J-S75021-19

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

DANIEL L. WEIMER 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 767 WDA 2019

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered April 25, 2019,

in the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County,

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-05-SA-0000083-2018.

BEFORE: STABILE, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY KUNSELMAN, J.: FILED MARCH 10, 2020

Daniel L. Weimer appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed 

following his conviction of certain violations of the Vehicle Code, including 

operating privileges suspended or revoked, general lighting requirements, and 

restraint systems.1 We quash the appeal.

The relevant facts are as follows. On the evening of March 7, 2018, 

Trooper Matthew David Long was patrolling Highway 26 in Bedford County, 

Pennsylvania when he came upon a vehicle that was pulling a horse trailer

with no functioning taillights. Trooper Long followed the vehicle until it 

reached a safe location, and then initiated a traffic stop. Trooper Long 

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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 75 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 1543, 4303, 4581.
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approached the vehicle and noticed that Weimer, the driver, was not wearing 

his seatbelt. Trooper Long then asked Weimer for his driver’s license, 

registration, and insurance information. Weimer indicated that he was unable 

to provide any of these documents. Weimer did, however, provide Trooper 

Long with his full name and date of birth. Trooper Long ran Weimer’s personal 

information through the police database, and discovered that Weimer’s 

driver’s license was suspended. 

Weimer was charged with driving while operating privileges suspended 

or revoked, general lighting requirements, and restraint systems. A non-jury 

trial was scheduled for April 25, 2019. Weimer did not appear for trial. The 

trial was therefore held in abstentia, and the trial court found Weimer guilty 

of all three offenses. Because Weimer had at least six prior convictions for 

driving while operating privilege suspended or revoked, the trial court 

sentenced him to thirty days of incarceration, and a fine of one thousand 

dollars.2 The trial court then issued a bench warrant for Weimer’s arrest. 

Weimer’s counsel filed a timely notice of appeal, and both Weimer’s 

counsel and the court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. Significantly, at the time 

the trial court issued its Rule 1925(a) opinion on July 24, 2019, Weimer 

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2 Pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 6503(a.1), “[a] person convicted of a sixth or 

subsequent offense under section 1543(a) shall be sentenced to pay a fine of 

not less than $1,000 and to imprisonment for not less than 30 days but not 

more than six months.”
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remained a fugitive, and the bench warrant was still outstanding. Trial Court 

Opinion, 7/24/2019, at 1. 

Weimer raises the following issue for our review: 

Whether the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction for 

75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1543(a), as [Weimer] required no driver’s license 

to operate the vehicle pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1502(5) because 

the vehicle [Weimer] was driving was registered as an implement 

of husbandry, which did not require the operator thereof to have 

a valid driver’s license?” 

Weimer’s Brief at 5.3

Prior to analyzing the merits of Weimer’s claim, we must first determine 

whether he forfeited his right to appeal his conviction due to his status as a 

fugitive throughout the appeal period. 

Our Supreme Court has acknowledged that the right to appeal is 

guaranteed by Article 5, section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. 

Commonwealth v. Passaro, 476 A.2d 346, 348 (Pa. 1984). This 

constitutional right to appellate review is a personal right that can only be 

relinquished through a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver. Id. 

“Nevertheless, the right to appeal is conditioned upon compliance with the 

procedures established by [the Supreme Court], and a defendant who 

deliberately chooses to bypass the orderly procedures afforded one convicted 

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3 Pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1502(5), persons 14 years of age or older 

operating an implement of husbandry are not required to obtain a driver’s 

license.
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of a crime for challenging his conviction is bound by the consequences of his 

decision.” Id. (citations omitted).

Our Supreme Court has also set forth guidelines to determine when 

fugitives forfeit their appellate rights:

[A] fugitive who has returned to the jurisdiction of the court should 

be allowed to exercise his post-trial rights in the same manner he 

would have done had he not become a fugitive. If he returns in 

time for post-trial motions, he should be allowed to file them. If 

he returns after the time for post-trial motions has expired, his 

request to file post-trial motions or to reinstate post-trial motions 

should be denied. If he became a fugitive between post-trial 

motions and an appeal and he returns before the time for appeal 

has expired and files an appeal, he should be allowed to appeal. 

If he returns after the time for filing an appeal has elapsed, 

his request to file an appeal should be denied. If he becomes 

a fugitive after an appeal has been filed, his appeal should be 

decided and any fugitive status should be addressed separately. 

In short, a fugitive who returns to court should be allowed to take 

the system of criminal justice as he finds it upon his return: if time 

for filing has elapsed, he may not file; if it has not, he may.

Commonwealth v. Deemer, 705 A.2d 827, 829 (Pa. 1997) (emphasis 

added). Accordingly, a defendant’s status during the thirty-day appeal period 

controls whether this Court will consider his appeal. Commonwealth v. 

Doty, 997 A.2d 1184, 1188 (Pa. Super. 2010). 

In this case, the trial court sentenced Weimer in abstentia on April 25, 

2019. Therefore, Weimer’s appeal period elapsed on May 28, 2019.4 Weimer 

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4 The thirty-day period elapsed on Saturday, May 25, 2019, and the following 

Monday was a court holiday (Memorial Day). Therefore, Weimer had until 

Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in which to file his appeal. See 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1908
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remained a fugitive throughout the entire time he had for filing an appeal. 

Indeed, as of July 24, 2019, nearly two months after Weimer’s appeal period 

elapsed, Weimer remained a fugitive, and the warrant for his arrest was still 

outstanding. 

The fact that Weimer’s counsel filed this appeal during the thirty-day 

appeal period is of no moment. In order to retain his appellate rights, Weimer 

needed to return to the court’s jurisdiction before the appeal period elapsed. 

See Deemer, 705 A.2d at 829 (holding that a fugitive who returns to the 

court’s jurisdiction before the appeal deadline has passed retains the right to 

appellate review, but a fugitive who returns after the appeal deadline has 

passed may not file an appeal). 

Because Weimer remained a fugitive throughout the entirety of the 

appeal period, he forfeited his right to appellate review of his judgment of 

sentence. See Commonwealth v. Hunter, 952 A.2d 1177 (Pa. Super. 2008) 

(holding that a defendant who remains a fugitive from the time of sentencing 

until after the appeal deadline has passed forfeits the right to appellate 

review). As Weimer forfeited his right to appellate review of his claim, we 

quash his appeal.

Appeal quashed. 

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(providing that “[w]henever the last day of any such period shall fall on 

Saturday or Sunday, or on any day made a legal holiday by the laws of this 

Commonwealth or of the United States, such day shall be omitted from the 

computation”).
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Judge Pellegrini joins the memorandum.

Judge Stabile concurs in the result.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 3/10/2020