Superior Court 1/3/2008 - COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA vs. HOPE L. WILLIAMS -

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA vs. HOPE L. WILLIAMS
No. 827 WDA 2006 2008 PA Super 6 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 1/3/2008
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence April 5, 2006 In the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer County Criminal, No. 920 Criminal 2005
Before: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J., MUSMANNO, ORIE MELVIN, LALLY-GREEN, TODD, BOWES, GANTMAN, McCAFFERY, AND DANIELS, JJ.
Opinion by: GANTMAN, J.
Appellant, Hope L. Williams, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas, following her convictions for driving under the influence (“DUI”) and careless driving . Specifically, Appellant asks us to determine whether the trial court erred when it denied her omnibus pre-trial suppression motion, where there was insufficient probable cause to arrest Appellant for DUI, and her incriminating statements were elicited before she was given proper Miranda warnings. We are also asked to decide whether the court has the statutory authority to impose a sentence under the Intermediate Punishment Program (“IPP”), in light of the mandatory sentencing provisions of the DUI statute, which call for a fixed term of imprisonment. We hold, under the totality of the circumstances, there was probable cause to arrest Appellant for DUI; Appellant was not “in custody” for purposes of Miranda when she made incriminating statements; and the court had the statutory authority and discretion to sentence Appellant to IPP, if both Appellant and the program qualified. Accordingly, we affirm.