J-S14008-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

DIEGO JEREMIAS GUZMAN 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 672 WDA 2022

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered April 28, 2022

In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County 

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0005112-2021

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., BENDER, P.J.E., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PANELLA, P.J.: FILED: JUNE 26, 2023

Diego Jeremias Guzman appeals the judgment of sentence entered 

following his guilty plea to two counts of simple assault. Guzman claims he 

was illegally detained when the trial court ordered he be held in jail without 

bail for 6 months while awaiting trial. However, because Guzman failed to file 

a petition for specialized review of the bail order, he has waived this claim.

We therefore affirm. 

Because the procedural history is central to the only issue raised on 

appeal, we focus on that history. The Commonwealth charged Guzman with 

aggravated assault, strangulation, and simple assault after police responded 

to a domestic disturbance call. 

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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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On July 2, 2021, Guzman was arraigned and given an unsecured bond. 

After failing to appear for his preliminary hearing on July 31, 2021, a bench 

warrant was issued for his arrest. On September 7, 2021, the trial court 

revoked Guzman’s bond. The Commonwealth subsequently learned that 

Guzman was being held in the Beaver County Jail for reasons related to 

immigration and filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum

requesting Guzman be transferred to the Allegheny County Jail for a 

September 27, 2021 bail hearing.1 See Petition, 9/21/21. Further, the petition 

requested that Guzman be held in Allegheny County Jail without bond until 

the conclusion of the case. See id. The trial court granted the habeas petition 

and Guzman was transported to Allegheny County. See Trial Court Order, 

9/21/21.

The trial court subsequently denied Guzman bail. See Bail Certification, 

9/27/21. The certification does not set forth any reasoning for the denial of 

bail. There is no indication in the record that a bail hearing was held prior to 

the entry of the bail certification. And notably, defense counsel did not enter 

an appearance in this case until October 13, 2021.

The case proceeded through several continuances, with no action on 

bail, until Guzman filed a motion to modify bond and vacate the order in early 

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1 A writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum is generally accepted to mean an 

order directing removal of a prisoner from his current place of incarceration 

“in order to prosecute him in the proper jurisdiction wherein the offense was 

committed.” U.S. v. Mauro, 436 U.S. 340, 357 (1978).
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March 2022. In this motion, Guzman argued that the September 21, 2021 

order created an illegal detention. See Motion, 3/11/22, at ¶ 11. In support, 

Guzman claimed his immigration detainer had automatically expired after 48 

hours since federal immigration officials had not assumed custody of him. See 

id. at ¶ 20. He therefore contended that the trial court erred in summarily 

denying bail without first considering the appropriate factors under our Rules 

of Criminal Procedure. See id. at ¶ 28. He requested to be released on nonmonetary bail. See id. at ¶¶ 30, 38.

After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion. See Trial Court Order, 

3/24/22. Guzman filed a notice of appeal from this order, but this Court 

quashed the appeal sua sponte because Guzman “challenged the order 

through a notice of appeal rather than a petition for specialized review” 

pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1762(b)(2). See Commonwealth v. Guzman, 520 

WDA 2022 (Pa. Super. filed Nov. 10, 2022) (unpublished order) (citing

Commonwealth v. Carter, 247 A.3d 27, 30 (Pa. Super. 2021) (quashing 

appeal where appellant filed a notice of appeal, as opposed to a petition for 

specialized review, from an order denying bail pending sentencing and 

appeal)).

On April 28, 2022, Guzman pled guilty to two counts of simple assault 

and was sentenced to three to six months’ incarceration, followed by 15 

months of probation. Guzman was ordered to be released within 48 hours of 

the imposition of sentence. Guzman then filed the instant appeal.
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On appeal, Guzman raises the following question for our review:

Whether the motions court erred in denying [] Guzman’s motion 

to modify bond and vacate its order granting the Commonwealth’s 

petition for writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum, where the 

Commonwealth’s habeas petition, and the motions court’s order 

granting the same, resulted in [] Guzman suffering an illegal

detention pursuant to federal immigration law?

Appellant’s Brief, at 6.2

Guzman restates his claim that the trial court erred in denying his 

motion to modify bond and vacate its order granting the Commonwealth’s 

habeas petition. See id. at 17, 30. He asserts the trial court erred in revoking 

his bail prior to any hearing, based solely on his confinement as an 

immigration prisoner in Beaver County Jail. See id. at 28.

Appellate review of the trial court’s order denying Guzman’s “Motion to 

Modify Bond and Vacate Previous Order of Court” is subject to Chapter 16 of 

the Rules of Appellate Procedure See Pa.R.A.P. 1610; see also Pa.R.A.P. 

