Commonwealth v. Pride
Commonwealth v. Pride
Opinion of the Court
Appellant contends that the Commonwealth did not present sufficient evidence to convict him of indecent assault
Appellant was charged with indecent assault and rape. The public defender represented appellant at his preliminary hearing, arraignment, and trial.
Appellant’s first contention is that there was insufficient evidence to support the rape conviction. In reviewing the record to determine whether the evidence supports the verdict, our courts view the evidence and all reasonable inferences derived therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner. Commonwealth v. Fortune, 456 Pa. 365, 318 A.2d 327 (1974). Further, the testimony of one witness, the victim, is sufficient to sustain a rape conviction. Johnson Appeal, 445 Pa. 270, 284 A.2d 780 (1971); Commonwealth v. Crider, 240 Pa.Super. 403, 361 A.2d 352 (1976). In the instant case, the victim testified that appellant placed a pillow over her face when she refused to remove her clothes and threatened to harm her and her baby if she resisted. She also stated that she only screamed once because appellant ordered her to stop and she feared his threats. We agree with the lower court that the victim’s testimony demonstrated sufficient lack of consent to sustain the verdict.
Appellant’s second contention is that the lower court lacked statutory authority to require him to reimburse the public defender for its services. We believe that our Supreme Court has clearly determined that there is no statutory authority to support the lower court’s order. Commonwealth v. Terry, 470 Pa. 234, 368 A.2d 279 (1977). In Terry, the Commonwealth charged appellant with possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to deliver and the court appointed a public defender to represent him. After acquittal of all charges, the trial court ordered the defendant to repay the city of Philadelphia $300.00 for the public defender’s services. Our Supreme Court held that the
The lower court reasons that the trial court’s reimbursement order was valid because it constituted a fine. However, calling the reimbursement order a fine does not provide statutory authority for the order. Although directing payment to Philadelphia County, the order is specifically designated “for attorneys fees for services of the Voluntary Defender Association.” As our Court has stated, “attorneys fees are not ‘costs’ absent a statutory provision giving them that character.” Commonwealth v. Opara, 240 Pa.Super. 511 at 517, n. 13, 362 A.2d 305 at 308, n. 13 (1975). Additionally, such orders may only be entered in response to a petition of the county that paid for the attorney’s services. Commonwealth v. Terry, supra, 470 Pa. at 236, 368 A.2d at 280.
The Dissent attempts to distinguish Terry from the instant case on the basis of this appellant’s conviction. Thus, the Dissent reasons that the trial court’s reimbursement order constitutes a condition of probation or a fine.
Characterizing the repayment order as a probation condition or fine is an attempt to transform a statutorily unauthorized repayment into a permissible order. Our Court, however, has rejected thinly veiled efforts to evade statutory procedures for restitution. Commonwealth v. Martin, 233 Pa.Super. 231, 335 A.2d 424 (1975).
There is no statutory authority to support the lower court’s order of reimbursement to the public defender. Commonwealth v. Terry, supra. Accordingly, we vacate the lower court order of repayment of $500.00 to the use of the county for services rendered by the Voluntary Defender Association.
. The Crimes Code, Act of December 6, 1972, P.L. 1482, No. 334, § 1; 18 Pa.C.S. § 3126.
. The Crimes Code, supra; 18 Pa.C.S. § 3121.
. Pa.R.Crim.P.; 19 P.S. Appendix 318 (1977) provides procedures for court appointment of counsel for indigent defendants.
. On October 15, 1975, the lower court sentenced appellant as follows: “One year reporting probation. Sentence suspended and, Defendant to pay ($500.00) Five Hundred Dollars to use of County for Attorneys Fees for services of the Voluntary Defender Association.”
. Act of January 19, 1968, P.L. (1967) 984, § 3; 19 P.S. § 793 (Supp. 1977-78).
. Moreover, the Public Defender Act, establishing public defender offices to represent the indigent accused, is specifically inapplicable to the City of Philadelphia. Public Defender Act, December 2, 1968, P.L. 1144, No. 358, §§ 1-13, § 3; 16 P.S. §§ 9960.1-9960.13, § 9960.3 (Supp.1977-78).
