Opinion
March 19, 1962.
April 12, 1962.
Motor Vehicles — Licenses — Suspension — Conviction of offense in another state — Sufficiency of notice of conviction.
On appeal from an order of the court below sustaining a suspension of a motor vehicle operator's license imposed by the Secretary of Revenue, it was Held that the notice of conviction of an offense in another state, which had on it the fact that appellant was arrested, that he paid a specified fine, and the date of his conviction, was sufficient.
Before RHODES, P.J., ERVIN, WRIGHT, WOODSIDE, WATKINS, MONTGOMERY, and FLOOD, JJ.
Appeal, No. 244, Oct. T., 1961, from order of Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, Misc. Docket No. 11730, in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Paul Hogan. Order confirmed.
Appeal by licensee from decision of Secretary of Revenue suspending operator's license.
Order entered dismissing appeal, opinion by LICHTENFELD, J. Licensee appealed.
William L. McLaughlin, for appellant.
Elmer T. Bolla, Deputy Attorney General, with him David Stahl, Attorney General, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Argued March 19, 1962.
This appeal is from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County sustaining a suspension imposed by the Secretary of Revenue.
The suspension was based on § 618(e) of The Vehicle Code of 1959, P.L. 58, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 618, which provides that, "The secretary is hereby authorized . . . to suspend the operator's license . . . of any person licensed in this commonwealth, upon receiving notice of the conviction of such person in another state of an offense therein which, if committed in this commonwealth, would be grounds for the suspension or revocation of the license of an operator."
On April 5, 1960, the appellant was charged with traveling 66 miles per hour in a 50 mile per hour zone in Mansfield Township, New Jersey. On or about April 13, 1960, he voluntarily paid the fine for that charge. The secretary received notice of this conviction on May 3, 1960, and after holding a hearing, suspended the appellant's license for a period of one month.
The only question raised on this appeal is the sufficiency of the notice of conviction sent by the State of New Jersey. Although the notice was lost after the hearing in the court below, an examination of the record of that hearing convinces us that the notice of conviction was sufficient. The notice had on it the fact that appellant was arrested, that he paid a fine of $15 and that the date of conviction was 4/16/60. This notice meets the standards of sufficiency that we established in similar cases. See Commonwealth v. Halteman, 192 Pa. Super. 379, 162 A.2d 251 (1960); Witsch Motor Vehicle Operator License Case, 194 Pa. Super. 384, 168 A.2d 772 (1961).
Order affirmed.