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IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : : : v. : : VIENNA HEALTH PRODUCTS, INC. : : : GRAFTON DOWNS, : Appellant : COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. GRAFTON DOWNS, Appellant BEFORE: : : : : : : :

No. 780 C.D. 1998

No. 781 C.D. 1998 ARGUED: February 9, 1999

HONORABLE JAMES GARDNER COLINS, President Judge HONORABLE ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Judge HONORABLE EMIL E. NARICK, Senior Judge

OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE NARICK

FILED: March 10, 1999

The issue presented is whether Grafton Downs (Downs) may be ordered to pay the unpaid criminal fines levied against a now-defunct corporation, of which he was the sole shareholder, where Downs was separately charged with the same crimes as the corporation and was either acquitted or convicted and served his sentence. We conclude that Downs cannot be ordered to pay the

corporation's fines, and therefore reverse the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lawrence County (trial court). The relevant facts are as follows. In 1989, the Commonwealth filed separate criminal complaints against Downs and Vienna Health Products, Inc. (Vienna) for violations of the Solid Waste Management Act (Act), 1 stemming from an incident involving the mismanagement of hazardous waste. The complaint against Downs did not name Vienna as a defendant, nor did the complaint against Vienna name Downs as a defendant. shareholder of Vienna. Both Criminal Information No. 276, filed against Downs, and Criminal Information No. 280, filed against Vienna, charged the same four violations of the Act: Count I: An employee of Vienna Health Products, Inc. disposed of hazardous wastes ... in a manner not authorized by the rules and regulations of the DER, in violation of Section 401 of the Solid Waste Management Act ... 35 P.S.

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