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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
BRANDON COFFEY :
:
Appellant : No. 3004 EDA 2016
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence August 18, 2016
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0002281-2016
MC-51-CR-002963-2016
BEFORE: PANELLA, J., STABILE, J., and PLATT, J.
MEMORANDUM BY PANELLA, J. FILED MARCH 06, 2018
Appellant, Brandon Coffey, was convicted of possession of a small
amount of marijuana, 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31), and possession of a
controlled substance, 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(16), after he was found to be in
possession of 0.195 grams of marijuana. The court sentenced Coffey to a
term of imprisonment of 11½ to 23 months on the possession of a controlled
substance conviction and imposed no further penalty on the possession of a
small amount of marijuana conviction. Both Coffey and the trial court now1
____________________________________________
Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
1Curiously, Coffey did not file a post-sentence motion raising the issue now
on appeal. As Coffey’s issue raises a sufficiency of the evidence claim,
however, we find his issue preserved for our review. See Pa.R.Crim.P.
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
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believe that his conviction for possession of a controlled substance was in
error, and ask us to vacate it.
In contrast, the Commonwealth asks us to overrule prior precedent of
this Court and affirm the conviction. In particular, the Commonwealth
presses us to overrule Commonwealth v. Tisdale, 100 A.3d 216 (Pa.
Super. 2014), appeal denied, 113 A.3d 280 (Pa. 2015), and
Commonwealth v. Gordon, 897 A.2d 504 (Pa. Super. 2006). This, of
course, we may not do. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Pepe, 897 A.2d 463,
465 (Pa. Super. 2006) (“It is beyond the power of a Superior Court panel to
overrule a prior decision of the Superior Court … except in circumstances
where intervening authority by our Supreme Court calls into question a
previous decision of this Court.”) The Commonwealth does not identify any
Supreme Court precedent that calls either decision into question. We are
thus bound to follow them.
Both decisions found the legislature intended 35 P.S. § 780-
113(a)(31), possession of a small amount of marijuana, to be the exclusive
statutory authority for prosecuting those who possess, with no indication of
intent to deliver, less than 30 grams of marijuana. See Tisdale, 100 A.3d at
(Footnote Continued) _______________________
606(A)(7). While there were no legal consequences for the failure to raise
this issue in a post-sentence motion, it is clear resolution of this case would
have occurred in a more timely fashion if the trial court had been alerted to
this issue prior to appeal. We further recognize that Coffey retained his
current counsel subsequent to the filing of this appeal.
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219 (“it is apparent that where both subsection (16) and (31) apply,
conviction properly rests on the specific charge found at subsection (31)”);
Gordon, 897 A.2d at 509 (“In our view, the General Assembly, by including
subsection (31) … wisely set out the specific crime of possession of a small
amount of marijuana, and created a graduated system of penalties that
imposes far heavier punishment for traffickers and lesser sanctions for
casual users of marijuana.”) As a result, both Coffey and the trial court are
correct in their belief that under Tisdale and Gordon, we must vacate the
judgment of sentence and remand for re-sentencing.
Even if we had the power to overrule Tisdale and Gordon, we would
not do so. The Commonwealth contends both cases ignored 42 Pa.C.S.A. §
9303 and are therefore invalid. Section 9303 provides that the
Commonwealth may prosecute a defendant “under all available statutory
criminal provisions without regard to the generality or specificity of the
statutes.” This Court has ratified the Commonwealth’s use of this power in
other contexts. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Kriegler, 127 A.3d 840, 844
(Pa. Super. 2015).
As the Commonwealth correctly notes, both Tisdale and Gordon rely,
at least partially, upon the specificity of subsection (31) in their holdings. Yet
this does not mean Tisdale and Gordon were wrongly decided. Subsection
(31) begins: “Notwithstanding other subsections of this section …”
“Notwithstanding” means “[d]espite; in spite of.” Black’s law Dictionary,
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1094 (8th ed. 2004). This introduction acts to negate the application of any
other subsection in cases where subsection (31) applies. See City of
Philadelphia v. Clement & Muller, Inc., 715 A.2d 397, 399 (Pa. 1998).
Consequently, even if Tisdale’s and Gordon’s reliance on the
specific/general rule was misplaced, their shared conclusion, that the
Legislature intended subsection (31) to be the exclusive means to prosecute
the possession of a small amount of marijuana, is undoubtedly correct. The
application of § 9303 does not affect that conclusion in any way.
As we conclude Coffey and the trial court are correct in their request
for a remand for resentencing, we reverse the conviction for possession of a
controlled substance, and vacate the sentence imposed for possession of a
small amount of marijuana. We remand for resentencing on the conviction
for possession of a small amount of marijuana.
Convictions affirmed in part and reversed in part. Judgment of
sentence vacated. Case remanded for resentencing. Jurisdiction
relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 3/6/18
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