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NON-PRECEDENTIALDECISION - SEE 

### SUPERIORCOURT

### I.O.P. 

### 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

1 IN THE SUPERIORCOURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

v. DONTE JOHNSON 

### Appellant No. 1005 MDA2016 Appeal

### fromthe PCRA

### Order May26, 2016 In the CourtofCommon Pleas 

### of LancasterCounty Criminal Division at No(s): 

### CP-36-CR-0000616-2014
BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., RANSOM,J., and FITZGERALD, J.* MEMORANDUM BY RANSOM, J.: 

### FILED MARCH 

### 20,

### 2017 Appellant, Donte Johnson, appeals 

### from the May 26, 2016 

### order denying his 

### petition filed 

### underthe Post 

### Conviction ReliefAct, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 

### 9541-9546. We

### affirm. Appellant was 

### arrested and charged 

### with aggravated assault, 

### three counts of possession

### with intent to 

### deliver controlled substances, one 

### count of 

### criminal conspiracy, one 

### count of possession of drug 

### paraphernalia, one 

### count of fleeing or 

### attempting to elude a police 

### officer, and one 

### count of driving while operating privileges were suspended or 

### revoked.' On December 1, 

### 2014, following an 

### extensive colloquy, Appellant entered an



### ' 18 Pa.C.S. § 

### 2702(a)(2); 35 P.S. § 

### 780-113(a)(30); 18 Pa.C.S. § 

### 903; 35 P.S. § 

### 780-113(a)(32); 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 

### 3733(a), 1543(a).

* FormerJusticespecially assigned to

### the SuperiorCourt.J

### -S94024-16

open

### guilty plea to all offenses. 

### See Notes

### ofTestimony (N.

### T.), 

### 12/1/14, at 2-38. On February 26, 2015, 

### Appellantwas sentenced on

### the 

### instant docket,
as well as 

### for probation 

### violations at 

### docket numbers CP-36-CR-0000029- 2007 and 

### CP-36-CR-0002789-2008. At sentencing, 

### the Commonwealth noted 

### that Appellant's prior record score had been 

### miscalculated, and it offered a

### corrected score and

### appropriate guidelines. N. T.,

### 2/26/15, at6-7. Appellant complained 

### bitterly about plea counsel's 

### representation, specifically with reference to 

### the prior record score. 

### Id. at 

### 11-22. As a 

### result ofthose issues, 

### the 

### court offered

### Appellant the option to 

### withdraw his plea, advising 

### Appellant

### that itwould be 

### difficult to pursue a post

### -conviction petition based on 

### the above. 

## Id. at 20-25. 

### Ultimately, Appellant declined 

### the

### opportunity to 

### withdraw his plea 

### after consulting 

### with his 

### family. 

## Id. at 

### 23-25. Appellant received an 

### aggregate sentence on all dockets of six and 

### one-half to 

### twenty years of incarceration and 

### five years of consecutive probation. Appellant did not pursue a 

### direct appeal but 

### pro se filed a 

### petition seeking PCRA relief. Counselwas 

### appointed and filed

### two amended petitions
on his behalf. The PCRA 

### court held a hearing on 

### the second amended



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petition on March 21, 2016.2 The 

