Adams v. PENNSYLVANIA BD. OF PROBATION

• Decision Date: 01 November 2005
• Parties: Raymond ADAMS, Petitioner v. PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF PROBATION AND PAROLE, Respondent.
• Court: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

885 A.2d 1121

Raymond ADAMS, Petitioner v. PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF PROBATION AND PAROLE, Respondent.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted on Briefs July 29, 2005.

Decided November 1, 2005.

David Crowley, Bellefonte, for petitioner.

Arthur R. Thomas, Asst. Counsel and Victoria S. Freimuth, Chief Counsel, Harrisburg, for respondent.

BEFORE: SMITH-RIBNER, Judge, and SIMPSON, Judge, and JIULIANTE, Senior Judge.

OPINION BY Judge SIMPSON.

Raymond Adams petitions for review from the denial of administrative relief by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (Board) that recommitted him to state prison as a convicted parole violator to serve the remainder of his unexpired term. In addition, Adams' appointed appeal counsel, David Crowley, Esquire (Counsel) of the Centre County Public Defender's Office, petitions for leave to withdraw his appearance. We affirm the Board's order and grant Counsel's application for leave to withdraw.

Adams originally received a sentence of two-and-a-half to five years imprisonment for burglary. On November 27, 2000, the Board paroled Adams to a rehabilitation and diagnostic center with a maximum sentence date of May 23, 2003.

On February 8, 2003, Adams was involved in a domestic disturbance. Although the police were involved, Adams was neither arrested nor charged with a parole violation by his parole officer. Following this incident, Adams successfully completed his parole.

Nearly three months after his maximum sentence date expired, however, the Philadelphia Police Department arrested Adams as a result of the February 8, 2003 incident. Following his arrest, the Philadelphia Police Department charged Adams with multiple criminal offenses.

Adams subsequently pled guilty to several of the charges, and, in return, received a 23-month prison sentence with immediate parole to in-home detention and subsequent probation. After receiving verification of Adams' convictions, the Board arrested Adams for multiple parole violations and conducted a parole revocation hearing at which Adams was represented by Hindi S. Kranzel, Esquire (revocation hearing counsel). Following the hearing, the Board ordered Adams recommitted to serve the remainder of his original sentence—two years, five months, and twenty-six days—as a convicted parole violator. The Board also recalculated Adams' maximum sentence date to October 22, 2006.

Thereafter, Adams filed a request for administrative relief, which the Board denied. Adams appealed to this Court,¹ and Counsel filed an application to withdraw. In his petition for review, Adams argues the Board lacked jurisdiction to revoke his parole because his convictions occurred after the expiration of his maximum sentence date. In addition, he asserts revocation hearing counsel was ineffective because she failed to object to the Board's alleged lack of jurisdiction. Counsel asserts these arguments are wholly frivolous, and, therefore, he should be permitted to withdraw.

Before reviewing the merits of Adams' appeal, we must decide whether Counsel should be permitted to withdraw. We have held an indigent parolee's right to assistance of counsel does not entitle the parolee to representation by appointed counsel to prosecute a frivolous appeal. Presley v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 737 A.2d 858 (Pa.Cmwlth.1999). Consequently, court appointed counsel may seek to withdraw if counsel concludes, after a thorough review of the record, the appeal is wholly frivolous. Id. An appeal is "wholly frivolous" when it completely lacks factual or legal reasons that might arguably support the appeal. Id.

First, we examine whether Counsel satisfied the technical requirements set forth in Craig v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 93 Pa.Cmwlth. 586, 502 A.2d 758 (1985). Pursuant to Craig, Counsel must notify the parolee of his request to withdraw, furnish the parolee a copy of an Anders² brief or a Turner³ "no-merit" letter and advise the parolee of his right to retain new counsel or raise any points he may deem worthy of consideration. If counsel provides an Anders brief to his client, the brief must contain, at a minimum, the list of issues raised by the parolee and an explanation of why those issues are without merit.

Here, Counsel notified Adams of his request to withdraw and advised Adams of his right to file a brief on his own behalf or retain new counsel. Further, Counsel served Adams with a copy of his petition to withdraw and a copy of his Anders brief. Accordingly, Counsel complied with the technical requirements set forth in Craig.

In his Anders brief, Counsel provided a thorough discussion examining both of the issues raised by Adams in his petition for review. A review of Counsel's brief convinces us he engaged in a careful review of the record and relevant authority.

