Com. v. Vrudney, J., 1435 WDA 2016

On June 23, 2012, Andrew Lysell died after being struck by a pickup driven by Jacob Vrudney following an earlier crash of a Lincoln driven by Michael Kralovic; both Kralovic and Vrudney were 18 and had been drinking.
Kralovic lost control of the Lincoln while eastbound, which overturned and came to rest in the eastbound lane; Lysell exited that vehicle and stood in the westbound lane.
Vrudney, driving a Ford S-10 at ~78 mph in a 45 mph zone, sideswiped the overturned Lincoln and struck Lysell, who was thrown ~30 yards and suffered fatal injuries.
Blood tests showed Vrudney’s BAC at 0.154% and Kralovic’s at 0.135% within two hours of operating their vehicles.
Vrudney was convicted by a jury of homicide by vehicle while DUI (mandatory 3–6 years), homicide by vehicle, multiple DUI counts, reckless driving, and related offenses; the trial court denied post-sentence relief and this appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for homicide by vehicle while DUI	Commonwealth: evidence (Vrudney’s DUI conviction, BAC, speed, collision facts) establishes each element and that DUI was a direct cause of death.	Vrudney: he was not the direct cause; Kralovic’s crash put Lysell in the road, so convictions for both are inconsistent and insufficient.	Affirmed: viewing evidence in Commonwealth’s favor, sufficient proof that Vrudney’s DUI was a direct cause of Lysell’s death.
Weight of the evidence for homicide by vehicle while DUI	Commonwealth: the factual and expert testimony supported the jury’s credibility choices.	Vrudney: verdict is against weight because both drivers were held directly responsible, rendering the result inconsistent and shocking to the conscience.	Affirmed: trial court did not abuse discretion; evidence was not so tenuous or contrary as to shock the court.

Commonwealth v. Moyer, 171 A.3d 849 (Pa. Super. 2017) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Commonwealth v. Tanner, 61 A.3d 1043 (Pa. Super. 2013) (elements of homicide by vehicle while DUI)
Commonwealth v. Caine, 683 A.2d 890 (Pa. Super. 1996) (elements discussion cited in Tanner)
Commonwealth v. Thompson, 106 A.3d 742 (Pa. Super. 2014) (standard for weight-of-the-evidence review)
Alleyne v. United States, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (U.S. 2013) (limits on judicial factfinding that increases mandatory sentences)
Commonwealth v. Hopkins, 117 A.3d 247 (Pa. 2015) (invalidating certain mandatory sentencing provisions post-Alleyne)
Commonwealth v. Wolfe, 140 A.3d 651 (Pa. 2016) (invalidating other mandatory sentencing provisions post-Alleyne)
Commonwealth v. Mosley, 114 A.3d 1072 (Pa. Super. 2015) (discussing court’s ability to address sentencing constitutional issues sua sponte)
Commonwealth v. Resto, 125 A.3d 449 (Pa. Super. 2015) (ongoing state review of mandatory minimum sentencing issues)