fails or refuses to bring his
    vehicle to a stop, or who otherwise flees or attempts to elude a pursuing
    police officer, when given a visual and audible signal to bring the vehicle to a
    stop” commits the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude police officer. 75
    Pa.C.S.A. § 3733. Appellant only challenges his role as the driver. Having
    already determined that there was sufficient evidence to support the
    determination that Appellant was driving, we need not address this claim
    (Footnote Continued Next Page)
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    flight to avoid apprehension, Appellant argues that 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5126
    criminalizes the conduct of individuals who flee to avoid standing trial, after
    they have already been charged, or to avoid sentencing after conviction and
    that neither of those conditions were present herein. 
    Id. at 61-63.
    Section 5126, flight to avoid apprehension provides, as follows:
    (a) Offense defined.--A person who willfully conceals
    himself or moves or travels within or outside this
    Commonwealth with the intent to avoid apprehension, trial
    or punishment commits a felony of the third degree when
    the crime which he has been charged with or has been
    convicted of is a felony and commits a misdemeanor of the
    second degree when the crime which he has been charged
    with or has been convicted of is a misdemeanor.
    18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5126(a).
    Recognizing that criminal statutes are strictly construed and analyzing
    the plain language of the statute, this Court has previously determined that
    Section 5126 “requires that a person has been charged with a crime” at the
    time he or she flees from law enforcement. Commonwealth v. Phillips,
    
    129 A.3d 513
    , 518 (Pa. Super. 2015) (“Since the flight to avoid
    apprehension statute is plain on its face, and the Commonwealth did not
    prove that Appellant had been charged with a crime when he fled,
    insufficient evidence existed to find him guilty of the aforementioned
    offense.”).
    _______________________
    (Footnote Continued)
    further. Accordingly, we affirm Appellant’s adjudication for fleeing and
    eluding police.
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    Here, at the time Appellant fled he was on the juvenile equivalency of
    probation. However, he had not been charged with a crime nor adjudicated
    delinquent and awaiting sentencing.       The plain language of the statute says
    nothing about fleeing to        avoid apprehension for       potential probation
    violations. Hence, there was insufficient evidence to support Appellant’s
    adjudication of delinquency for flight to avoid apprehension and we vacate
    that   adjudication.       Because   Appellant   received   no   penalty   on   that
    disposition, however, we need not remand this case for resentencing.            See
    Commonwealth v. Thur, 
    906 A.2d 552
    , 569 (Pa. Super. 2006) (“if our
    decision does not alter the overall [sentencing] scheme, there is no need for
    a remand.”).
    Finally, Appellant argues that if we vacated his adjudications for
    receiving stolen property, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and
    flight to avoid apprehension, then “the probation violation order and the
    dispositional order of commitment that followed should be vacated[.]”
    Appellant’s Brief at 65.
    “The Juvenile Act expressly provides that placement of a juvenile on
    probation subjects the juvenile to ongoing court supervision and conditions.”
    In Interest of M.M., 
    690 A.2d 175
    , 177 (Pa. 1997), citing 42 Pa.C.S.A.
    § 6352(a)(2) (providing for placement of a delinquent child on probation
    under court supervision, subject to conditions). The Juvenile Act grants
    broad discretion to the trial court in entering a dispositional order that finds
    a juvenile in violation of his probation; this Court will not disturb such a
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    disposition absent a manifest abuse of discretion. See In re D.S., 
    37 A.3d 1202
    , 1203 (Pa. Super. 2011) (internal case citations and quotations
    omitted).   Here, upon the finding of new delinquent acts, the trial court
    “found that [Appellant] was not meeting the terms of his supervision of
    probation and that his prior disposition of probation was no longer
    appropriate and revoked probation.” Trial Court Opinion, 7/12/2016, at 13.
    We discern no abuse of discretion.     As discussed above, there was
    sufficient evidence to support Appellant’s new adjudications for receiving
    stolen property and fleeing or attempting to elude police.      Having been
    found delinquent of new offenses, we agree that probation was no longer
    effective and revocation was warranted. Hence, we affirm the dispositional
    order entered on April 11, 2016.
    Adjudications for receiving stolen property and fleeing or attempting to
    elude police affirmed. Adjudication for flight to avoid apprehension vacated.
    Dispositional order entered on April 11, 2016 affirmed in its entirety.
    Jurisdiction relinquished.
    Judgment Entered.
    Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
    Prothonotary
    Date: 3/17/2017
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Document Info

Docket Number: In the Interest of: P.S., a Minor, Appeal of: P.S. No. 577 WDA 2016

Citation Numbers: 158 A.3d 643, 2017 Pa. Super. 70, 2017 WL 1034459, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 172

Judges: Bowes, Olson, Strassburger

Filed Date: 3/17/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/26/2024