J-S62014-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

ARTHUR BOMAR, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant

v.

MARJORIE FOX, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, 

GREENE COUNTY

Appellee No. 687 WDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Dated March 27, 2015

in the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County

Criminal Division at No.: CP-30-MD-0000023-2015

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., JENKINS, J., and PLATT, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PLATT, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Appellant, Arthur Bomar, appeals pro se from the order of March 27, 

2015, affirming the District Attorney’s refusal to prosecute his private 

criminal complaint. We affirm.

Appellant is an inmate at SCI-Greene. In December 2014, Appellant 

sent a private criminal complaint against four corrections officers at SCIGreene,1

to the Greene County District Attorney. On February 25, 2015, the 

Greene County District Attorney disapproved the private criminal complaint.

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1

In the complaint, Appellant makes a variety of accusations including claims 

of harassment, corruption, and civil rights violations against the officers. 

(See Private Criminal Complaint, 12/31/14, at 1-2).
J-S62014-15

- 2 -

On March 23, 2015, Appellant filed an appeal of that decision with the 

Greene County Court of Common Pleas. On March 27, 2015, the trial court 

issued an order denying the appeal. This instant, timely appeal followed. 

The trial court did not direct Appellant to file a concise statement of errors 

complained of on appeal. See Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). On July 14, 2015, the 

trial court issued an opinion adopting its March 27, 2015 order. See 

Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a). 

On appeal, Appellant raises the following questions for our review:

1. Did the trial court [err] in [its denial of Appellant’s] 

request for independent review of his private criminal complaint 

when [he] established a prima facie cause of action?

2. Did the trial court commit error when it denied 

[Appellant’s] request for independent review of [his] private 

criminal complaint in that it failed to ascertain whether the 

prosecutor’s disapproval was grounded on a policy determination 

not to prosecute and, if so, whether a gross abuse of discretion 

had occurred?

3. [Appellant] submits that it can be fairly conceived that 

the Office of the District Attorney is [somewhat] biased in 

prosecuting a state employee or a state corrections officer on the 

evidence of one (1) convicted criminal therefore, in the 

alternative, would it not be unreasonable to request that the 

Office of the State Attorney General be ordered to prosecute this 

case, if it is within the [j]urisdiction of this Court to do so?

(Appellant’s Brief, at 3) (unnecessary capitalization omitted).

Appellant’s first two claims challenge the decision of the trial court to 

deny his appeal of the District Attorney’s disapproval of his private criminal 

complaint. 
J-S62014-15

- 3 -

It is settled that following the receipt of a petition to 

review the Commonwealth’s decision to disapprove a private 

criminal complaint, the court must determine whether the 

Commonwealth’s rationale for disapproving the private criminal 

complaint is for purely legal reasons or if it is based solely or in 

part on policy considerations. When the Commonwealth’s 

disapproval is based wholly on legal considerations, the court 

employs a de novo review. Where the decision includes or is 

entirely based on policy considerations, the trial court reviews 

the Commonwealth’s determination under an abuse of discretion 

standard. . . . [W]e evaluate Appellant’s claims under an abuse 

of discretion standard.

In conducting our examination, we are mindful that the 

private criminal complainant must show that the decision not to 

prosecute was patently discriminatory, arbitrary or pretextual, 

and therefore not in the public interest. We will not disturb the 

trial court’s ruling unless there are no reasonable grounds for the 

court’s decision, or the court relied on rules of law that were 

palpably wrong or inapplicable. 

Braman v. Corbett, 19 A.3d 1151, 1157-58 (Pa. Super. 2011) (citations 

and quotation marks omitted).

Here, Appellant first argues that, because he made out a prima facie 

case of malfeasance, the District Attorney’s decision to decline to prosecute 

must have been on legal, rather than policy grounds, and that, therefore, he 

was entitled to a de novo review by the Court of Common Pleas. (See 

Appellant’s Brief, at 7-8). However, our review of the record demonstrates 

that the District Attorney denied the complaint purely on the basis of policy 

considerations. (See Appeal Re: Private Criminal Complaint, 3/23/15, 

Exhibit A, at unnumbered page 1). Thus, the trial court appropriately 

reviewed the complaint under an abuse of discretion standard. (See Order, 
J-S62014-15

- 4 -

3/27/15, at unnumbered pages 1-2); see also Braman, supra at 1157. 

Appellant’s first issue lacks merit.

Appellant’s second issue is convoluted and somewhat confusing. He 

appears to claim alternately that, because the District Attorney did not 

explain the reasons for its policy denial, the denial must have been for lack 

evidence and, therefore, he is entitled to de novo review or that the trial 

court should have required that the District Attorney clarify the reasons for 

its policy denial. (See Appellant’s Brief, at 9-10). However, Appellant 

points to nothing in the record to substantiate his contention that the District 

Attorney disapproved the complaint based upon a lack of evidence. Further, 

Appellant mistakes the burden of proof; it was not the District Attorney’s 

burden to prove that its disapproval for policy reasons was valid but 

Appellant’s burden to show that the disapproval “was patently 

discriminatory, arbitrary or pretextual.” Braman, supra at 1158. Appellant 

did not do so below and has not done so here. (See Appellant’s Brief, at 9-

10). Because of this, Appellant has not demonstrated that the trial court 

abused its discretion in denying his appeal. Appellant’s second claim lacks 

merit. See Braman, supra at 1157-58.

In his third claim, Appellant avers that the District Attorney was biased 

against him because the purported defendants are state employees; he 

therefore requests that this Court refer the matter to the Pennsylvania State 

Attorney General’s Office. (See Appellant’s Brief, at 10). However, 
J-S62014-15

- 5 -

Appellant did not raise this claim below; therefore, he waived it. See

Pa.R.A.P. 302(a); Commonwealth v. Truong, 36 A.3d 592, 598 (Pa. 

Super. 2012) (en banc), appeal denied, 57 A.3d 70 (Pa. 2012) (new legal 

theories cannot be raised for first time on appeal).

Accordingly, for the reasons discussed above, we affirm the order of 

March 27, 2015.

Order affirmed. 

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 11/25/2015