drivers license - suspension - extraordinary delay between conviction and suspension

Commonwealth, Dept. of Transportation v. Middaugh – Pa. S.Ct. – January 20,2021

 

Majority         http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-7-2020mo%20-%20104664745125444695.pdf?cb=1

Concur           http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-7-2020cdo%20-%20104664745125444731.pdf?cb=1

Dissent   http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-7-2020do%20-%20104664745125444810.pdf?cb=1

 

 

Held: 

Trial court upholding driver appeal affirmed. In reaching its holding, the court relied on Gingrich v. PennDOT, 134 A.3d 528 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016), which set forth the following rule for situations where the delay is attributable to a court clerk rather than PennDOT: 

[W]here . . . a licensee is able to demonstrate all of the following: [(1)] a conviction that is not reported for an extraordinarily extended period of time; [(2)] the licensee has [no further violations of the Vehicle Code] for an extended period; and [(3)] prejudice, it may be appropriate for common pleas to grant relief. 

Id. at 535. Applying the standard, the trial court found that the 28-month delay was extraordinary, Appellee did not have any further violations during that period, and Appellee had demonstrated he would be prejudiced by the lateness of the suspension, particularly in view of his medical condition and the impact a suspension would have on it. 

 

res judicata (claim preclusion) and collateral estoppel (issue preclusion)

In re Coatesville Area School District – Pa. S.Ct. – January 19,2021 

http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-72-2020mo%20-%20104664752125446022.pdf?cb=1

 

This is a tax assessment case, not really relevant to legal aid practice, but it contains a nice summary of the doctrine of res judicata (claim preclusion) and collateral estoppel (issue preclusion).

 

++++++++++++++++

Res judicata – literally, a thing adjudicated – is a judicially-created doctrine. See Estate of Bell, 463 Pa. 109, 113, 343 A.2d 679, 681 (1975). It bars actions on a claim, or any part of a claim, which was the subject of a prior action, or could have been raised in that action. See R/S Financial Corp. v. Kovalchick, 552 Pa. 584, 588, 716 A.2d 1228, 1230 (1998); Balent v. City of Wilkes-Barre, 542 Pa. 555, 563, 669 A.2d 309, 313 (1995). This Court has explained that 

[r]es judicata, or claim preclusion, prohibits parties involved in prior, concluded litigation from subsequently asserting claims in a later action that were raised, or could have been raised, in the previous adjudication. The doctrine of res judicata developed to shield parties from the burden of re-litigating a claim with the same parties, or a party in privity with an original litigant, and to protect the judiciary from the corresponding inefficiency and confusion that re-litigation of a claim would breed. 

Wilkes ex rel. Mason v. Phoenix Home Life Mut. Ins. Co., 587 Pa. 590, 607, 902 A.2d 366, 376 (2006) (citation omitted); see also R/S Financial, 552 Pa. at 588, 716 A.2d at 1230 (“The purposes of the rule are the protection of the litigant from the dual burden of relitigating an issue with the same party or his privy and the promotion of judicial economy through prevention of needless litigation.” (quoting Foster v. Mut. Fire, Marine & Inland Ins. Co., 544 Pa. 387, 404, 676 A.2d 652, 661 (1996))).

Four elements common to both actions, sometimes termed the “four identities,” see, e.g., Estate of Tower, 463 Pa. 93, 100, 343 A.2d 671, 674 (1975), must be present for res judicata to apply: “an identity of issues, an identity of causes of action, identity of persons and parties to the action, and identity of the quality or capacity of the parties suing or being sued.” In re Iulo, 564 Pa. 205, 210, 766 A.2d 335, 337 (2001) (citing Safeguard Mut. Ins. Co. v. Williams, 463 Pa. 567, 574, 345 A.2d 664, 668 (1975)). 

Collateral estoppel is similar in that it bars re-litigation of an issue that was decided in a prior action, although it does not require that the claim as such be the same. For example, if, in a breach of contract action, the defendant asserts that the contract is invalid because of fraud, but the contract is ruled valid and the defendant is found liable, in a future lawsuit against the same party alleging a separate breach of the same contract the defendant is precluded from asserting the invalidity of the contract based on fraud. SeeRESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF JUDGMENTS §27, cmt. a, illus. 2 (1982). 

Collateral estoppel will only apply where: the issue is the same as in the prior litigation; the prior action resulted in a final judgment on the merits; the party against whom the doctrine is asserted was a party or in privity with a party to the prior action; and the party against whom the doctrine is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the prior action. See Rue v. K-Mart Corp., 552 Pa. 13, 17, 713 A.2d 82, 84 (1998). In some renditions, courts add a fifth element, namely, that resolution of the issue in the prior proceeding was essential to the judgment. See, e.g., Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Kiesewetter, 585 Pa. 477, 484, 889 A.2d 47, 50-51 (2005). 

Collateral estoppel is premised on practical considerations that overlap substantially with those of res judicata. These include avoiding the “cost and vexation” of repetitive litigation, conserving judicial resources, “and, by preventing inconsistent decisions, encourage[ing] reliance on adjudication.” Id. at 484, 889 A.2d at 51.