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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-235 CriminalCOMMONWEALTH CHAD E. LAYTON IN RE: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 03-0235 CRIMINAL TERM MOTION OF DEFENDANT FOR POST-SENTENCE RELIEF BEFORE BAYLEY, J. OPINION AND ORDER OF COURT Bayley, J., October 6, 2003:-- Defendant, Chad E. Layton, pled guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in violation of the Crimes Code at 18 Pa.C.S. Section 3928. He admitted that he operated a vehicle owned by the father of his girlfriend without the permission of the owner, and that the vehicle was damaged when it was recovered. Defendant was sentenced to pay the costs of prosecution, make restitution of $2,792.10 to Allstate Insurance Company, and undergo imprisonment in the Cumberland County Prison for not less than four months nor more than twenty-three months. Pursuant to Pa.R. CrimP. 720(A)(1), defendant filed a timely post-sentence motion. He seeks to modify his sentence by vacating the award of restitution for the $2,792.10 that Allstate paid to repair the damage. Rule 700(B)(1)(a)(v). The Commonwealth and defendant stipulated: (1) the vehicle that defendant was convicted of operating without the consent of the owner was stolen from him while it was in his possession in Harrisburg, Dauphin Count, (2) it was recovered in York 03-0235 CRIMINAL TERM County, (3) it was not damaged while it was in the defendant's possession but was damaged when it was recovered in York County, (4) Darryl H. Pierce, Jr., was convicted of receiving the stolen vehicle in York County, and (5) Pierce was sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a state correctional institution but not ordered to pay restitution for the costs of repair to the damage to the vehicle. Defendant maintains that because the vehicle he was convicted of using without the consent of the owner was damaged by another person after it was stolen from him he is not responsible for that damage. The Crimes Code at 18 Pa.C.S. Section 1106(a), provides: General rule.--Upon conviction for any crime wherein property has been stolen, converted or otherwise unlawfully obtained, or its value substantially decreased as a direct result of the crime, or wherein the victim suffered personal injury directly resulting from the crime, the offender shall be sentenced to make restitution in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor. (Emphasis added.) Defendant's position is that the damage to the vehicle was not a "direct result of the crime" he committed as those words are used in Section 1106(a) of the Crimes Code. In Commonwealth v. Gerulis, 420 Pa. Super. 266 (1992), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania stated that, "damages which occur as a direct result of the crime are those which should not have occurred but for the defendant's criminal conduct." In Commonwealth v. Penrod, 396 Pa. Super. 221 (1990), the defendant pled guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and was ordered to pay restitution to the victim for damage sustained to his vehicle and for tapes that were in the victim's vehicle that -2- 03-0235 CRIMINAL TERM were stolen after the accident. In dicta, the Superior Court stated: We note that had appellant not caused the serious accident involved in his second offense, the tapes stolen from the demolished car after the accident would not have been lost to the victim. Given this "but for" causation and the proximateness in time from the accident to the theft, we would find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's restitution order. In the case sub judice, but for defendant taking the vehicle without the owner's permission and taking it to Harrisburg, it would not have been stolen from him and subsequently damaged. That damage is a direct result of defendant's unauthorized use of the vehicle and the order requiring him to make restitution of $2,792.10 to Allstate Insurance Company is proper. ORDER OF COURT day of October, 2003, the motion of Chad E. Layton AND NOW, this to modify his sentence, IS DENIED. By the Court, John Dailey, Esquire Assistant District Attorney Aria Waller, Esquire For Defendant Edgar B. Bayley, J. :sal -3- COMMONWEALTH CHAD E. LAYTON IN RE: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 03-0235 CRIMINAL TERM MOTION OF DEFENDANT FOR POST-SENTENCE RELIEF AND NOW, this to modify his sentence, IS DENIED. BEFORE BAYLEY, J. ORDER OF COURT day of October, 2003, the motion of Chad E. Layton By the Court, John Dailey, Esquire Assistant District Attorney Aria Waller, Esquire For Defendant Edgar B. Bayley, J. :sal