Commonwealth v. Petroll
Pennsylvania Superior Court
696 A.2d 817 (1997)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Frederick Petroll (defendant) was charged with vehicular homicide after he failed to sufficiently brake his tractor trailer and it ran into stopped cars, killing three people. Petroll acknowledged that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. A sign on the road before the accident’s location warned drivers of a congested area ahead. At the time of the accident, the road had only one such sign. After the accident, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation added additional warning signs leading to the congested area. The trial granted the motion in limine of the prosecution (plaintiff) to exclude evidence of the added signs. At trial, the prosecution presented evidence that brake lights from the cars that Petroll hit could be seen 1,500 feet away but that Petroll applied the brakes only 36 feet away from the cars. Petroll was convicted of vehicular homicide, which meant that he was found to have caused the deaths while violating Pennsylvania’s Motor Vehicle Code. Petroll appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cercone, J.)
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