Com. v. Horst, L. ( 2021 )

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
LEON EUGENE HORST :
:
Appellant : No. 1527 MDA 2020
Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered October 13, 2020
In the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-38-CR-0002085-2017
BEFORE: NICHOLS, J., KING, J., and MUSMANNO, J.
MEMORANDUM BY MUSMANNO, J.: FILED: AUGUST 12, 2021
Leon Eugene Horst (“Horst”) appeals from the Order denying his Petition
for relief filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”).1 We affirm.
In its Opinion, the PCRA court set forth the procedural history underlying
the instant appeal as follows:
On June 19, 2018, [Horst] was found guilty by a Lebanon
County jury of numerous drug-related offenses. He was
sentenced on August 1, 2018[,] to serve 6-12 years in a State
Correctional facility. [Horst] then pursued a direct appeal [in]
which he challenged [the trial court’s] decision to deny his
Suppression Motion. That appeal was rejected by Pennsylvania’s
Superior Court on May 13, 2019. [See Commonwealth v.
Horst, 217 A.3d 394 (Pa. Super. 2019).]
On May 13, 2020, [Horst] filed a timely PCRA Petition. [The
PCRA court] appointed counsel to represent him. On July 14,
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1 See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546.
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2020, counsel filed an Amended PCRA [Petition] in which [Horst]
raised three issues.
….
[The PCRA court] conducted a [] hearing on October 9,
2020. Three days later, [the PCRA court] issued a six-page Order
[denying Horst’s] PCRA. Thereafter, [Horst] filed an appeal….
PCRA Court Opinion, 12/10/20, at 2. In response to the PCRA court’s Order,
Horst filed a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) Concise Statement of matters complained of
on appeal.
Horst presents the following claims for our review:
Did the PCRA court err in denying [Horst] the relief sought
because the [trial] court applied the wrong legal standard for fines
under [42 Pa.C.S.A.] § 9726(c)[,] when it substituted factual
findings at the PCRA hearing for findings on the record at
[s]entencing?
Brief for Appellant at 4.
Horst claims that the trial court imposed an illegal sentence by ordering
him to pay a $100 fine. Id. at 10. Horst argues that the trial court’s authority
to impose a fine is conditioned upon proof that a defendant has the ability to
pay the fine. Id. at 10. Citing 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9726, Horst asserts that the
trial court was required, on the record, to determine whether he had the ability
to pay the fine imposed by the trial court. Brief for Appellant at 11. Horst
acknowledges that, at the sentencing hearing, the trial court referred to “a
pre-sentence report, the facts presented at trial and all other factors
presented[.]” Id. at 11-12 (citation omitted). However, Horst contends that
the trial court failed to identify the particular facts relied upon by the trial court
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in imposing a fine of $100.00. Id. at 12. Horst argues that it was not his
burden to object to the illegal sentence at the sentencing hearing. Id. at 13.
Finally, Horst states, the PCRA court acknowledged that the trial court did not
“conduct an extensive colloquy of [Horst] regarding his finances at the time
of sentencing.” Id. at 14 (citation omitted). Thus, Horst claims that his
$100.00 fine constituted an illegal sentence. Id.
As our Supreme Court has explained,
[u]pon reviewing an order in a PCRA matter, we must determine
whether the findings of the PCRA court are supported by the
record and whether the court’s legal conclusions are free from
error. The findings of the PCRA court and the evidence of record
are viewed in a light most favorable to the prevailing party. The
PCRA court’s credibility determinations, when supported by the
record, are binding; however, this court applies a de novo
standard of review to the PCRA court’s legal conclusions. We must
keep in mind that the petitioner has the burden of persuading this
Court that the PCRA court erred and that such error requires relief.
Finally, this Court may affirm a valid judgment or order for any
reason appearing of record.
Commonwealth v. Montalvo, 205 A.3d 274, 286 (Pa. 2019) (citations
omitted).
Horst challenges the legality of his sentence. Commonwealth v. Ford,
217 A.3d 824, 827 (Pa. 2019) (noting that a claim that a trial court imposed
a non-mandatory fine without conducting an ability-to-pay determination
“constitutes a nonwaivable challenge to the legality of the sentence”). “[A]
challenge to the legality of a sentence may be appealed as of right” and “can
never be waived.” Commonwealth v. Smith, 544 A.2d 991, 994 (Pa. Super.
1988) (en banc); see also 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9781(a) (recognizing that “[t]he
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defendant or the Commonwealth may appeal as of right the legality of the
sentence.”). “A legality issue is essentially a claim that the trial court did not
have jurisdiction to impose the sentence which it handed down.” Smith, 544
A.2d at 994.
