Commonwealth v. Holcomb
Commonwealth v. Holcomb
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Appellant contends that the lower court erred in refusing a request for a withdrawal of his guilty pleas prior to sentencing.
Appellant pleaded guilty to burglary, larceny, aggravated assault and battery, robbery and conspiracy. The trial court conducted an extensive colloquy consuming over 28 pages of the notes of testimony, and being satisfied that the plea was being tendered knowingly and voluntarily, accepted the pleas of guilty, but deferred sentencing pending a pre-sentence investigation. On June 8, 1973, two months after the appellant entered his guilty plea to said charges, the appellant appeared in court for sentencing. At this time, appellant’s counsel informed the sentencing judge that the appellant wished to withdraw his guilty plea. The request was denied, and appellant was sentenced. Appellant immediately took an appeal to this Court, and we remanded the case to the lower court by a Per Curi-am Opinion dated November 8,1973, with direction that appellant’s counsel prepare a proper brief on the submitted issues.
Appellant argues that under Commonwealth v. Forbes, 450 Pa. 185, 299 A. 2d 268 (1973), he is entitled to a withdrawal of his guilty plea. In Forbes, our Supreme Court recognized that withdrawal of a guilty plea is within the sound discretion of the trial court, but stated that “a request made before sentencing . . . should be liberally allowed . . . .”, and, that such a request when supported by “any fair and just reason” should not be denied “unless the prosecution has been substantially prejudiced by reliance upon the defendant’s plea.” Forbes, at 190, 191, citing ABA Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to Pleas of Guilty §2.1 (b) (Approved Draft, 1968).
Judgment of sentence is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.