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Commonwealth v. Verticelli1/29/1998
This case presents the court with a question regarding the parameters of the closely related crime exception to the corpus delicti rule. Upon careful consideration this court finds that application of the closely related crime exception must be determined on a case-by-case basis. For the reasons as more fully set forth herein, the decision of the Superior Court is affirmed in part and reversed in part.
The essential facts underlying this matter are as follows. In the late afternoon hours of March 26, 1994, Officer Burkhardt of the New Britain Township Police Department responded to a radio call of a motorcycle accident. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Burkhardt observed a motorcycle facing in the southbound direction lying half on the street and half in the yard of a property on the northbound side of the roadway. Upon investigation it was apparent that the operator of the motorcycle had been traveling southbound, crossed the center line, and struck a mailbox and telephone pole on the northbound side of the road. Officer Burkhardt observed that the motorcycle was dented and leaking gasoline from a punctured tank. The mailbox of the residence was knocked from its post to the ground and the telephone pole was damaged. The operator of the motorcycle was not on the scene. After speaking to witnesses at the scene, Officer Burkhardt arrived at appellant's home where he spoke to appellant and appellant's father. In response to the officer's questions, appellant stated that while driving the motorcycle to a bar, he "dumped" it.
Officer Burkhardt noticed that appellant exuded a strong odor of alcohol, that his speech was slurred, his eyes were glassy and bloodshot and that he was staggering. Officer Burkhardt asked appellant if he had anything to drink after the accident to which appellant responded negatively. The officer then asked appellant to perform field sobriety coordination tests, a request appellant declined. Appellant was then arrested and transported to a local hospital, where upon being informed of the implied consent law and asked to submit to a blood test, he refused. Appellant was then transferred to police headquarters where he became uncooperative, irrational and threatening to the officer. Appellant was, upon his request, granted a meeting with a crisis intervention worker as he was threatening suicide. After the crisis intervention worker interviewed appellant, appellant was again released into the custody of Officer Burkhardt.
Appellant was subsequently charged with the summary offenses of accident involving damage to unattended vehicle or property and driving with a suspended license, and the misdemeanor offense of driving under the influence . (hereinafter DUI). At appellant's trial his counsel objected to the admission of appellant's statement that he had been operating the motorcycle on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to establish the corpus delicti for DUI independent of appellant's statement. The trial court overruled the objection. Appellant was ultimately found guilty and appealed his conviction to the Superior Court.
The Superior Court affirmed the judgment of sentence. The Superior Court heard the appeal en banc, rendering a decision which generated four separate opinions. Judge Beck, writing for the majority, found that all statements of a defendant material to the prosecution's case are subject to the corpus delicti rule. In this case, although the Commonwealth had failed to independently establish the corpus delicti for DUI, appellant's statement was admissible under the closely related crime exception to the corpus delicti rule. Judge Cirillo wrote a Concurring and Dissenting opinion wherein he agreed that all material statem
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