Com. v. Hauser
| Citation | 299 A.2d 218,450 Pa. 388 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Melvin HAUSER, Appellant. |
| Decision Date | 19 January 1973 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania |
Arlen Specter, Dist. Atty., Richard A. Sprague, 1st Asst. Dist. Atty., James D. Crawford, Deputy Dist. Atty., Milton M. Stein, Asst. Dist. Atty., Chief, Appeals Div., Philadelphia, Norris E. Gelman, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for appellee.
Before JONES, C.J., and EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ.
This is an appeal from an order below denying post conviction relief. The appellant, Melvin Hauser, is serving a prison sentence of six to twelve years imposed following an evidentiary hearing on his plea of guilty to murder and an adjudication by the court of guilt of voluntary manslaughter. 1 The sole contention is the guilty plea was not 'knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered.' In support of this, Hauser testified during the hearing below that his trial counsel told him, 'If I plead guilty it would be most likely that I'd get a light sentence because I have four and one-half years back time.' He also stated his counsel said he had discussed the matter with an assistant district attorney who was agreeable to a recommendation that the penalty be a prison sentence of 'eleven and one-half to twenty-three months, followed by long parole.'
The testimony of Hauser's trial counsel differed substantially. He admitted soliciting an assistant district attorney to recommend a prison sentence of eleven and one-half to twenty-three months, but said this request was refused because of Hauser's prior conviction for homicide. He also stated he impressed on Hauser that the sentence to be imposed would be for the court alone to decide.
The truth was for the hearing court (Commonwealth v. Allen, 443 Pa. 447, 277 A.2d 818 (1971)), and it chose not to believe Hauser's testimony. Moreover, the record of the plea proceedings discloses that before the plea was accepted the assistant district attorney in clear language advised Hauser in open court that he would not make a recommendation as to penalty and the sentence was entirely for the court. Hauser replied that he understood. On this record, the court below was amply justified in concluding Hauser was not misled. Cf. Commonwelath v. Dickerson, 449 Pa. 70, 295 A.2d 282 (1972).
It is further urged the plea was legally ineffective because during the plea...
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