Regarding the imposition of a fine as an additional sentence, section
9726 provides, in relevant part, as follows:
(b) Fine as additional sentence.—The court may sentence the
defendant to pay a fine in addition to another sentence, either
involving total or partial confinement or probation, when:
(1) the defendant has derived a pecuniary gain from the crime;
or
(2) the court is of the opinion that a fine is specially adapted
to deterrence of the crime involved or to the correction of the
defendant.
(c) Exception.—The court shall not sentence a defendant to pay
a fine unless it appears of record that:
(1) the defendant is or will be able to pay the fine; and
(2) the fine will not prevent the defendant from making
restitution or reparation to the victim of the crime.
(d) Financial resources.—In determining the amount and
method of payment of a fine, the court shall take into account the
financial resources of the defendant and the nature of the burden
that its payment will impose.
42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9726.
As our Supreme Court has explained, “[s]ubsection 9726(c) does not
put the burden on defendants to inform the court that they might have trouble
paying a fine. Instead, it instructs sentencing courts not to impose a fine
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absent record evidence of the defendant's ability to pay.” Ford, 217 A.3d at
829 (citing 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9726(c)).
In Commonwealth v. Thomas, 879 A.2d 246 (Pa. Super. 2005), the
trial court, when imposing a fine, did not make “specific findings of [the
defendant’s] ability to pay the fine imposed,” but rather merely stated that “it
had ‘all the appropriate information.’” Id. at 264. Notwithstanding, this Court
found the record did not support the court’s “general finding that [the
defendant] has or will have the ability to pay a fine.” Id. In particular, our
Court observed that the pre-sentence investigation report (“PSI”) was not in
the certified record; therefore, this Court did not know if it would “shed[] any
light on [the defendant’s] ability to pay.” Id. Consequently, this Court
remanded to the trial court for a “re-sentencing after a determination of [the
defendant’s] ability to pay a fine.” Id.At the sentencing hearing in the instant case, the trial court stated that
it had reviewed the PSI and considered the facts presented at trial “and all
other factors presented” prior to sentencing Horst. N.T. (Sentencing), 8/1/18,
at 7. However, the trial court made no express finding regarding Horst’s
ability to pay the fine.
In its Opinion, the PCRA court judge, who also had sentenced Horst,
acknowledged that he “did not conduct an extensive colloquy of [Horst]
regarding his finances at the time of sentence.” PCRA Court Opinion,
12/10/20, at 6. However, the PCRA court judge explained that he also had
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presided over Horst’s trial and, as a result, had “significant information
pertinent to [Horst’s] finances[.]” Id. The PCRA court stated that the PSI
also included information regarding Horst’s finances. Id. In rejecting Horst’s
claim, the PCRA court explained that, at sentencing, the court was aware
• That [Horst] was employed at Hauck Exteriors earning
$22.00 per hour;
• That when [Horst] was arrested, $7,000.00 was found on
his person;
• That when police conducted a search of [Horst’s] residence,
they found over $19,000.00 in cash;
• That [Horst] owned his own vehicle; [and]
• That [Horst] was able to pay private counsel to represent
him.
Id. at 6.
Our review discloses that the PSI is not included in the certified record.
However, the sentencing judge also had served as the trial judge. At trial,
Horst testified that he presently was employed as a roofer, and previously had
been employed “setting modular homes.” N.T. (Trial), 6/19/18, at 112. Horst
confirmed at trial that police found him in possession of $7,000.00, but stated
that he “had worked for it for many years.” Id. at 116. According to Horst,
he was going to use the funds to pay for his private counsel, and to purchase
a trailer. Id. Thus, these facts were known to the sentencing court.
At the PCRA hearing, Horst testified regarding the information he had
provided to the probation department investigators for the preparation of the
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PSI. N.T., 10/9/20, at 12-14. Horst confirmed telling investigators that he
was employed by Houck’s Exteriors, and was earning approximately $22.00
per hour. Id. at 12. Horst again testified that the $7,000.00 found on his
person was earned legally.2 Id. at 12-13. Horst confirmed his trial testimony
that the $19,000.00 found at his residence was earned by him as a result of
his legitimate work. Id. at 13.
Based upon our review, it appeared of record that, at the time of
sentencing, Horst “is or will be able to pay the fine[,]” in compliance with 42
Pa.C.S.A. § 9726(c). Because we discern no illegality in Horst’s sentence of
the $100.00 fine, we affirm the PCRA court’s Order.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 08/12/2021
____________________________________________
2 At the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth explained to the trial court
that Horst’s cash assets appeared to be the proceeds from his drug distribution
enterprise. See N.T. (Sentencing), 8/1/18, at 4-5 (wherein the prosecutor
explains that Horst had “the ability to manufacture and distribute hundreds of
grams of methamphetamine in our community[;]” that during the course of
the investigation, Horst had well over $20,000.00 in cash; and that between
the time that the Pennsylvania State Police searched Horst’s garage and his
arrest, Horst amassed another $7,000.00).
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