Pennsylvania v. Reid

The Superior Court reversed a Court of Common Pleas order, which granted appellant's motion to dismiss. In 2006, police conducted a controlled cocaine buy from appellant using a confidential informant. Appellant and the informant met at a convenience store then drove to a bar parking lot. The informant then dropped appellant off at a nearby plaza and later gave police the cocaine he purchased. Appellant was not then arrested. In 2007, appellant was kidnapped and robbed. At the interview about the incident, Detective Charles Shoemaker (one of the officers who assisted in the 2006 controlled buy), informed appellant he was under investigation in connection with the 2006 incident. Appellant confessed he was in the business of selling cocaine. Appellant was arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver (PWID) in connection with the 2006 sale; he later pled guilty to that charge. In a separate investigation, a state grand jury began investigating drug distribution activities in the area of the 2006 incident, targeting certain individuals, including appellant. In its 2009 presentment, the grand jury implicated appellant as one of the organization's distributors. Specifically, the grand jury found that between 2006 and 2007, appellant sold cocaine at his home and various bars. The presentment did not mention the 2007 case, or any controlled buys involving appellant. Appellant filed an omnibus pre-trial motion to dismiss the 2010 case pursuant to the compulsory joinder rule, claiming the 2010 case arose from the same criminal episode as the 2007 case. The trial court granted the motion, and the Commonwealth appealed. A panel of the Superior Court reversed and remanded, instructing the trial court to reinstate the 2010 charges. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded there was no substantial duplication of issues of fact or law; thus, the two prosecutions did not arise from the same criminal episode. View "Pennsylvania v. Reid" on Justia Law