J-S56017-18

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

DENNIS CHEMIL HARRIS, 

Appellant.

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 1677 MDA 2017

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence, September 25, 2017,

in the Court of Common Pleas of York County,

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-67-CR-0004465-2016.

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., KUNSELMAN, J., and MUSMANNO, J.

MEMORANDUM BY KUNSELMAN, J.: FILED DECEMBER 28, 2018

Dennis Harris appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed after a 

jury convicted him of robbery and robbery of a financial institution.1 After 

careful review, we quash this appeal as untimely filed.

The relevant facts are as follows. On August 20, 2015, at approximately 

10:41 a.m., the Wells Fargo Bank in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania was robbed 

at gunpoint. The robber was a thin, light-skinned, black male, who wore a 

nylon stocking over his face, a Florida Marlin’s baseball cap, a white, longsleeved shirt, white sneakers with dark soles, and dark jeans. The suspect, 

with his left hand, pointed the gun at the teller and demanded money. 

Security footage depicted this gun as having an abnormal protrusion on its 

underside. After stealing money, the man fled on foot.

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1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3701(a)(1)(ii) and 3701(a)(1)(vi).
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That same day, at 10:15 a.m., approximately 25 minutes prior to the 

Wells Fargo robbery, personnel at People’s Bank reported they had been 

“cased.” Video surveillance footage depicted a man who was similar in size, 

body build, and posturing. The man was approximately between 5’7” and 5’9” 

tall. Other than wearing a different shirt – a gray tank top – the man depicted

in the People’s Bank surveillance footage appeared to exactly match the 

suspect in the Wells Fargo security footage. The video surveillance from 

People’s Bank also revealed the suspect exiting and then reentering the 

passenger side door of a gray Chevrolet Impala. Notably, this car displayed 

a Maryland War of 1812 license plate and had a large dent on the driver’s side 

rear fender.

On September 4, 2015, another bank robbery occurred at the Santander 

Bank in York Township. Witnesses stated that the suspect was a slender, 

black male, between 5’7” to 6’ tall, and wore pantyhose over his face. The 

suspect also wore a black, red-brimmed baseball cap and held a black firearm 

in his left hand while demanding money. The robber also had a ring on his 

ring finger of this same hand. After a teller handed over several thousand 

dollars, the suspect fled the bank. Upon reviewing photos from the robbery 

at Santander Bank, detectives recognized the suspect as the man involved in 

the People’s Bank casing and the Wells Fargo robbery which occurred several 

weeks prior. The September 4, 2015, robbery is the event at issue in the 

instant appeal.
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On September 15, 2015, police were dispatched to a reported robbery 

at Northwest Savings Bank. Two black males, wearing hoodies with the hoods 

up, and pantyhose over their faces, entered the bank demanding money. One 

suspect brandished a handgun. The suspect held this weapon in his left hand, 

had a ring on his ring finger of that hand, and was wearing a baseball cap with 

a red brim. The bank personnel surrendered the money and the two suspects 

fled the bank.

Corporal Krzywulak was near Northwest Savings Bank when he heard 

dispatch reporting the robbery. He spotted a silver Chevrolet Impala with a 

Maryland license plate which matched the vehicle of interest from the August 

20, 2015, incident. Corporal Krzywulak and two other officers pursued the 

vehicle and successfully brought the Impala to a stop after it attempted to 

evade them.

Upon approaching the vehicle, police ordered the driver, Derek Lozzi, a 

white male, to put his hands up. Police found Harris, apparently trying to hide

under the glove compartment, on the front seat passenger floor, and Stanley 

Riddic, a second black male, lying on the rear floor of the vehicle. All three 

men were taken into custody.

Upon inspection, the officers discovered a black-red brimmed Baltimore 

Orioles hat, cut nylons and a firearm under the glove compartment. The 

vehicle had a dent on the driver’s side rear fender. The officers determined 

this vehicle was the same car depicted in the video surveillance from People’s 

Bank on August 20, 2015. Additionally, the officers found a handgun in the 
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trunk of the vehicle which had a knob protruding from its underside, similar 

to the one seen in the Wells Fargo robbery.

