Com. v. Lanciano, M. ( 2017 )

J-S09022-17
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellant
v.
MEGAN LANCIANO
Appellee No. 218 EDA 2015
Appeal from the Order Entered December 16, 2014
In the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County
Criminal Division at No: CP-23-CR-0007797-2010
BEFORE: SHOGAN, STABILE, and PLATT,* JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: FILED MAY 24, 2017
The Commonwealth appeals from the December 16, 2014 order of the
Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County (“trial court”), granting Appellee
Megan Lanciano’s petition for expungement. Upon review, we vacate and
remand.
On March 21, 2011, following the Commonwealth’s refusal to admit
Appellee into the accelerated rehabilitative disposition (“ARD”) program,
Appellee entered into a negotiated guilty plea to driving under the influence
(“DUI”), highest rate, under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802(c). Pursuant to her
negotiated guilty plea, Appellee was sentenced to six months of intermediate
punishment (with the first ten days of electronic home monitoring).
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*
Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-S09022-17
On March 26, 2014, Appellee petitioned the trial court for
expungement of her 2011 DUI conviction. The trial court granted her
petition for expungement. The Commonwealth timely appealed.
On May 14, 2015, during the pendency of the appeal, the trial court
issued an order memorializing the Commonwealth’s and Appellee’s
stipulation that the trial court had erred in granting Appellee’s petition for
expungement. On May 24, 2016, the trial court issued an order, rescinding
its order granting Appellee’s petition for expungement.1
On appeal,2 the Commonwealth argues that the trial court erred as a
matter of law in granting Appellee’s petition for expungement because she
“did not satisfy any of the qualifications for expungement enumerated in
Section 9122,” 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122. Commonwealth’s Brief at 4. We agree.
Addressing the law regarding expungement of criminal records
generally, our Supreme Court has explained:
There is a long-standing right in this Commonwealth to
petition for expungement of a criminal arrest record, a right that
is an adjunct of due process. Carlacci v. Mazaleski, [] 798
A.2d 186, 188 ([Pa.] 2002). The decision to grant or deny a
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1
The trial court’s May 14, 2015 and May 24, 2016 orders have no legal
effect because they were issued during the pendency of the instant appeal.
See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5505 (“Except as otherwise provided or prescribed by
law, a court upon notice to the parties may modify or rescind any order
within 30 days after its entry, notwithstanding the prior termination of any
term of court, if no appeal from such order has been taken or allowed.”)
(emphasis added). Accordingly, the trial court was without jurisdiction to
rescind the December 16, 2014 order granting expungement.
2
Appellee declined to file a brief on appeal.
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petition to expunge rests with the sound discretion of the trial
court, and we review that court’s decision for abuse of
discretion. Commonwealth v. Waughtel, 999 A.2d 623, 624–
25 (Pa. Super. 2010); Commonwealth v. A.M.R., 887 A.2d
1266, 1268 (Pa. Super. 2005).
Judicial analysis and evaluation of a petition to expunge
depend upon the manner of disposition of the charges against
the petitioner. When an individual has been convicted of the
offenses charged, then expungement of criminal history records
may be granted only under very limited circumstances that are
set forth by statute. 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122; Hunt v. Pennsylvania
State Police, [] 983 A.2d 627, 633 ([Pa.] 2009).
Commonwealth v. Moto, 23 A.3d 989, 993 (Pa. 2011) (emphasis added).
“[A] guilty plea is equivalent to a conviction” under Section 9122.
Commonwealth v. Furrer, 48 A.3d 1279, 1282 (Pa. Super. 2012), appeal
denied, 62 A.3d 378 (Pa. 2013).
Section 9122 of the Criminal History Record Information Act provides
in pertinent part:
(a) Specific proceedings.--Criminal history record information
shall be expunged in a specific criminal proceeding when:
(1) no disposition has been received or, upon request for
criminal history record information, no disposition has
been recorded in the repository within 18 months after the
date of arrest and the court of proper jurisdiction certifies
to the director of the repository that no disposition is
available and no action is pending. Expungement shall not
occur until the certification from the court is received and
the director of the repository authorizes such
expungement;
(2) a court order requires that such nonconviction data be
expunged; or
(3) a person 21 years of age or older who has been
convicted of a violation of section 6308 (relating to
purchase, consumption, possession or transportation of
liquor or malt or brewed beverages), which occurred on or
after the day the person attained 18 years of age, petitions
the court of common pleas in the county where the
conviction occurred seeking expungement and the person
has satisfied all terms and conditions of the sentence
imposed for the violation, including any suspension of
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operating privileges imposed pursuant to section 6310.4
(relating to restriction of operating privileges). Upon
review of the petition, the court shall order the
expungement of all criminal history record information and
all administrative records of the Department of
Transportation relating to said conviction.
(b) Generally.--Criminal history record information may be
expunged when:
(1) An individual who is the subject of the information
reaches 70 years of age and has been free of arrest or
prosecution for ten years following final release from
confinement or supervision.
(2) An individual who is the subject of the information has
been dead for three years.
(3)(i) An individual who is the subject of the
information petitions the court for the expungement
of a summary offense and has been free of arrest or
prosecution for five years following the conviction for
that offense.
(ii) Expungement under this paragraph shall only be
permitted for a conviction of a summary offense.
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122(a),(b).
Instantly, the parties and the trial court agree that Appellee failed to
plead and prove any subsection of Section 9122 under which she was
entitled to have her 2011 DUI conviction expunged.3 Accordingly, we agree
with the Commonwealth that the trial court erred in granting Appellee’s
petition for expungement.
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3
In its Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion, the trial court stated “[t]o ensure the
original grant of expungement is properly vacated, and rescinded, the trial
court is respectfully requesting the above matter to be remanded to the
jurisdiction of the undersigned for disposition in accordance with the parties’
intentions pursuant to the ‘stipulation and order.’” Trial Court Opinion,
8/8/16, at 2.
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Order vacated. Case remanded. Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 5/24/2017
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