Case Title: Commonwealth v. Fisher (Concurring Opinion)

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: pennsylvania

Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Date: 2003-01-06T00:00:00Z

Document:
[J-140-2002] IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA EASTERN DISTRICT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellee v. ROBERT FISHER Appellant : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : No. 362 CAP Appeal from the Order dated November 8, 2001 denying post-conviction relief, at No. 1134-88, in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County SUBMITTED: April 5, 1999 CONCURRING OPINION MR. JUSTICE CAPPY DECIDED: December 31, 2002 I cannot join the majority opinion to the extent that it reviews Appellant's arguments as claims of trial court error. Appellant presents some of his claims in terms of trial court error and the majority opinion addresses those claims in kind. I cannot join the merits analysis as to those claims, since Appellant failed to comply with the Pierce1 standard of ineffectiveness and thus, such claims are waived. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Albrecht, 720 A.2d 693 (Pa. 1998)(eliminating relaxed waiver in capital cases for purposes of collateral review). In all other respects, I join the majority opinion. 1 Commonwealth v. Pierce, 527 A.2d 973 (Pa. 1987).