Case Title: Com. v. Donato

Citation: 353 Pa. Super. 37, 508 A.2d 1256

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 1986-05-09T00:00:00Z

Document:
353 Pa. Superior Ct. 37 (1986) 508 A.2d 1256 COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Andrew P. DONATO, Appellant. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued December 18, 1985. Filed May 9, 1986. *39 Frank J. Marcone, Media, for appellant. Vram Nedurian, Jr., Assistant District Attorney, Newton Square, for Commonwealth, appellee. Before CIRILLO, MONTEMURO and POPOVICH, JJ. POPOVICH, Judge: This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence which was imposed upon appellant, Andrew Donato, after the court revoked appellant's probation. We affirm. Appellant raises the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred when it decided a motion to recuse itself instead of appointing another judge to decide the issue; (2) whether the trial court erred in failing to comply with the requirements of Pa.R.Crim.P. 1403 which mandate a presentence report or a statement of reasons for dispensing with same; (3) whether the trial court erred in failing to convene a timely revocation hearing; (4) whether the prosecution erred in failing to give appellant proper notice of the alleged probation violation; (5) whether the sentence imposed was illegal because it exceeded the established guidelines for technical probation violations; and (6) whether the trial court was without jurisdiction to initiate the revocation proceedings against the appellant. The record establishes the following facts: On September 21, 1979, appellant entered pleas of guilty to drug offenses. Because of a negotiated plea agreement in which appellant agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in several ongoing drug investigations, appellant received four concurrent terms of probation of five years each. Approximately three years later, on July 31, 1982, appellant was arrested in Montgomery County for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. A preliminary hearing was held on these charges; however, on January 4, 1983, the proceedings were terminated because the evidence was ordered suppressed. *40 Subsequently, hearings were held, and the trial court concluded that appellant was in violation of his probation. As a result, appellant's probation was revoked, and appellant received a term of imprisonment of not less than three nor more than five years minus one day. Appellant's motion for reconsideration of sentence was denied, and this appeal followed. Appellant argues that the trial court was without authority to initiate the revocation proceedings against appellant. We must disagree. The trial court's authority to impose a term of probation has been set forth in the following manner: However, the authority to supervise a probationer and/or a parolee is within the province of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole as set forth in the following statutory scheme: Additionally, we must examine the following general statute which governs revocation of probation: See also Pa.Crim.P. 1409 ("Whenever a defendant has been placed on probation or parole, the judge shall not revoke such probation or parole as allowed by law unless there has been a hearing . . .") Moreover, our United States Supreme Court has held that a two step procedure is required before a probation is revoked: Commonwealth v. Ball, 235 Pa.Super. 581, 344 A.2d 675, 677 (1975) later appealed, 242 Pa.Super. 379, 363 A.2d 1322 (1976). Accord Commonwealth v. Maye, 270 Pa.Super. 406, 410, 411 A.2d 783, 785 (1979). In the instant case, it is undisputed that a preliminary hearing was held in which the hearing court determined that appellant should be bound over for trial on narcotics charges. However, appellant's contention is that the hearing court was without authority to schedule a Gagnon II hearing sua sponte because the recommendation of the appellant's probation officer was that no revocation proceedings should be initiated. We are unable to agree that the trial court was without jurisdiction. The case of Commonwealth v. Kates, 452 Pa. 102, 305 A.2d 701 (1973) provides insight into this issue. In Kates, a consolidated appeal, one of the defendants, Daisy Kates, was tried and convicted of aggravated assault and battery and a weapons offense. Kates was placed on three years probation on the charge of aggravated assault and battery, and sentence was suspended on the weapons offense. Subsequently, Daisy Kates was arrested, and a probation revocation hearing was conducted. The hearing court concluded that, based primarily on the basis of an incriminating statement *45 attributed to Kates, Kates had commited a homicide. As a result, the hearing court revoked probation and imposed a term of imprisonment. After the imposition of sentence, a motion to suppress Kates' statement was granted. No appeal was taken from that ruling, and eventually Kates was found not guilty of homicide. Our Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of sentence and held that "there is no statutory restriction in this State that would prevent the court from holding a hearing where the alleged violation is the commission of an offense during the probationary period prior to the trial for the subsequent offense." Id., 452 Pa. 111, 305 A.2d at 706. In its discussion, our Supreme Court analyzed the applicable probation revocation statutes and said: Id. 452 Pa. at 111, 305 A.2d at 706 (emphasis added) (footnote added). See generally 37 Pa.Code § 61.1 et seq. The logical implication of the Supreme Court's holding in Kates is that there is no statutory authority which prevents the action of the trial court in this case because the court was notified of appellant's arrest on other drug charges. The reason for our holding today is consistent with the concerns which our Supreme Court expressed in Kates when the Court stated the following: Id., 452 Pa. at 115, 305 A.2d at 708.[2] Although in the instant case, the revocation hearing was scheduled after the trial court had ordered the evidence suppressed, we recognize that the probation revocation proceeding "is a narrow inquiry; the process should be flexible enough to consider evidence including letters, affidavits, and other material that would not be admissible in an *48 adversary criminal trial." Id., 452 Pa. at 118, 305 A.2d at 709 (quoting Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 489, 92 S. Ct. 2593, 2604, 33 L. Ed. 2d 484, 499 (1972)). Accordingly, the hearing court did not err in conducting the probation revocation proceeding notwithstanding the granting of the motion to suppress. Appellant also argues that his revocation hearing was not held in a timely fashion because the hearing was held six months after appellant was arrested. In the instant case, appellant was bound over for court on August 5, 1982. The hearing judge scheduled the Gagnon II hearing on January 7, 1983 for January 26, 1983, which was three days after the court ordered the evidence suppressed. In examining the reasonableness of the delay, three factors should be considered. They are (1) the length of the delay; (2) the reasons for the delay; and (3) the prejudice to the defendant as a result of the delay. Commonwealth v. Nance, 290 Pa.Super. 312, 434 A.2d 769, 772 (1981). Our Court has stated that the "relevant period is that between the conviction . . . and the revocation hearing." Commonwealth v. Reed, 277 Pa.Super. 94, 419 A.2d 677 (1980); see also Pa.Crim.P. 1409 (a hearing shall be "held as speedily as possible" by the judge). In this case, there was no delay from the date of conviction to the date of revocation. Hence, appellant is unable to argue that a delay has occurred. The record shows that the probation revocation hearing was scheduled three days after the trial court granted appellant's motion to suppress. Under these circumstances, appellant is not entitled to relief. With respect to the other issues raised, the trial court adequately discussed these issues and properly denied appellant relief. Thus, we need not elaborate. Judgment of sentence is affirmed. [1] 19 P.S. § 1055, which was the predecessor to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9771 provided as follows: § 1055. Violation of probation; arrest and sentence Whenever a person placed on probation, as aforesaid, shall violate the terms of his or her probation, he or she shall be subject to arrest in the same manner as in the case of an escaped convict; and shall be brought before the court which released him or her on probation, which court may thereupon pronounce upon such defendant such sentence as may be prescribed by law, to begin at such time as the court may direct. 1911, June 19, P.L. 1055, § 4. 19 P.S. § 1055. [2] We also note that a legal distinction has been made between probation and state parole: "Among the distinctions between probation and state parole is that the trial judge generally also decides the probation violation." Nickens v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole, 93 Pa.Cmwlth. 313, 318 n. 9, 502 A.2d 277, 279 n. 9 (1985). However, parole revocation proceedings "are civil administrative hearings." Id.