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*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. NON

- PRECEDENTIAL DECISION

– SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA,

Appellee

v.

MATTHEW J. FAITH,

Appellant :
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
: IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

PENNSYLVANIA

No. 920 WDA 2016

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence May 24, 2016 in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Criminal Division at No(s): CP

- 02

- SA

- 0002339

- 2015

BEFORE: BOWES, OLSON, and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED APRIL 11, 2017

Matthew Faith (Appellant) appeals pro se from the judgment of

sentence of $1,200 in fines following his summary convictions for violations

of three ordinances of the borough of West Homestead. We affirm.

As we write for the parties, an extensive retelling of the facts is

unnecessary. Suffice it to say that Appellant owns rental property in West

Homestead; received notice of violations of the borough’s property

maintenance code; was convicted by the magisterial district judge; appealed

for a de no vo trial in the court of common pleas; was given opportunities to

correct the violations, including a 90

- day postponement by the trial court,

but failed to do so; and ultimately was convicted of the violations with fines

imposed.J

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Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal, and complied with the trial

court’s directive to file a statement of errors complained of on appeal.

Therein, Appellant stated the following:

A. The honorable trial court erred and abused it’s [ sic ] dis[c]retion by allowing the solicit or to mention that the condition of [Appellant’s] property has been ongoing. The honorable court should only consider the charges put b[e]fore it on this matter and not consider prior offences [ sic ] or any other prior matters[.]

B. The honorable court e rred in ruling that at 236 West 9th Ave. West Homestead, PA 15120 there was a dangerous situation concerning a bowed[] retai[n]ing wall as described by the [Commonwealth’s] witness. The wall in question was repaired, no dangerous condition exists and the fine for this offence [ sic ] should be dismissed in entirety.

C. The honorable court erred in ruling that the property in question had not been worked on in a substan[t]ial matter as not only did [Appellant] need to get and hold a job for six (6) weeks to earn money to buy materials but the defendant is partially disabled having a herniated disc in his back and suffers from adult ADHD (attention deficit hyperten[s]ion disorder). [Appellant] made every effort at this time to comply with the Borough of West Homestead’s ordinances. He met twice with the [Commonwealth’s] witness and was informed that he would not be fined if he was “working with them” on this matter.

D. [Appellant] met with the borough’s witness, Shawn Jacobs the very day before the hearing and pointed out the work he had done since he had taken pictures and was told to take pictures of what he had accomplished to present at [the] hearing. Mr. Jacobs acted in an egregious and dastardly manner in not pointing out that he had witnessed a grea t deal of progress in [Appellant’s] making repairs to the front porch of the property located at 236 West Ninth Avenue, West Homestead, PA 15120 and other areas in and around the property.J

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E. All fines should be dismissed in this case as [Appellant] put forth a good faith effort to comply with the borough’s ordinances and doesn't have the means at this point in time to both repair the property and pay fines which serve no legit[i]mate purpose.

Concise Statement, 7/13/2016 (unnecessary capitalization omit ted).

In this Court, Appellant presents the following seven questions:

1. Whether the [trial court] had made a fair and impartial ruling based on the facts presented at the May 24, 2016 hearing.

2. Whether [A]ppellant made a viable attempt at making th e repairs and had informed Mr. Shawn Jacobs who is a subcontractor through Building Underwriters of Pa. Inc. of the extent of the pest damage caused by carpenter ants when he visited the property on the Friday prior to the May 24, 2016 hearing and that the re had to be additional work which would take more time.

3. Whether [A]ppellant ignored numerous contact[s] by the Borough regarding the inspection of the properties in question.

4. Whether the Commonwealth provided accurate pictures depicting the wor k done on the property prior to the hearing on May 24, 2016.

5. Whether the Opinion provided by the Honorable Judge Thomas E. [Flaherty] claiming that [] Appellant only worked on the property on the Friday[,] Sunday and Monday is accurate. [] Appellant worked on the property removing debris which had accumulated for years due to a series of mishaps which were unavoidable, for weeks prior to the hearing. There was no way for [] Appellant to know that carpenter ants existed on the aforementioned property prior to removal of the worn out shingles.

6. Whether the court infringed on [A]ppellant[’]s right to due process.J

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7. That Shawn Jacobs’s claim when he allegedly stated in the Honorable Judge Thomas E. Flaherty’s Opinion filed August 23, 2016 is false when pertaining his statement that none of the violations had been addressed[.]

Appellant’s Brief at 2

- 3 (suggested answers omitted).

From the above it is clear that Appellant has waived numbers 1, 3, 4,

and 6 of his questions presented on appeal by fail ing to include them in his

statement of errors complained of on appeal. Commonwealth v. Rolan , 964 A.2d 398, 409 (Pa. Super. 2008) (“Where the trial court orders an

Appellant to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal

under Pa.R.A.P. 1 925, any issue not contained in that statement is waived

on appeal.” (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)).

