Brown v. Commonwealth, Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Brown v. Commonwealth, Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole, 491 Pa. 411 (Pa. 1980)
421 A.2d 203; 1980 Pa. LEXIS 870
Brien, Flaherty, Kauffman, Larsen, Nix, Roberts

Brown v. Commonwealth, Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole

Opinion of the Court

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

The order of the Commonwealth Court is affirmed.

ROBERTS, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which NIX, J., joins.

Dissenting Opinion

ROBERTS, Justice,

dissenting.

I dissent from the summary affirmance of an order of the Commonwealth Court denying pro se appellant Roy Brown’s petition for review of a Board of Probation and Parole’s recomputation of sentence. The matter should first be remanded for a determination of whether there has been an “intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right” to counsel. See Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938); Commonwealth v. Cooney, 439 Pa. 324, 266 A.2d 650 (1970) (record remanded for determination whether pro se PCHA appellant knowingly waived right to counsel); see also Bronson v. Pa. Board of Probation and Parole, 492 Pa. -, 421 A.2d 1021 (1980) (indigent parole violator seeking review of Board determination entitled to counsel).

NIX, J., joins this dissenting opinion.

Reference

Full Case Name
Roy A. BROWN v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF PROBATION AND PAROLE
Status
Published