Counsel first addressed Adams' contention that the Board lacked jurisdiction to revoke his parole after the expiration of his maximum sentence date. Citing Williams v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 654 A.2d 235 (Pa.Cmwlth.1995), Counsel explained the Board retains jurisdiction to recommit a parolee who commits a crime while on parole but is not convicted until after his maximum sentence date expires. In addition, citing Choice v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 24 Pa.Cmwlth. 438, 357 A.2d 242 (1976), Counsel explained that because the criminal charges were filed after the expiration of his maximum sentence date, the Board lacked authority to detain Adams until he was actually convicted of the charges. We now examine the merits of this issue.

The Parole Act (Act)⁴ provides the Board with statutory authority to revoke parole even after the expiration of a maximum sentence date. Under Section 21.1a of the Act,⁵ 61 P.S. § 331.21a, the Board retains jurisdiction to recommit a parolee convicted of a crime committed while on parole even after the expiration of an original maximum sentence. Wolfe v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 126 Pa.Cmwlth. 48, 558 A.2d 600 (1989). There is no doubt that the Board can recommit and recompute the sentence of a parolee who commits a crime while on parole but is not convicted until after his original sentence expired. Holland v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 163 Pa.Cmwlth. 258, 640 A.2d 1386 (1994).

Here, it is undisputed Adams was on parole on the date of the incident, and his maximum sentence date was May 23, 2003. It is irrelevant that he was not convicted of the charges until December 2003. Because the act constituting a violation occurred before the expiration of his maximum sentence date, the Board retains jurisdiction to revoke Adams' parole. Thus, we agree with Counsel's assessment that this argument is frivolous.⁶

Next, Counsel addressed Adams' contention that revocation hearing counsel was ineffective because she failed to object to the Board's alleged lack of jurisdiction to revoke his parole after his maximum sentence date expired. Relying on LaCourt v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 87 Pa.Cmwlth. 384, 488 A.2d 70 (1985), Counsel correctly set forth the test for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim in the parole revocation setting. Pursuant to LaCourt, a parolee must prove: (1) his counsel made errors so serious he was not acting as "counsel" guaranteed by law; and (2) his counsel's deficient performance was so serious there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the result of the revocation proceeding would have been different. Counsel explained because the Board retained jurisdiction to revoke Adams' parole, no basis existed for the objection, and the objection would not have produced a different result.

We now address the merits of the issue. Where, as here, counsel's alleged error consists of failing to raise an objection in a parole revocation hearing, we must first ascertain whether there existed reasonable grounds for the objection, and if there was arguable merit to the omitted objection, we must ascertain whether counsel possessed a reasonable basis for failing to object. Vereen v. Pennsylvania Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 101 Pa.Cmwlth. 63, 515 A.2d 637 (1986).

Here, because the Board clearly possessed jurisdiction to revoke Adams' parole, revocation hearing counsel lacked a reasonable basis to raise the objection. Vereen. Moreover, as the objection to the Board's jurisdiction lacks merit, Adams cannot satisfy his burden of proving the objection would have changed the outcome of the parole revocation hearing. As such, we agree with Counsel's conclusion that this issue is also frivolous.

Counsel's brief complies with Anders, and our independent review of the issues demonstrates Adams failed to allege any meritorious point to arguably support his appeal. We therefore conclude his appeal is wholly frivolous.⁷

Accordingly, we affirm the order of the Board and grant Counsel's application for leave to withdraw.

ORDER

AND NOW, this 1st day of November, 2005, the order of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole is hereby AFFIRMED, and Counsel's application for leave to withdraw is GRANTED.

DISSENTING OPINION BY Judge SMITH-RIBNER.

Upon further review of appointed counsel's analysis of the issues in this case, I must dissent from the Majority's decision to affirm the order of the Board of Probation and Parole and to grant the petition for leave to withdraw filed by Attorney Crowley of the Centre County Public Defender's Office. One of the issues raised by Raymond Adams is that appointed counsel was ineffective by virtue of his failure to object to the lack of Board jurisdiction to revoke Adams' parole after the expiration of his maximum sentence date.

In responding to Adams' claim that the Board lacked jurisdiction, counsel contended that although the criminal charges against Adams were initiated by his arrest after the expiration of his maximum sentence date the Board did have jurisdiction to revoke parole after Adams was convicted of the charges. Counsel relied on ...