Commonwealth v. Adams-Smith
Decision Date | 07 May 2019 |
Docket Number | No. 4080 EDA 2017,4080 EDA 2017 |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee v. Rasheed ADAMS-SMITH, Appellant |
Rasheed Adams-Smith, appellant, pro se.
Kevin R. Steele, District Attorney, Robert M. Falin, Assistant District Attorney, and Adrienne D. Jappe, Assistant District Attorney, Norristown, for Commonwealth, appellee.
BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J.E., KUNSELMAN, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.
OPINION BY GANTMAN, P.J.E.:
Appellant, Rasheed Adams-Smith, appeals from the order entered in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, which denied his first petition brought pursuant to the Post-Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"), at 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541 - 9546. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand with instructions.
The trial court and this Court set forth the relevant facts and previous procedural history of this case as follows.
Commonwealth v. Adams-Smith , No. 85 EDA 2015, 2015 WL 7571762, unpublished memorandum at 2-3 (Pa.Super. filed November 24, 2015) (quoting Trial Court Opinion, filed March 12, 2015, at 1-2) (internal citations to record and some footnotes omitted). Additionally at sentencing, the court notified Appellant of his requirement to register and report for life as a Tier III sexual offender and SVP under the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"). Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal on January 5, 2015. This Court affirmed the judgment of sentence on November 24, 2015. See id. Appellant did not file a petition for allowance of appeal with our Supreme Court, so the judgment of sentence became final on or about December 24, 2015.
Appellant timely filed pro se his first PCRA petition on November 18, 2016.
(PCRA Court Opinion, filed February 21, 2018, at 2).
Appellant raises the following issues for our review:
Preliminarily, we observe that appellate briefs must conform in all material respects to the briefing requirements set forth in the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure. Pa.R.A.P. 2101. See also Pa.R.A.P. 2114 - 2119 ( ). Regarding the argument section of an appellate brief, Rule 2119(a) provides:
Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a). Commonwealth v. Hardy , 918 A.2d 766, 771 (Pa.Super. 2007), appeal denied, 596 Pa. 703, 940 A.2d 362 (2008) (internal citations omitted). "This Court will not act as counsel and will not develop arguments on behalf of an appellant." Id. If a deficient brief hinders this Court's ability to address any issue on review, we shall consider the issue waived. Commonwealth v. Gould, 912 A.2d 869, 873 (Pa.Super. 2006) ( ). See also In re R.D. , 44 A.3d 657 (Pa.Super. 2012), appeal denied , 618 Pa. 677, 56 A.3d 398 (2012) ( ).
Instantly, Appellant did not properly develop his argument section for his fourth appellate issue, concerning the Commonwealth's expert witness, Dr. Scribano. Appellant notes several reasons why he thinks Dr. Scribano was an unreliable witness, but Appellant does not discuss how this relates to ineffective assistance of counsel or cite to relevant law. See Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a). We decline to make Appellant's argument for him. See Hardy, supra . Accordingly, Appellant waived his fourth appellate issue regarding Dr. Scribano's testimony. See In re R.D., supra ; Gould, supra .
In his remaining issues combined, Appellant announces the PCRA court improperly relied on counsel's Turner / Finley no-merit letter when the...
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