1762(b) (“An order relating to bail shall be subject to review pursuant to 

Chapter 16.”); Carter, 247 A.3d at 30. Chapter 16 requires appellants to file 

a petition for specialized review when seeking appeal from orders subject to 

the chapter. Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1602(a), a petition for specialized review 

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2 To the extent Guzman seeks relief for any decision other than the denial of 

bail, we note that he did not preserve such an issue by first presenting it to 

the trial court. As described previously, his motion in the trial court sought 

only immediate release on non-monetary bail. As this was the only issue 

presented to the trial court, Guzman has waived any argument that he was 

entitled to other relief. See Pa.R.A.P. 302(a). 
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must be filed within 30 days after the entry of the order sought to be reviewed. 

See Pa.R.A.P. 1602(a).

As such, Guzman was required to file a petition for specialized review 

within 30 days of the entry of the order denying bail modification. As noted 

above, he failed to do so.

Chapter 16 does not specify whether such a failure to timely file a 

petition for specialized review results in waiver of a challenge to a bail order.

And, as detailed in Carter, current Chapter 16 was created by amendments 

effective in 2020. See Carter, 247 A.3d at 29. Case law filed prior to 2020 is 

therefore of limited value in assessing the Supreme Court’s intent as 

expressed in Chapter 16. Nonetheless, we conclude that challenges to bail 

orders are generally waived if not challenged under Chapter 16 based upon 

the language of Chapter 16.

We acknowledge that appeals from final orders generally permit review 

of prior, interlocutory orders in the case. See Betz v. Pneumo Abex LLC, 44 

A.3d 27, 54 (Pa. 2012). However, we note that Rule 311 sets forth several 

classes of non-final orders from which a party nonetheless has the right to file 

an immediate appeal. See Pa.R.A.P. 311(a)-(f). In turn, Rule 311 specifically 

addresses the consequences of a failure to file such an immediate appeal as 

of right. See Pa.R.A.P. 311(g). Subsection (g) explicitly provides that such a 

failure will not result in waiver except in certain specified circumstances. See 

id.
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Chapter 16 is similar to Rule 311 in that it provides a right to immediate 

review of otherwise interlocutory orders. In contrast with Rule 311, though, 

Chapter 16 does not include a provision explicitly addressing waiver. Had the 

Supreme Court wished to treat Chapter 16 similarly to Rule 311, it would have 

included a provision similar to Rule 311(g). The absence of such a provision 

indicates an intent to treat Chapter 16 differently. See Carter, 247 A.3d at 

30 (“we must assume the omission of such a provision manifests the High 

Court’s intent...”).

Further, the procedure set forth in Chapter 16 evinces the Supreme

Court’s recognition of the time-sensitive nature of a review of an order 

addressing bail. To that end, Chapter 16 sets forth an expedited procedure for 

placing an issue before this Court for decision. No briefing is permitted; the 

petition must “present all contentions and arguments relied on with accuracy, 

brevity, and clarity.” Pa.R.A.P. 1603(d). The petition is also strictly limited in 

length. See Pa.R.A.P. 1603(e). Any response to the petition must be filed 

within 30 days of service of the petition. See Pa.R.A.P. 1605. And the response 

is subject to the same strict limitations on length. See id. In other words, 

under Chapter 16 it is possible to generate a decision on the merits within 90 

days of the entry of the order addressing bail.

This expedited procedure is necessary to avoid the issue of bail

becoming moot. Pre-trial bail functions as a protection against extended 

imprisonment of defendants prior to trial. As such, an appellate court is
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generally incapable of granting a defendant any meaningful relief once

judgment has been rendered.3 See Commonwealth v. Abed, 989 A.2d 23, 

28 (Pa. Super. 2010); see also Commonwealth v. Myers, 86 A.3d 286, 

293-94 (Pa. Super. 2014). As such, Chapter 16 is designed to prevent bail 

claims from being capable of repetition yet evading appellate review. See,

e.g., Abed, 989 A.2d at 28. Here, Guzman implicitly acknowledges the 

absence of any concrete remedy in his brief: “Based on the foregoing, Mr. 

Guzman ... respectfully requests this Honorable Court ... afford whatever relief 

the law, justice, and fundamental fairness require.” Appellant’s Brief, at 31.

For these reasons, we infer that a petition for specialized review under 

Chapter 16 is required to preserve a claim of trial court error in addressing a 

request for pre-trial or pre-sentence bail. As applied here, we conclude 

Guzman failed to preserve the sole issue in his appellate brief by failing to file 

a petition for specialized review within 30 days of the order denying his motion 

to modify bail.

Judgment of sentence affirmed.

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3 Obviously, an appellate court could still grant relief in the form of bail pending 

further appeal to the extent that it is relevant. Here, however, Guzman has 

raised no other challenges to his judgment of sentence. Further, there is no 

indication that Guzman has requested bail pending further appeal. Finally, we 

note that Guzman has not raised a claim that he failed to receive credit against 

his sentence for the time he was imprisoned.
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Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 6/26/2023