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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00-4961 civilDEAN L. BEAR, Appellant VS. COM. OF PENNSYLVANIA, DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION, Appellee IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 00-4961 CIVIL CIVIL ACTION- LAW LICENSE SUSPENSION APPEAL ORDER AND NO W, this day of September, 2000, further hearing herein is set for Thursday, December 7, 2000, at 9'00 a.m. in Courtroom Number 4, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle, PA. BY THE COURT, Joseph Hitchings, Esquire For the Petitioner ess, J. Dean L. Bear 1133 A Harrisburg Pike Carlisle, PA 17013 George Kabusk, Esquire For PennDOT :rim DEAN L. BEAR, Appellant VS. COM. OF PENNSYLVANIA, DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION, Appellee IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 0O-4961 CIVIL CIVIL ACTION - LAW LICENSE SUSPENSION APPEAL MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Before the court is the appeal of Dean L. Bear from the suspension of his driver's license. He has received two notices of license suspension, the periods of suspension to run consecutive one with the other, as a result of two drug delivery convictions. The Department has suspended his license, in essence, for two first offenses (as opposed to a first and second offense). The convictions at issue stem from two drug deliveries on different days. The defendant pled guilty to both counts on January 11, 2000, and was sentenced to concurrent terms of probation. As authority for the proposition that the appellant should receive two suspensions in this case, the Department of Transportation points to Lauer v. Com., Dept. of Transp., 666 A.2d 779 (Pa. Cmmwlth. 1995). That case does, indeed, stand for the proposition that any number of suspensions may be imposed consecutively for multiple "first offenses." In that case, according to the court, there was "no evidence supporting the finding that Licensee's three convictions arose from a single 'criminal episode' and therefore only merit a single suspension." Id. At 781. In Heisterkamp v. Dept. of Transp., 644 A.2d 262 (Pa. Cmmwlth. 1994). A former assistant district attorney was convicted of twenty-one violations of the Drug Act occurring over a seven- month period. The court affirmed a single suspension for a first offense holding that the violations had arisen from a single episode. O0-4961 CIVIL In this case, we were asked to take judicial notice of the defendant's convictions. The record is unclear, however, as to the extent to which we are to consider the facts underlying the plea. A cursory review of the official files suggests that both drug deliveries were to a confidential informant. The deliveries were ten days apart. There is no way of telling whether the deliveries were part of an ongoing relationship with the same confidential informant or whether the deliveries were otherwise part of an ongoing criminal episode. The state of the law in this area is, at best, unclear. In fact, Lauer, supra, and Heisterkamp, supra, can be read as being in conflict on the issue of whether multiple convictions, arising from the same criminal episode, can result in multiple license suspensions. If we are to grapple with this issue, however, it should not be done with anything less than a clear factual record. Accordingly, we will reschedule this matter for the purpose of taking additional testimony. At the initial hearing in this matter, Mr. Bear chose to proceed without the presence of his counsel of record. Given the sophistication of the legal issues which now present themselves, the appellant may wish to reconsider an appearance without his attorney. ORDER AND NO W, this :~ ~ "~ day of September, 2000, further hearing herein is set for Thursday, December 7, 2000, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom Number 4, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle, PA. BY THE COURT, K~n/A. Hess, J. 00-4961 CIVIL Joseph Hitchings, Esquire For the Petitioner Dean L. Bear 1133 A Harrisburg Pike Carlisle, PA 17013 George Kabusk, Esquire For PennDOT :rlm