Com. v. Hickman
Decision Date | 15 May 2002 |
Citation | 799 A.2d 136,2002 PA Super 152 |
Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Dewhight A. HICKMAN, Appellant. |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Frank C. Arcuri, Public Defender, York, for appellant.
William H. Graff, Asst. Dist. Atty., York, for Com., appellee.
Before CAVANAUGH, STEVENS, and BROSKY, JJ.
¶ 1 Appellant challenges the denial of his petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546, by the Court of Common Pleas of York County. The issue before us is whether plea counsel's erroneous advice about boot camp eligibility under the negotiated sentence invalidated Appellant's guilty plea. We reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this decision.
¶ 2 On October 8, 1998, Appellant was charged with two counts of Possession with Intent to Deliver and one count of Criminal Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Deliver after he was arrested with cocaine and marijuana in his possession. With school zone enhancements applying to his case, Appellant faced a mandatory five to ten year sentence.
¶ 3 Privately retained counsel advised Appellant to enter a plea of guilty to each count in exchange for a sentence of four to eight years' imprisonment. Appellant was reluctant to accept the negotiated plea at first, but reconsidered when counsel advised him that he would be eligible for State Motivational Boot Camp, 61 P.S. §§ 1121-1129,1 after serving the first two years of his four year minimum sentence. Appellant pled guilty on March 8, 1999, and received a four to eight year sentence, which he is currently serving at State Correctional Institute, Camp Hill.
¶ 4 Appellant filed no direct appeal, but filed the present PCRA petition on October 5, 1999, through newly retained counsel. In his petition, and at the evidentiary hearing of January 31, 2000, which followed, Appellant alleged that ineffectiveness of plea counsel induced him to enter an invalid plea. Specifically, Appellant contends that he pled guilty only because plea counsel misled him to believe that he would be eligible for boot camp after serving the first two years of his minimum sentence. In fact, Appellant was not eligible for boot camp under the enabling statute, which defines an "eligible inmate" as one "who is serving a term of confinement, the minimum of which is not more than two years and the maximum of which is five years or less or an inmate who is serving a term of confinement the minimum of which is not more than three years where that inmate is within two years of completing his minimum term...." 61 P.S. § 1123. See 204 Pa.Code § 303.12(b).
¶ 5 At the conclusion of Appellant's PCRA hearing, the court found no ineffective assistance of plea counsel because there was never a guarantee that Appellant would have gained acceptance into the Boot Camp program. Specifically, the court made the following relevant observations:
PCRA Hearing of 1/31/00 at 17.
¶ 6 Appellant timely filed an appeal, and this Court, relying on Commonwealth v. Woodrow, 743 A.2d 458 (Pa.Super.1999), affirmed on the basis that Appellant's ineffectiveness claim failed was not cognizable under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9543(a)(2)(ii) and (iii)2 where his guilty plea did not implicate the truth-determining process and where he failed to allege his innocence. See Commonwealth v. Hickman, No. 586 MDA 2000, unpublished memorandum, 777 A.2d 503 (Pa.Super. filed March 26, 2001). On September 11, 2001, however, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted Appellant's petition for allowance of appeal, vacated this Court's order, and remanded for consideration of this matter in light of Commonwealth ex rel. Dadario v. Goldberg, 565 Pa. 280, 773 A.2d 126 (2001) ( ). Therefore, we review whether plea counsel's erroneous advice amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel which invalidated Appellant's guilty plea.
¶ 7 Our review of a PCRA court's grant or denial of relief is limited to examining whether the court's determination is supported by the evidence and whether it is free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Davis, 760 A.2d 406, 409 (Pa.Super.2000). This Court grants great deference to the findings of the PCRA court, and we will not disturb those findings merely because the record could support a contrary holding. Commonwealth v. Nelson, 393 Pa.Super. 611, 574 A.2d 1107, 1110 (1990). The findings of a post-conviction court will not be disturbed unless they have no support in the record. Commonwealth v. Neal, 713 A.2d 657, 660 (Pa.Super.1998).
¶ 8 Here, we note that Appellant's ineffectiveness of plea counsel claim is technically waived for failure to raise it in a direct appeal. However, because Appellant has raised the claim at the earliest opportunity, without any intervening counsel between the time of his plea and the present PCRA petition, his technical waiver of a previously unlitigated issue is excused under 42 Pa.C.S. § 9543(a)(3)(iii). Commonwealth v. Griffin, 537 Pa. 447, 644 A.2d 1167 (1994).
¶ 9 In order to prevail on an ineffectiveness claim, Appellant must satisfy a three-factor test:
We inquire first whether the underlying claim is of arguable merit; that is, whether the disputed action or omission by counsel was of questionable legal soundness. If so, we ask whether counsel had any reasonable basis for the questionable action or omission which was designed to effectuate his client's interest. If he did, our inquiry ends. If not, [an appellant may prevail on his ineffectiveness claim by demonstrating] that counsel's improper course of conduct worked to his prejudice, i.e., had an adverse effect upon the outcome of the proceedings.
Commonwealth v. Davis, 518 Pa. 77, 83, 541 A.2d 315, 318 (1988).
¶ 10 A criminal defendant has the right to effective counsel during a plea process as well as during a trial. Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985). Allegations of ineffectiveness in connection with the entry of a guilty plea will serve as a basis for relief only if the ineffectiveness caused the defendant to enter an involuntary or unknowing plea. Commonwealth v. Allen, 557 Pa. 135, 732 A.2d 582 (1999). Where the defendant enters his plea on the advice of counsel, "the voluntariness of the plea depends on whether counsel's advice `was within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases.'" Hill, 474 U.S. at 56, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (quoting McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970)); See also Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 267, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 36 L.Ed.2d 235 (1973)
(. )
88 L.Ed.2d 203 ( )(White, J., concurring); Baker v. Barbo, 177 F.3d 149, 154 (3d Cir.1999) ( ); Meyers v. Gillis, 142 F.3d 664 (3d Cir.1998) ( ).
¶ 12 Moreover, the record shows that counsel's advice prejudiced Appellant. To succeed in showing prejudice, the defendant must show that it is reasonably probable that, but for counsel's errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have gone...
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