Com. v. Jackson
Decision Date | 30 April 2004 |
Citation | 849 A.2d 1254 |
Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Pancho JACKSON, Appellant. |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Bradley S. Bridge, Philadelphia, for appellant.
Todd M. Mosser, Asst. Dist. Atty., Philadelphia, for Com., appellee. Before: DEL SOLE, P.J., and HUDOCK and TODD, JJ.
¶ 1 This is an appeal from the order of the trial court denying Appellant's pre-trial motion for habeas corpus relief. We quash.
¶ 2 The trial court summarized the pertinent facts as follows:
Trial Court Opinion, 1/17/03, at 2 (citations omitted).
¶ 3 Appellant was arrested and charged with criminal trespass and criminal mischief. Thereafter, a preliminary hearing was held in which Appellant objected to testimony introduced by the prosecution. The matter was held over for trial. Appellant filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging the admission of Officer Crae's testimony. The trial court denied the habeas corpus petition. Appellant filed a motion for reconsideration, which the trial court denied. The trial court ordered Appellant to file a Rule 1925(b) statement of matters complained of on appeal. Appellant then filed a timely notice of appeal and a statement of matters complained of on appeal.
¶ 4 Appellant raises four issues for our review:
¶ 5 In addition, Appellant summarizes the four issues above in the following manner in his Reply Brief:
Appellant's Reply Brief at ii.
¶ 6 Before we can address the above issues, we must first resolve a procedural matter as to whether this appeal was taken from a final and appealable order. Under Pennsylvania law, the appellate jurisdiction of the Superior Court is set out as follows:
Commonwealth v. Rosario, 419 Pa.Super. 481, 615 A.2d 740, 743 (1992), aff'd, 538 Pa. 400, 648 A.2d 1172 (1994) (some citations omitted). See also Pa. R.A.P. 341(b)(1) ( ). "As such, a criminal defendant may generally only appeal from a judgment of sentence." Commonwealth v. Swartz, 397 Pa.Super. 157, 579 A.2d 978, 980 (1990) (citations omitted).
¶ 7 In the instant case, Appellant is attempting to appeal from an order that is not final. The trial court's denial of Appellant's motion to quash the criminal charges did not dispose of the case nor did it end litigation.
Commonwealth v. Hess, 489 Pa. 580, 588-589, 414 A.2d 1043 (1980) (citations omitted).
As a general rule, an order denying a pre-trial petition for habeas corpus is interlocutory. In the absence of exceptional circumstances, statutory authorization, or jurisdictional challenge, an order denying an application for discharge prior to trial, particularly where it is based upon the alleged insufficiency of evidence to establish a prima facie case before the magistrate, is unappealable.
Commonwealth v. Schroeck, 273 Pa.Super. 386, 417 A.2d 702, 703 (1980) (citations omitted).
¶ 8 Appellant's reliance on Commonwealth v. Clutter, 419 Pa.Super. 275, 615 A.2d 362 (1992), is misplaced. Unlike Appellant, the defendant in that case was a prisoner already serving a sentence when he filed his petition for writ of habeas corpus. In Clutter, the denial of the defendant's petition was clearly a...
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