Com. v. Miller

• Decision Date: 02 July 1981
• Citation: 494 Pa. 229,431 A.2d 233
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Larry MILLER, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 233

431 A.2d 233

494 Pa. 229

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Larry MILLER, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted Oct. 13, 1980.

Decided July 2, 1981.

[494 Pa. 232] Ralph D. Friedman, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Robert B. Lawler, Chief, Appeals Div., Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

Before O'BRIEN, C. J., and ROBERTS, NIX, LARSEN, FLAHERTY and KAUFFMAN, JJ.

OPINION

KAUFFMAN, Justice.

This appeal is from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia denying appellant, Larry Miller, relief under the Post Conviction Hearing Act ("P.C.H.A."). ¹

On September 30, 1965, at approximately 11:30 p. m., appellant shot and killed Edward David White in a gang related incident at 53rd and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, and was arrested almost immediately thereafter. In March, 1966, upon the advise of privately retained counsel, appellant entered a plea of guilty to murder generally, pursuant to a plea bargain agreement. In return, the Commonwealth certified that the case rose no higher than murder of the second degree. Appellant was adjudged guilty of murder of the second degree and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of four and one-half to twenty years. No appeal was taken from the judgment of sentence.

Almost eleven years later, on February 10, 1977, appellant filed a pro se P.C.H.A. petition seeking to have his guilty plea set aside on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel. ² Counsel was appointed, and an amended petition was filed. After an evidentiary hearing, the P.C.H.A. court denied the petition. ³ This appeal followed. ⁴

Appellant maintains that counsel was ineffective in advising him to enter a guilty plea: (1) without attempting to suppress an allegedly involuntary confession, and (2) in spite of counsel's knowledge that at trial an alleged eyewitness would have retracted his prior statement implicating appellant. We disagree.

"(B)efore a claim of ineffectiveness can be sustained, it must be determined that, in light of all the alternatives available to counsel, the strategy actually employed was so unreasonable that no competent lawyer would have chosen it." Commonwealth v. Hill, 427 Pa. 614, 617, 235 A.2d 347, 349 (1967), once it has been determined that the particular course of action chosen by counsel had some reasonable basis designed to effectuate his client's interests, counsel will be deemed constitutionally effective. Commonwealth ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, 427 Pa. 599, 235 A.2d 349 (1967). Additionally, there is a presumption in the law that counsel is effective, Commonwealth v. Witherspoon, 481 Pa. 321, 392 A.2d 1313 (1978); Commonwealth v. Murray, 452 Pa. 282, 305 A.2d 33 (1973); thus, the burden of establishing ineffectiveness rests upon appellant. Commonwealth v. Shore, 487 Pa. 534, 410 A.2d 740 (1980); Commonwealth v. Logan, 468 Pa. 424, 364 A.2d 266 (1976).

I

Here, appellant contends that counsel was ineffective in failing to move to suppress his confession on the ground that he was only sixteen years of age at the time of the arrest and did not have the opportunity to consult a parent or other interested adult before waiving his Miranda rights and making his statement. ⁵ Appellant supports this contention with the argument that a waiver of Miranda rights by a juvenile without benefit of adult guidance is involuntary and that any resulting confession is thus per se inadmissible.

While it is now true that inculpatory statements made by minors in the absence of informed adult guidance are per se inadmissible, Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90, 343 A.2d 669 (1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934, 96 S.Ct. 1147, 47 L.Ed.2d 541 (1976), this rule had not been adopted in this Commonwealth at the time of appellant's guilty plea. See Commonwealth v. Triplett, 476 Pa. 83, 381 A.2d 877 (1977). At that time, "youth was but one factor to be considered in determining whether the waiver of Miranda rights was knowing and (the) statement voluntary." Commonwealth v. Triplett, 476 Pa. at 89, 381 A.2d at 880; see Commonwealth v. Roane, 459 Pa. 389, 329 A.2d 286 (1974) (plurality opinion); Commonwealth v. Fogan, 449 Pa. 552, 296 A.2d 755 (1972); Commonwealth v. Moses, 446 Pa. 350, 287 A.2d 131 (1971).