Ultimately, the police received permission from Harris’ girlfriend to 

search her residence – the location where Harris had been living. While going 

through Harris’ belongings, the police located a long-sleeve, white shirt that 

resembled the long-sleeve, white shirt worn by the robber during the Wells 

Fargo robbery.

Harris was convicted of the two robberies from August 20, 2015, and 

the one robbery from September 15, 2015.

2

 In light of these convictions, 

when prosecuting Harris for the Santander Bank robbery from September 4, 

2015, the Commonwealth filed a Motion in Limine to introduce other bad acts 

under Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 404(b). On September 5, 2017, over 

Harris’ objections, the court granted the Commonwealth’s motion and allowed 

evidence of the other robberies for the purpose of showing a common scheme 

or plan.3 

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2 Two separate juries unanimously convicted Harris on various robbery counts 

concerning the events which transpired on August 20, 2015, and September 

15, 2015. He was sentenced to an aggregate term of 14 1⁄2 to 29 years’ 

incarceration for these convictions.

3 That same day, the Commonwealth moved to nolle prosequi the charges 

against Harris’ co-defendant, Stanley Riddic, stating that they lacked evidence 

to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Riddic was involved in the robbery 

that occurred on September 4, 2015. The court had earlier consolidated 

Harris’ case with Riddic’s case, when Riddic was charged with identical counts 

of robbery and criminal conspiracy arising from the same incident. The court 

granted the motion and dismissed those charges against Riddic. The 
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On September 6, 2017, after a two day trial, a jury unanimously 

convicted Harris of robbery and robbery of a financial institution in connection 

with the Santander Bank incident. The court sentenced Harris to a term of 7 

1⁄2 to 15 years’ incarceration.

Harris presents the following two issues for our review:

1. Whether there was insufficient evidence presented by the 

Commonwealth at trial to prove beyond a reasonable 

doubt that [Harris] committed the crime of robbery.

2. Whether there was insufficient evidence presented by the 

Commonwealth at trial to prove beyond a reasonable 

doubt that [Harris] committed the crime of Robbery of a 

Financial Institution.

Harris’ Brief at 4. 

Before we review the merits of Harris’ claims, we must address the 

timeliness of his appeal. We have no jurisdiction over untimely appeals, and 

may raise such jurisdictional issues sua sponte. Commonwealth v. Capaldi, 

112 A.3d 1242, 1244 (Pa. Super. 2015). 

Time limitations on appeal periods are strictly construed and, generally, 

an appellate court cannot extend the time for filing an appeal as a matter of 

grace. Commonwealth v. Perez, 799 A.2d 848, 851 (Pa. Super. 2002) 

(citation omitted); see also, Pa.R.A.P. 105(b). We may only hear an untimely 

appeal in the case of fraud or a breakdown in the administrative operations of 

the courts, which is not alleged here. See Bass v. Commonwealth, 401 

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Commonwealth then amended the information in this case and removed the 

two conspiracy charges against Harris. 
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A.2d 1133, 1135 (Pa. 1979). Negligence of an appellant, an appellant's 

counsel, or counsel's agent is not a sufficient excuse. Id.

The trial court sentenced Harris on September 25, 2017. Harris filed no 

post-sentence motions. The Rules of Criminal Procedure Provide, “if the 

defendant does not file a timely post-sentence motion, the defendant’s notice 

of appeal shall be filed within 30 days of imposition of sentence.” Pa .R. Crim. 

P. 720(A)(3). Accordingly, Harris had 30 days from September 25, 2017, the 

day he was sentenced, to file a timely notice of appeal. See Pa.R.A.P. 903(a). 

That period ended October 25, 2017. Harris’ notice of appeal is date-stamped 

on October 26, 2017. Thus, this appeal is facially untimely, and we are 

constrained to quash it. 

Appeal quashed. 

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 12/28/2018