Commonwealth v. Louden

SUBMITTED: May 2, 2000 OPINION This appeal raises the issue of whether the Commonwealth violated Larry Louden's (Appellant's) right to due process of law by delaying indictment of him for four years on charges relating to the sexual abuse of a minor. We granted allowance of appeal, along with the case of Commonwealth v. Scher, ___ A.2d ___ (Pa. ___), to clarify the standard for claims of deprivation of due process based on pre-indictment delay. Factual and Procedural Background Appellant and his wife (the Loudens) operated a day care facility from their home. In May and June of 1986, six-year old M.S. was in the care of Appellant. In 1987, the Loudens were charged with endangering the welfare of children in connection with allegations of abuse of children in their care. None of the allegations in that case involved M.S. Prior to trial, the Commonwealth sought permission to videotape the testimony of three child witnesses, pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 5984, and to have this videotaped testimony presented at trial, or to have the children present live testimony via closed-circuit television, pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 5985(a). The trial court granted permission, and the Commonwealth presented the videotaped testimony of the child witnesses at trial. On May 8, 1988, the jury convicted the Loudens of endangering the welfare of children. The Loudens filed post-sentence motions, however, claiming that the statutory provisions that authorized the admission of the videotaped testimony violated their rights to face-to-face confrontation of witnesses, as guaranteed by Article I, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The trial court agreed, declared the statutory provisions unconstitutional, and granted the Loudens a new trial. In September of 1989, the Commonwealth appealed the trial court's ruling to this Court, which assumed jurisdiction and retained the case for the next five years. See Commonwealth v. Louden, 638 A.2d 953 (Pa. 1994).