### court dismissed 

### Appellant's petition on May 27,2016. 

### Appellant 

### timely appealed and filed a 

### court-ordered Pa.R.A.P. 

### 1925(b) 

### statement of

### errors complained of on appeal. The 

### court issued a 

### statement adopting its 

### orderand opinion of May27, 2016. Herein,

### Appellantpresents a single question 

### forour review. Whether the 

### [c]ourt erred in denying post

### -conviction reliefwhere the

### failure ofdefense counselto 

### correctthe miscalculation ofthe standard range sentencing 

### guideline resulted in a less 

### attractive plea 

### offerfrom the Commonwealth and a longer prison sentence, and 

### Appellantwas 

### prejudicedthereby? Appellant's Briefat4. We review an 

### order denying a 

### petition under the PCRA to 

### determine whether the 

### findings of the PCRA 

### court are 

### supported by 

### the evidence of record and 

### free of legal 

### error. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Ragan, 923 A.2d 1169, 1170 (Pa. 

### 2007). We afford the 

### court'sfindings deference unless

### there is no 

### support for them in 

### the certified record. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Brown, 48 A.3d 1275, 1277 (Pa. Super. 

### 2012) (citing 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Anderson, 995A.2d 1184, 1189 (Pa. Super. 

### 2010)). Appellant argues 

### that counsel was 

### ineffective for allegedly failing to 

### correct the miscalculation of Appellant's prior record score, which he claims

2 The PCRA 

### court's May 27, 2016 opinion and 

### order indicates the notes of 

### testimony at the PCRA hearing were not

### transcribed. 

### Its 1925(a) 

### statement references notes of 

### testimony. Notes of 

### testimony of the March 21, 2016 PCRA hearing do notappear in

### the certified record. 

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resulted in a less

### -attractive plea 

### offer and a longer prison sentence. 

### See Appellant's Briefat4. We presume counsel is 

### effective. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Washington, 927A.2d 586, 594 (Pa. 

### 2007). To 

### overcomethis presumption and establish the 

### ineffective assistance of counsel, a PCRA 

### petitioner must prove, by a 

### preponderance of the evidence 

### that: 

### "(1) the underlying legal issue has 

### arguable 

### merit; (2) counsel's actions lacked an 

### objective reasonable basis; and (3) actual 

### prejudice befell 

### the 

### petitionerfrom counsel's act or

### omission." 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Johnson, 966 A.2d 523, 533 (Pa. 

### 2009) (citations 

### omitted). "A 

### petitioner establishes 

### prejudice when he 

### demonstrates 

### that there is a reasonable 

### probability that, but 

### for counsel's unprofessional 

### errors,the resultofthe proceeding would have been 

### different." 

### Id. A claim will be denied ifthe 

### petitionerfails to 

### meet any one of these 

### requirements. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Springer, 961 A.2d 1262, 1267 (Pa. Super. 

### 2008) (citing 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Natividad, 938 A.2d 310, 322 (Pa. 

### 2007)); 

### Commonwealth v.

### Jones, 942A.2d 903, 906 (Pa. Super. 

### 2008). We 

### review allegations ofcounsel's ineffectiveness in 

### connection 

### with a 

### guilty plea as 

### follows: The standard 

### for post

### -sentence 

### withdrawal of 

### guilty pleas 

### dovetails with the arguable 

### merit/prejudice requirements for relief based on a claim of 

### ineffective assistance 

### ofcounsel 

### under which the 

### defendant must show 

### that counsel's 

### deficient stewardship resulted in a 

### manifest injustice, for example, by 

### facilitating entry of an 

### unknowing, 

### involuntary, or 

### unintelligent plea. 

### Allegations of 

### ineffectiveness in 

### connection 

### with the 

### entry of a 

### guilty plea will serve as a basis 

### for relief only if 

### the 

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ineffectiveness caused 

### appellant to 

### enter an 

### involuntary or unknowing plea. The 

### standard is 

### equivalent to 

### the 

### "manifest injustice" standard applicableto all post

### -sentence motions to

### withdraw a 

### guilty plea. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Morrison, 878 A.2d 102, 105 (Pa. Super. 

### 2005) 

### (internal citationsand some 

### quotations 

### omitted). Where a 

### defendant enters

a plea on 

### the advice of counsel, 

### the 

### voluntariness of the plea depends on 

### whether the advice was 

### within the range of competence demanded 

### of 

### attorneys in 

### criminal cases. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Timchak, 69 A.3d 765, 769 (Pa. Super. 

### 2013). In 

### determining whether a plea was 

### entered 

### knowingly and 

### voluntarily, this Court considers the 

### totality of the circumstances 

### surrounding the plea. 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Flanagan, 854 A.2d

### 489, 513 (Pa. 

### 2004). The record 

### reflects 

### that Appellant knowingly and 

### voluntarily entered into an open 

### guilty plea. He signed a 

### guilty plea 

### colloquy, indicating 

### that he
was aware ofthe charges, the 

### maximum sentence 

### for the offense, and 

### the circumstances surrounding the charges. N. T., 

### 12/1/14, at 

### 2-38; see 

### also Written Guilty Plea Colloquy, 

### 12/1/14, at 1-7. He 

### admitted to 

### committing the crimes and acknowledged 

### that plea counsel 

### adequately explained the charges to him. 

### Id. He 

### understood the rights he was 

### foregoing with his plea and stated 

### that no one had coerced him into pleading 

### guilty. 

## Id.; see 

### also 

### Commonwealth v. 

### Tareila, 895 A.2d 1266, 1267 (Pa. Super. 

### 2006) (stating 

### that 

### "[t]he entry of a 

### guilty plea 

### constitutes a 

### waiver of all defects 

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and defenses 

### except lack of

### jurisdiction, invalidityof the plea, and 

### illegality ofthe 

### sentence."). Here, 

### Appellant does not challenge the 

### legality of the sentence or the 

### validityofthe plea, but 

### essentially,the 

### discretionary aspectsof his sentence. He speculates 

### that had his 

### prior record score been 

### properly calculated 

### prior to 

### the plea 

### hearing, the Commonwealth would have offered him a 

### more 

### attractive deal. However, such a claim is not cognizable under the PCRA. 

### See

### Tareila, 895 A.2d at 1267.3 

### Accordingly, we discern no 

### error in 

### the PCRA 

### court's decision to dismiss

### Appellant's petition. 

### Ragan, 923 A.2d at 1170. His claim is 

### without merit, and he is not

### entitled to relief. Order

### affirmed. Judgment Entered.

J seph D. 

### Seletyn, Prothonotary
Date: 

### 3/20/2017

3 

### Further, the 

### incorrect prior record scorewas corrected 

### priorto sentencing. 

### See N. T., 

### 2/26/15, at 

### 6-7. New 

### guidelines in 

### conformity with 

### that prior record score were read onto the record at 

### that time. 

### Id. at 6-8. 

### Accordingly, as

### Appellantentered into an open 

### guilty plea and his sentencing guidelines were 

### correctatthe

### time of

### sentencing, he 

### cannotshow 

### prejudice. 

### See

### Johnson, 966A.2d at533. 

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