. The Dissent discusses Commonwealth v. Opara, supra, which outlined procedures and standards for determining whether a defendant can financially afford the cost of reimbursing court appointed counsel. However, as our Court recognized in Opara, absent a statute authorizing reimbursement for counsel services, such orders are invalid. Opara, supra, at 517, 362 A.2d at 308.
. Act of August 6, 1941, P.L. 861, § 25; 61 P.S. § 331.25.
. The Crimes Code, Act of December 6, 1972, P.L. 1482, No. 334, § 1, added December 30, 1974, P.L. 1052, No. 345, § 1; 18 Pa.C.S. § 1354(c)(13) (Supp. 1977-78) provides that a court may order a defendant “to satisfy any other conditions reasonably related to the rehabilitation of the defendant and not unduly restrictive of his liberty . . . .”
. See note 4, supra.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I disagree with the Majority’s decision to vacate that part of appellant’s sentence which requires appellant to pay
In Commonwealth v. Martin, 233 Pa.Super. 231, 335 A.2d 424 (1975), a common pleas court judge in Bucks County, after finding indigency, granted a defendant’s application for assignment of counsel. The defendant was tried and found guilty and was ordered by the trial judge (a judge other than the one who had granted the application for assignment of counsel), to pay a fine of $5,000, an amount which the judge stated would represent “the minimal fee that [the defendant would] have paid to private counsel for the able representation that he received . . . .” The trial court made no fresh inquiry into the defendant’s financial condition, and had before it only such information as had been available to the judge who had made the finding of indigency—information which indicated that the defendant had only a 1964 automobile worth approximately $200, plus $358 in cash and savings, and was unemployed and initially unable to even make bail. In addition to (in effect) overruling another lower court judge’s finding of indigency without making a fresh inquiry into the defendant’s financial condition, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to a term of imprisonment, thereby, our court noted, further curtailing the defendant’s ability to pay a $5,000 fine. We vacated that portion of the judgment of sentence which required the defendant to pay a fine.
A year after the Martin decision, our court confronted a similar problem in Commonwealth v. Opara, 240 Pa.Super. 511, 362 A.2d 305 (1976). In Opara, a Philadelphia trial judge had sentenced a defendant to pay $750 without 60 days to the City of Philadelphia for use of the Philadelphia Defender Association, or spend 30 days in jail for contempt. Our court vacated the sentence. In Opara, as in Martin, no support could be found in the record for a finding of ability to pay; furthermore, in Opara the lower court denied the defendant the opportunity to be heard and to present evidence on the question of his indigency.
The question remains whether the lower court had the authority to order appellant to reimburse the county for the services of the public defender’s office. The Acts of 1909
In the case before us, the lower court held a hearing prior to sentencing to inquire into appellant’s financial resources.
. Act of May 10, 1909, P.L. 495, § 1, 19 P.S. § 1081 (1964).
. Act of June 19, 1911, P.L. 1055, § 1, as amended May 7, 1925, P.L. 554, No. 297, § 1, 19 P.S. § 1051 (1964).
. Act of August 6, 1941, P.L. 861, § 25, 61 P.S. § 331.25 (1964).
. In Commonwealth v. Terry, 470 Pa. 234, 368 A.2d 279 (1977), our Supreme Court vacated a lower court order requiring an accused who had been found innocent to reimburse the City of Philadelphia for services provided the accused by the public defender’s office. The Supreme Court noted that the lower court had cited no authority for its actions, and that the authority proposed by the district attorney, § 3 of the Act of January 19, 1968, P.L. (1967) 984, 19 P.S. § 793, was by its own terms inapplicable. Terry, of course, involved a situation totally different from the one in the case before us; the appellant in Terry had not been found guilty and therefore could not have been placed on probation. The statutes (the Act of 1941 and § 1354 of the Sentencing Code) upon which 1 would rely in affirming the lower court’s sentence in the case before us would not have been applicable in the Terry case.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Marshall PRIDE, Appellant
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published