Appellant’s questions 2, 5, and 7 fall within paragraphs C, D, and E of

his 1925(b) statement, and thus were preserved for our conside ration. We

address those issues mindful of our standard of review.

Our standard of review from an appeal of a summary conviction heard de novo by the trial court is limited to a determination of whether an error of law has been committed and whether the f indings of fact are supported by competent evidence. The adjudication of the trial court will not be disturbed on appeal absent a manifest abuse of discretion.

Commonwealth v. Reigel , 75 A.3d 1284, 1286

- 87 (Pa. Super. 2013)

(quoting Commonwealth v. Mariz zaldi , 814 A.2d 249, 251 (Pa. Super.

2002)). Further, “[a]n appellant [] has the burden to convince us that thereJ

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were errors and that relief is due because of those errors.”

Commonwealth v. Wrecks , 931 A.2d 717, 722 (Pa. Super. 2007).

With his preserve d issues, Appellant suggests that he should not have

been fined because he tried his best to fix up the property before the

resumption of his trial, and the Commonwealth’s witness failed to

acknowledge that fact. Yet his brief contains the following summa ry of the

argument, most of which has nothing to do with those issues or even any of

the other questions we have deemed to be waived.

Appellant argues that he did everything possible to comply with the Borough of West Homestead’s Ordinances regarding the

o verall condition of property. Appellant further states that the Borough has put him in jeopardy by allowing the sewage company to turn off the water at 242 West 9th Ave. West Homestead, Pa without ever offering a payment arrangement. This has caused undu e hardship as the property was before the Borough’s harassing action a viable rental property. Furthermore the Borough’s own property located at the corner of 9th Ave. and Hays [S]treet has walls which are falling or have fallen caused dangerous condition s which pose a hazard[] to anyone walking either on 9th Ave. or Hays Street.

The Appellant[’]s property poses no dangerous condition to the public and is in relatively good condition.

The Appellant has made a good faith effort and continues to make repai rs [to] the property.

Appellant’s Brief at 6.

That is the full extent of Appellant’s argument. His brief contains no

separate argument section as mandated by Pa.R.A.P. 2111(a)(8), let alone

one divided into as many parts as there are questions involved as providedJ

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by Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a). The brief fur ther is devoid of citations to the record or

to any legal authority as is required by Pa.R.A.P. 2119(c) and (b). Not only

has Appellant failed to explain how his alleged good

- faith efforts would serve

to preclude his convictions, he has not even informed this Court of the

elements of the West Homestead ordinances which he was alleged to have

violated.

Although we are willing to construe liberally the filings of a pro se
party, the lack of legal training does not entitle a pro se litigant to special

advan tage. Rich v. Acrivos , 815 A.2d 1106, 1108 (Pa. Super. 2003).

Parties to an appeal are required to submit briefs in conformity, in all material respects, with the requirements of the Rules of Appellate Procedure, as nearly as the circumstances of the part icular case will permit. Rules 2111 and 2114 through 2119 detail the specific requirements relevant to the brief of an appellant. Of particular importance is the provision of Rule 2119(a) that a brief must contain a developed argument augmented by citati on to pertinent authorities. Arguments not appropriately developed are waived. It is not the duty of the Superior Court to act as an appellant’s counsel, and it is an appellant’s responsibility to establish both the purported errors and any entitlement t o relief therefrom.

Commonwealth v. Love , 896 A.2d 1276, 1287 (Pa. Super. 2006) (citations

omitted).

This Court will not do Appellant’s research or make his arguments for

him. We hold that Appellant’s questions 2, 5, and 7 are waived. See , e.g. ,
Comm onwealth v. Johnson , 985 A.2d 915, 925 (Pa. 2009) (“Appellant’s

single

- sentence ‘arguments’ for issues three and four fail to provide anyJ

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discussion of his claims; fail to provide any reasoned development

whatsoever of why the challenged testimony was, in his view, ‘unduly

prejudicial;’ and fail to include any citation to any authority. We have

absolutely no idea what Appellant is arguing in issues three and four. As we

will not develop Appellant’s arguments for him, these issues are not

reviewable. We h old that issues three and four are waived, and accordingly

provide no basis upon which to grant Appellant relief.” (emphasis omitted)).

Thus, we conclude that, between the failure to raise his appellate

questions in his 1925(b) statement and his severely deficient brief, Appellant

has waived all of his appellate claims. 1

Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary

Date: 4/11/2017

1 Our review of the record and the trial court’s opinion evidences no error of law or abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court. See Trial Court Opinion, 8/24/2016, at 1

- 3 (unnumbered). Therefore, we would see no reason to disturb the trial court ’s findings even if Appellant had preserved a challenge to his convictions.