HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP-21-SA-0229-2005
COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
:
V. :
:
LEWIS LEON BUTTS, JR. : CP-21-SA-0229-2005
IN RE: BENCH TRIAL
OPINION AND VERDICT
Bayley, J., March 2, 2006:--
Defendant, Lewis Leon Butts, Jr., is charged with driving while his operating
privilege was suspended in violation of the Vehicle Code at 75 Pa.C.S. Section
1543(a). A bench trial was conducted on February 28, 2006.
Trooper Jeffrey D’Alessandro of the Pennsylvania State Police testified that he
saw defendant operate a vehicle the wrong way on a one-way street in Shippensburg
Township, Cumberland County, at approximately 2:25 a.m. on September 2, 2005.
Defendant pulled into a parking lot where the trooper approached him and asked him
for his cards. Defendant did not produce a driver’s license, made some excuses, and
finally said that he did not have a license. He told the trooper his name and his
address, 430 Straw Hollow Road, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Upon determining that the
operating privilege of defendant was suspended, Trooper D’Alessandro issued him a
citation.
A certified driving record of the Department of Transportation of defendant
June 10,
shows that following a suspension, his operating privilege was restored on
CP-21-SA-0229-2005
2005August 15, 2005
. His operating privilege was suspended again effective , with
July 25, 2005
official notice mailed on , for failure to respond to a violation occurring on
June 10, 2005. That suspension was in effect when defendant was stopped by Trooper
D’Alessandro on September 2, 2005.
Defendant testified that in June, 2005, he moved from 630 Woodbine Street to
430 Straw Hollow Road. His mail must have been lost, as he did not receive notice of a
suspension effective August 15, 2005. When stopped by Trooper D’Alessandro, he did
not know that he was under suspension. Rather he thought a suspension was pending.
His license was in another wallet. He testified that he should have told that to the
trooper, but did not.
Defendant maintains that the Commonwealth has not proven beyond a
reasonable doubt that he had actual notice of the suspension of his operating privilege
1
when he was stopped by Trooper D’Alessandro. The Commonwealth has proven that
defendant’s operating privilege was suspended as of August 15, 2005. Notice of that
suspension was mailed to him on July 25, 2005. When stopped by Trooper
D’Alessandro on September 2, 2005, he failed to produce a driver’s license, and told
the trooper that he did not have a license. That admission, taken together with all of
the evidence, proves beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had actual notice that
__________
1 Commonwealth v. Kane,
See 460 Pa. 582 (1975).
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CP-21-SA-0229-2005
2
his license was suspended when he was stopped on September 2, 2005.
__________
2 Commonwealth v. Erb,
See 721 A.2d 386 (Pa. Super. 1998).
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CP-21-SA-0229-2005
VERDICT
GUILTY
AND NOW, this day of March, 2006, I find defendant of
driving while his operating privilege was suspended in violation of the Vehicle Code at
75 Pa.C.S. Section 1543(a).
By the Court,
Edgar B. Bayley, J.
Jaime M. Keating, Esquire
For the Commonwealth
H. Anthony Adams, Esquire
For Defendant
:sal
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COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
:
V. :
:
LEWIS LEON BUTTS, JR. : CP-21-SA-0229-2005
IN RE: BENCH TRIAL
VERDICT
GUILTY
AND NOW, this day of March, 2006, I find defendant of
driving while his operating privilege was suspended in violation of the Vehicle Code at
75 Pa.C.S. Section 1543(a).
By the Court,
Edgar B. Bayley, J.
Jaime M. Keating, Esquire
For the Commonwealth
H. Anthony Adams, Esquire
For Defendant
:sal
COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
:
V. :
:
LEWIS LEON BUTTS, JR. : CP-21-SA-0229-2005
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, this day of March, 2006, having found defendant guilty of
IT IS ORDERED
driving while his operating privilege was suspended, that defendant
appear for sentencing in Courtroom Number 2, Cumberland County Courthouse,
Carlisle, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, March 21, 2006, at 1:30 p.m.
By the Court,
Edgar B. Bayley, J.
Jaime M. Keating, Esquire
For the Commonwealth
H. Anthony Adams, Esquire
For Defendant
Lewis Leon Butts, Jr.
430 Straw Hollow Road
Harrisburg, PA 17112
Court Administrator
:sal