We have held repeatedly that counsel's stewardship must be judged in light of the available alternatives and that he cannot be expected to raise motions unsupported by existing law. Commonwealth v. Roach, 479 Pa. 528, 388 A.2d 1056 (1978); Commonwealth v. Logan, supra; Commonwealth v. Alvorado, 442 Pa. 516, 276 A.2d 526 (1971). Moreover, in Commonwealth v. Triplett, 476 Pa. at 89, 381 A.2d at 881, we rejected the precise claim here presented by appellant and refused to grant post-conviction relief where defendant's guilty plea had been entered prior to our holding in McCutchen, supra. In Triplett, we emphasized our unwillingness to "impose upon trial counsel the qualities of a seer and fault him for not foreseeing that this Court would finally adopt per se rules as to juvenile waivers of Miranda rights...." Accord Commonwealth v. Ray, 483 Pa. 377, 396 A.2d 1218 (1979); Commonwealth v. Roach, supra. ⁶ Thus, we agree with the P.C.H.A. court that defense counsel could not reasonably have been expected under then existing law to argue for the suppression of appellant's statement solely because he was denied the opportunity to consult with an interested adult prior to its making.

II

Appellant's next argument, although not clearly articulated, is that his confession was involuntary under the totality of the circumstances, considering his youth and the fact that he was held in custody for fourteen hours without food or drink, and that his counsel was incompetent in recommending a guilty plea rather than moving for the suppression of the confession. However in order successfully to attack a guilty plea in a P.C.H.A. proceeding on the ground that it was the product of an involuntary pre-trial confession, one must demonstrate all of the following: "(1) an involuntary pre-trial confession ...; (2) that the guilty plea was primarily motivated by (the confession); and, (3) that (appellant) was incompetently advised by counsel to plead guilty, in the circumstances, rather than stand trial." Commonwealth v. Marsh, 440 Pa. 590, 593, 271 A.2d 481, 483 (1970).

Conviction after a guilty plea is based not on evidence in the hands of the Commonwealth, including a pre-trial confession, but rather on a defendant's admission in open court that he committed the crime. The existence of an involuntary confession does not, in itself, prove that a defendant did not have the opportunity to make a reasonable choice, and thus it cannot, in itself, establish that the plea was not intelligently and knowingly entered. Id. Thus, it is critical to prove not only that one's confession was involuntary, but also that it "was the primary motivation for his plea of guilty." Commonwealth v. Garrett, 425 Pa. 594, 598, 229 A.2d 922, 925 (1967). Here, even assuming arguendo that appellant's confession was involuntary, he never attempted to prove at the P.C.H.A. hearing that his guilty plea was primarily motivated by the allegedly involuntary confession. Absent such proof, we cannot conclude that the P.C.H.A. Court erred in failing to find counsel ineffective in advising appellant to plead guilty rather than stand trial.

III

We also reject appellant's contention that counsel was ineffective in advising him to plead guilty despite an eyewitness's intended retraction of a damaging prior statement.

In a statement to police shortly after the incident, an eyewitness, Melvin Joe ("Joe"), related: that he and two other young men, Ronald Tolver ("Tolver") and Gilbert Richardson ("Richardson") accompanied appellant to a poolroom on the night in question; that while there he saw appellant with a gun; that after leaving the poolroom, the four of them walked to 53rd and Chancellor Streets with the intention of confronting a rival gang; that shortly after they arrived, he and appellant walked up to a boy who was walking alone; that a few words were exchanged between the boy and appellant; and that appellant then shot him. ⁷ According to appellant, sometime prior to the guilty plea proceeding, Joe informed appellant's attorney of his decision to retract his statement, but counsel nonetheless advised him to plead guilty.

At the time of the P.C.H.A. hearing, appellant's attorney was deceased and thus unavailable to testify concerning his knowledge of the intended retraction. ⁸ We therefore must review the record to determine whether there was any reasonable basis for counsel's recommendation that appellant plead guilty. See Commonwealth v. Robinson, 487 Pa. 541, 410 A.2d 744 (1980). (Where counsel is not available to explain his course of conduct, a reviewing court shall look to the record to determine whether there was any reasonable basis for his action). That review has uncovered no evidence whatsoever, outside of ...