Opinion

Commonwealth v. O'Neill

  • 396 Pa. Super. 520
  • 578 A.2d 1334
  • 1990 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2626
Court
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Aug 31, 1990
Status
Published
Author
Olszewski
On the bench
Has, Johnson, Kelly, Olszewski
Cited by
25 cases
Authority
More cited than 7.5%

stating that “it is well settled that in criminal cases[,] appeals lie from judgment of sentence rather than from the verdict of guilt.”

How later courts described this case

  • stating that “it is well settled that in criminal cases[,] appeals lie from judgment of sentence rather than from the verdict of guilt.”
  • explaining that in criminal cases, appeals lie from judgment of sentence rather than from the verdict of guilt
  • stating that “in criminal cases appeals lie from judgment of sentence rather than from the verdict of guilt”
  • "[I]t is well settled that in criminal cases appeals lie from judgment of sentence rather than from the verdict of guilt[.]”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

OLSZEWSKI, Judge,

concurring and dissenting.

I wholeheartedly agree with the majority that the evidence presented was sufficient to convict appellant of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, and that Commonwealth v. Uhrinek, 518 Pa. 532 , 544 A.2d 947 (1988) provides a rule concerning the admissibility of evidence, and not the sufficiency of evidence. On the other hand, I respectfully disagree with the majority’s disposition of the homicide by vehicle charge as “surplusage.” In my opinion, that portion of the appeal dealing with the homicide by vehicle charge is subject to quashal and remand to the trial court for appropriate action. Upon filing of the notice of appeal, the trial court was divested of jurisdiction pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1701(a). Therefore, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the trial court retained jurisdiction to enter its order dated January 11, 1989. Accordingly, I cannot join in the comments set forth in footnote 1 of the majority opinion.

In the interest of judicial economy and prompt and effective disposition of cases, the better practice involving crimes arising from the same occurrence would be to argue and dispose of all post-verdict motions together. Since the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy mandates that such crimes be tried together, it logically follows that post-trial matters in such cases should be dealt with in one proceeding wherever possible. Had the trial court done so *527 in this case, we would not be faced with the procedural morass confronting us today.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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