The defendant, Rebecca J. Roach, has filed a motion to quash the information against her contending that if she is tried on the charges contained in the information that she will have been twice placed in jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1 §10 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Concluding that her trial will not offend the principles of double jeopardy, the defendant’s motion will be denied.
The defendant was charged on July 27, 1991, with driving under the influence of alcohol; possessing altered, forged or counterfeit documents (a certificate of title); violation of the financial responsibility law; driving an unregistered vehicle; failure to stop at the scene of an accident; and driving under suspension. At her preliminary hearing, the district justice found the de
The U.S. Supreme Court in deciding the case of Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), created a test which involves a comparison of the statutory elements of the crimes disposed of and the pending charges. If each crime contains a statutory element which the other does not, then the constitutional ban against double jeopardy has not been breached. Without unnecessary elaboration, it is clear after comparing the elements of driving under suspension with the other charges brought against Ms. Roach that the Bloclcburger test has been met, since driving under suspension contains as an element of proof, the suspension of the defendant’s license, which is not material to the other charges; and the other charges require proof of being under the influence of alcohol, alteration of documents, lack of financial responsibility, lack of registration, and failure to stop respectively, which are not elements of driving under suspension.
In 1990, the Supreme Court announced the additional test set forth in Grady. “We hold that the Double
The defendant’s view of Grady and its effect is misplaced. The defendant seems to believe that since driving a motor vehicle is one of the elements of driving under suspension as well as an element of driving under the influence and some of the other remaining charges, that the existence of this one common element prevents the Commonwealth from passing the Grady test. The fallacy of this reasoning can be pointed out by noting that the defendant was not prosecuted for driving an automobile, nor could she have been prosecuted for that alone, the conduct which constituted the prior offense was driving under suspension, and nothing less. Since the Commonwealth need not prove that the defendant was driving under suspension to convict the defendant on the remaining charges in the information, the defendant will not be placed in double jeopardy. See also Commonwealth v. Adams, 406 Pa. Super. 493, 594 A.2d 727 (1991).
ORDER OF COURT
And now, January 14,1992, the defendant’s motion to quash the information is denied.
