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*Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. NON - PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF PENN SYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v. JOSHUA J. STOKES Appellant No. 33 EDA 2016

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence December 11 , 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP

- 51

- CR

- 0000720

- 2011

BEFORE: STABILE, J., SOLANO, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.* MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED SEPTEMBER 07, 2016 Appellant appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County following his conviction by a jury on the crimes of first

- degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime. 1 After a careful review, we quash this appeal and remand for further proceedings. Appellant, who was represented by court

- appointed counsel, proceeded to a jury trial on various charges, including homicide, in connection with the stabbing death of the victim. On December 11, 2015, the jury convicted Appellant of the offenses indicated supra , and on that same day, the trial court sentenced Appellant to life in prison.

____________________________________________ 1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2502(a) and 907(a), respectively.J

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On or about December 17, 2015, Appellant fi led a timely pro se post
sentence motion, 2 see Pa.R.Crim.P. 720(A)(1) (indicating a post
- sentence motion must be filed within ten days of the judgment of sentence), and on December 28, 2015, newly court

- appointed counsel filed a notice of appeal. 3 As a general rule, this Court has jurisdiction only over final orders. Commonwealth v. Rojas , 874 A.2d 638 (Pa.Super. 2005). In criminal cases, a direct appeal lies from the judgment of sentence. Commonwealth
v. Patterson , 940 A.2d 493, 497 (Pa.Super. 2 007). Generally, where a defendant timely files a post

- sentence motion, the court shall decide the motion within 120 days of the filing; otherwise, the motion shall be deemed denied by operation of law. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 720(B)(3)(a) . When an appellant files a notice of appeal before the court has ruled on his post

sentence motion, the judgment of sentence has not become “final,” and any purported appeal will be interlocutory and unreviewable. Commonwealth

____________________________________________ 2 There is no indication that Appellant served his pro se post
- sentence motion upon his court

- appointed attorney. Moreover, there is no indication that the clerk of courts complied with Pa.R.Crim.P. 576(A)(4), which requires a copy of a pro se filing, made by a counseled defendant, to be forwarded to the counse l of record.

3 On or about December 28, 2015, Appellant filed a separate pro se document, which purported to be a notice of appeal; however, the clerk of courts did not identify the filing as a pro se notice of appeal. Rather, the clerk of courts liste d Appellant’s pro se appeal on the certified docket sheet as a “Receipt of Filing from Represented Defendant Not signed by Attorney[.]” In any event, to the extent Appellant’s pro se document constitutes a pro se notice of appeal, for the reasons discussed infra , it is premature.J

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v. Borrero , 692 A. 2d 158, 160 (Pa.Super. 1997)

. In those circumstances, the proper remedy is to quash the appeal, relinquish jurisdiction, and remand for the trial court to consider the post

- sentence motion nunc pro tunc

. 4 Id. at 161. Instantly, Appellant’s notice of appeal was filed well before the expiration of the 120

- day period and while Appellant’s timely post

- sentence motion was still pending. Further, the trial court has not issu ed an order disposing of the post

- sentence motion nor has the clerk of courts entered an order denying the post

- sentence motion by operation of law. Thus, absent an order disposing of the post

- sentence motion, or any indication the post

sentence motion ha s been withdrawn, we conclude the instant notice of appeal is premature. Id. (explaining that the judgment of sentence does not become final until the entry of an order disposing of timely post

- sentence motions, even if the 120

– day period for deciding pos t
- sentence motions has expired). Accordingly, we quash this appeal and remand for the trial court to forward the pro se post
- sentence motion to counsel, allow counsel the opportunity to amend the post

- sentence motion, and rule on the post

sentence motion.

____________________________________________ 4 In such circumstances, the post

- sentence motion is deemed filed nunc pro tunc on the date on which the certified record is remanded to the trial court, and thus, the 120

- day period for disposing of the post

- sentence motion begi ns to run anew as of that date.J

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Appeal Quashed; Case remanded for further proceedings; Jurisdiction is relinquished. Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary

Date: 9/7/2016