Commonwealth v. Sumpter
Commonwealth v. Sumpter
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Appellant Bernell Sumpter, was charged with sodomy, rape, robbery, armed robbery, indecent assault, indecent liberties and corrupting the morals of a minor. He waived trial by jury, and on January 16, 1970, was adjudged guilty on all counts; he was sentenced to an aggregate term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years in prison. No post-trial motions were filed.
Following his finding the appellant guilty on all counts, the trial judge advised appellant of his right to file post-trial motions within 7 days and of his right to be afforded counsel for that purpose. After an off-the-record discussion between appellant and his court-appointed counsel, the record indicates the following colloquy: “Mr. Baxter [Counsel for Appellant]: Your Honor, the defendant has asked me to put on the record at this time that he would prefer to be sentenced right now rather than have a pre-sentence investigation. The Court: That is his desire, is this correct? The Defendant: Yes, sir. The Court: Mr. Sumpter, you fully understand your right to file post-conviction motions within a period of seven days, you fully understand that? The Defendant: Yes, sir. The Court: You understand that you would have a right to ask for a new trial and allege any errors that may have been made in the trial, do you understand that? The Defendant: Yes, sir. The Court: Are you telling this Court that you don’t want to do that? The Defendant: No, sir. The Court: Is it your desire to be sentenced now? The Defendant: Yes, sir. . . .” (N.T. 175-76) Sentence was imposed, and appellant was advised by the court of his right to appeal from the sentence within 15 days. No post-trial motions were filed. During all of the
Subsequently, in three letters dated January 28, 1970, February 6, and March 8, appellant advised the trial judge that he wished to exercise his right of appeal. As the trial judge was on vacation during this time, these letters were not brought to his attention until after the expiration of the 45-day period. On March 16, 1970, a letter was forwarded to the office of the Public Defender by Harry Segal, Chief Minute Clerk, advising of appellant’s desire to have counsel appointed to prosecute his appeal.
On April 9, 1970, an appeal from the judgment of sentence was filed in this Court. On December 14, 1970, appellant’s petition to remand to the lower court for the purpose of filing a motion for a new trial was granted. This remand was administrative and was in no way determinative on the question of waiver.
Motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment were filed on January 4, 1971. On March 24, 1971, these motions were withdrawn so that all challenges could be heard on a P.C.H.A. petition. The evidentiary hearing on appellant’s post-conviction petition was held on May 6, 1971.
As appellant’s petition is no model of specificity,
2. His identification was tainted by a line-up at which he was uncounseled;
3. Perjured testimony was used against him;
4. Counsel was ineffective.
With the exception of the claim of ineffective counsel, all of these issues may be deemed either waived or finally litigated under Section 4 of the Post Conviction Hearing Act if appellant intelligently waived his right to file post-trial motions.
The judicial presumption is always against the waiver of rights, particularly rights so basic as the opportunity to challenge one’s conviction. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S. Ct. 1019 (1938); Commonwealth v. Norman, 447 Pa. 217, 285 A. 2d 523 (1971). And under no circumstances will a waiver be inferred from a silent record. Commonwealth ex rel. Goodfellow v. Rundle, 415 Pa. 528, 204 A. 2d 446 (1964). However, where the record indicates that every reasonable safeguard was exercised to assure that a decision to waive was not provoked by either ignorance of the consequences or physical or psychological duress, we are justified in foreclosing the later assertion of claims affected by that waiver.
In Commonwealth v. Boyd, supra,
As to appellant’s claim that counsel was ineffective, we perceive nothing in either the trial transcript or the evidence adduced at the P.C.H.A. hearing which would indicate inadequate advocacy according to the standards promulgated in Commonwealth ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, 427 Pa. 599, 235 A. 2d 349 (1967). Counsel’s actions were qMte reasonable with regard to the handling of the trial generally as well as to appellant’s waiver of post-trial motions.
For the aforegoing reasons, we conclude that the court below was correct in limiting relief to allowance to appeal the legality of the sentence, nunc pro tunc.
Order affirmed.
Act of January 25, 1966, P. L. (1965) 1580, 19 P.S. §1180 et seq.
Appellant alleged the following in his petition:
1. denial of his right to appeal;
2. his privilege against self-incrimination had been abridged; and
3. a right guaranteed by the Constitution or laws of the United States or Pennsylvania had been abridged.
He supports this claim by his assertion that “signs” were being exchanged among the Commonwealth’s witnesses and/or counsel.
The filing of post-trial motions is a prerequisite to an appeal in a criminal case. Commonwealth v. Whiting, 205 Pa. Superior Ct. 92, 208 A. 2d 1 (1965).
See also U.S. ex rel. Boyd v. Rundle, 437 1\ 2d 405 (1970).
Although the P.C.H.A. judge believed that appellant was precluded from attaching his conviction collaterally by his failure to timely file post-trial motions, he proceeded to determine the substantive claims raised by appellant’s petition as if there had been no waiver. We concur in the court’s determination of those claims adversely to the appellant.
Concurring Opinion
While I agree with the result reached by the majority, I believe that the route taken in reaching this result is erroneous and will briefly state my reasons.
The majority holds that appellant’s waiver of his right to file post-tidal motions automatically operated as a waiver of his right to raise allegations of trial error on direct appeal
Since the waiver of appellant’s right to file post-trial motions was not made with full awareness of the consequences thereof, the hearing judge should have allowed the filing of these motions nunc pro tunc and a direct appeal would have followed the denial. See Commonwealth v. Taylor, 439 Pa. 321, 266 A. 2d 676 (1970).
The hearing judge below, stating that “it is not clear that [appellant’s] failure to file motions did not
Commonwealth v. Whiting, 205 Pa. Superior Ct. 92, 208 A. 2d 1 (1965).
Commonwealth v. Boyd, 435 Pa. 152, 254 A. 2d 626 (1969).
Act of January 25, 1986, P. L. (1965) 1580, §4, 19 P.S. §1180-4.
Reference
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- Commonwealth v. Sumpter, Appellant
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