PA Supreme Court: No subsequent prosecution for greater offense after convicted in traffic court

On April 26th, 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that prosecutors may no longer prosecute defendants in Municipal Court for more serious crimes, such as DUI, separately after they have been adjudicated in Traffic Court for offenses stemming from the same incident. Practically, this ruling means if you were already adjudicated on a traffic crime, the Prosecutor’s office may not then subsequently prosecute you for a DUI.

In Commonwealth v. Perfetto, the court held 18 Pa.C.S. § 110(1)(ii), compulsory joinder, bars the Commonwealth from subsequent prosecutions. The statute bars a second prosecution if the second prosecution is for “any offense based on the same conduct or arising from the same criminal episode.” The statute is based in the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution. In Commonwealth v. Campana the court held, “the Double Jeopardy Clause requires a prosecutor to bring, in a single proceeding, all known charges against a defendant arising from a ‘single criminal episode.’” Thus, the Pennsylvania legislature codified this holding in the Criminal Code at 18 Pa.C.S. § 110.

In Perfetto, the defendant was found guilty in Traffic Court of summary offenses, and then prosecuted separately in Municipal Court for a DUI. The defendant then filed a Motion to Dismiss the DUI on account of his traffic court adjudication. Under Section 110, the prosecutor must know about all the charges when the first prosecution is started, the charges must be in the same district, and the first prosecution must result in an acquittal or conviction.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the statute was unambiguous, the offenses could have been tried together, and summary offenses were protected by Double Jeopardy. This means the offenses must be tried at the same time. If one charge is filed and then followed by a second charge, the defendant is entitled to dismissal of the second case.

Contact us if you believe this recent ruling could affect you or someone you know.