Brown v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole
Brown v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole
Dissenting Opinion
DISSENTING OPINION BY
Respectfully, I dissent.
On page 11 of the transcript, the following evidence regarding Ms. Brown’s original statement appears:
Mr. Wolfe: (prosecuting for the Board) ... [D]id you not state that I felt he was going to hit me several times during this encounter, and feared that he will hit me in the future? And you indicated that you are afraid of him.
Ms. Brown: I was being emotional at that time.
Mr. Wolfe: But did you make that statement to us on August 10, 2001?
Ms. Brown: I thought that I had to write that down in order for you to talk to him....
While Ms. Brown may now claim that she had other motives for making her original statement, she does not deny that she originally made it. In Miller v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, 105 Pa.Cmwlth. 24, 522 A.2d 720 (1987), the issue was whether the Board of Probation and Parole (Board) erred in relying on a signed statement made under oath by the parolee’s girlfriend that he struck and bit her when the girlfriend recanted her statement at the revocation hearing. In deciding whether this evidence could support the revocation, we noted that it was an out-of-court statement made under oath at a time when the parolee had no opportunity to cross-examine her as to the accuracy of the charge. We observed in Miller, relying on Commonwealth v. Brady, 510 Pa. 128, 507 A.2d 66 (1986), the trend to consider a prior inconsistent statement of a declarant, who is a witness in a judicial proceeding and is available for cross-examination, as substantive evidence in a later proceeding. Miller extended the Brady holding to a situation where the initial signed statement given under oath is made in the context of investigation of a possible parole violation. We also noted in the Miller case that there were indicia of reliability regarding the signed out-of-court statement, including the fact that it was made under oath near the time of the incident. We additionally noted the relationship of the parties and held that the motivation of the parolee’s girlfriend was a proper consideration for the Board.
Accordingly, I would affirm its order.
. Substantial evidence is relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Chapman v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, 86 Pa.Cmwlth. 49, 484 A.2d 413 (1984).
Opinion of the Court
Nathaniel Brown petitions for review of a decision of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole that denied his administrative appeal of the Board’s decision to revoke his parole and sentence him to six months backtime. We reverse the Board.
Brown was serving a sentence of three to six years for possession of instruments of crime and terroristic threats and a separate sentence of three to six years for escape when he was released on parole on April 10, 2001. Upon his release, Brown began to work at two jobs in an effort to pay off his court-imposed fines and costs. On August 9, 2001 Brown became involved in an argument with his wife. He wanted to pay off his obligations to the court as quickly as possible and she wanted him to contribute more to the expenses of their household. Mrs. Brown personally reported the incident to Brown’s parole officer, Timothy Wolfe, on August 10, 2001. In a statement he prepared Agent Wolfe wrote
A parole violation hearing was held on September 20, 2001. Mrs. Brown was the only person to testify at that hearing. In her testimony Mrs. Brown again recanted everything she had said to Agent Wolfe on August 10, 2001 about Brown’s behavior on August 9. She stated again under oath that she did not think he would have hit her or hurt her in any way and that he did not prevent her from leaving the apartment. She testified that the only reason she said the things she said to Agent Wolfe was that she believed that Agent Wolfe would arrange marriage counseling for them. The Board, relying on Mrs. Brown’s statement as reported by Agent Wolfe and discounting her sworn affidavit and her testimony at the hearing, revoked Brown’s parole and sentenced him to six months backtime. This appeal followed.
The question we are asked to determine is whether the Board abused its discretion in finding that Brown violated his parole where the evidence presented is insufficient to support such a conclusion?
The Board relies on Miller v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, 105 Pa.Cmwlth. 24, 522 A.2d 720 (1987) to support its determination that Mrs. Brown’s prior inconsistent statement reported to the Board by Agent Wolfe is sufficient to prove that Brown committed a technical violation of his parole. Steven Miller was arrested and charged with violating section 5c of his parole
We find that Miller can easily be distinguished from this case. In Miller the Board was presented with Michelle Ward’s sworn statement made just after the incident with. Miller and her testimony recanting that statement at the hearing before the Board. Both of these pieces of evidence appear to be substantial evidence that the Board could weigh in making its determination. In the case before us the Board is presented with Agent Wolfe’s report of Mrs. Brown’s statement to him, her detailed sworn affidavit filed with Clerk of Courts of Allegheny County three days after she spoke with Agent Wolfe and her sworn testimony at the revocation hearing that is entirely consistent with her earlier sworn statement. The Board tells us in its brief that the initial oral report to Agent Wolfe had “greater weight and legitimacy” than her sworn statement and later testimony. The Board is free to consider all the evidence presented to it, but its determination must rest on a foundation of substantial evidence, Chapman.Our review of the record reveals that Agent Wolfe’s report of what he was told on August 10, 2001 pales in substance when viewed in the light of Mrs. Brown’s subsequent sworn affidavit and her testi
Accordingly, we reverse the order of the Board revoking Brown’s parole and sentencing him to six months backtime and order that he be released on parole forthwith.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 12th day of September 2002, it is ordered that the order of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole in this matter dated November 14, 2001 revoking Petitioner’s parole and sentencing him to six months backtime is hereby reversed. It is further ordered that he be released on parole forthwith.
. This document was referred to at the hearing but was never made a part of the record. In its brief the Board says that it is Mrs. Brown's statement made "In a letter dated August 10, 2001 ...” In his brief, Brown states that "Agent Wolfe prepared a written statement ...” We assume that it was initially an oral report because, in the transcript of the hearing, Agent Wolfe refers to it as a "statement made to us on August 10, 2001.”
. Our standard of review is limited to determining whether the Board’s adjudication is supported by substantial evidence, whether an error of law has been committed or whether the parolee’s constitutional rights have been violated. The revocation of parole is
. The same prohibition against assaultive behavior that Brown was alleged to have violated.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.