Pennsylvania Code › Title 210 - APPELLATE PROCEDURE › Part I - RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE › Article II - APPELLATE PROCEDURE › Chapter 25 - POST-SUBMISSION PROCEEDINGS › IN GENERAL › Rule 2521 - Entry of Judgment or Other Order

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
General Rule
. Subject to the provisions of Rule 108 (date of
					 entry of orders), the notation of a judgment or other order of an appellate
					 court in the docket constitutes entry of the judgment or other order. The
					 prothonotary of the appellate court shall prepare, sign and enter the judgment
					 following receipt of the opinion of the court unless the opinion is accompanied
					 by an order signed by the court, or unless the opinion directs settlement of
					 the form of the judgment, in which event the prothonotary shall prepare, sign
					 and enter the judgment following settlement by the court. If a judgment is
					 rendered without an opinion or an order signed by the court, the prothonotary
					 shall prepare, sign and enter the judgment following instruction from the
					 court. The prothonotary shall, on the date a judgment or other order is
					 entered, send by first class mail to all parties a copy of the opinion, if any,
					 or of the judgment or other order if no opinion was written, and notice of the
					 date of entry of the judgment or other order.
(b)
Notice in Death Penalty
					 Cases.
Pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 900(B), in all death penalty cases
					 upon the Supreme Court's affirmance of the judgment of a death sentence, the
					 prothonotary shall include in the mailing required by subdivision (a) of this
					 Rule the following information concerning the Post Conviction Relief Act and
					 the procedures under Chapter 9 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure. For the
					 purposes of this notice, the term "parties" in subdivision (a) shall include
					 the defendant, the defendant's counsel, and the attorney for the Commonwealth.
(1) A petition for post-conviction collateral
					 relief must be filed within one year of the date the judgment becomes final,
					 except as otherwise provided by statute.
(2) As provided in
					 42 Pa.C.S. §
													9545(b)(3), a judgment
					 becomes final at the conclusion of direct review, which includes discretionary
					 review in the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of
					 Pennsylvania, or at the expiration of time for seeking the review.
(3)
(A) If
					 the defendant fails to file a petition within the one-year limit, the action
					 may be barred. See
					 42 Pa.C.S. §
														9545(b).
(B) Any issues that could have been raised in
					 the post-conviction proceeding, but were not, may be waived. See
					 42 Pa.C.S. §
														9544(b).
(4) Pursuant to Rule 904 (Appointment of
					 Counsel; In Forma Pauperis), the trial judge will appoint new counsel for the
					 purpose of post-conviction collateral review, unless:
(A) the defendant has elected to proceed pro
					 se or waive post-conviction collateral proceedings, and the judge finds, after
					 a colloquy on the record, that the defendant is competent and the defendant's
					 election is knowing, intelligent and voluntary;
(B) the defendant requests continued
					 representation by original trial counsel or direct appeal counsel, and the
					 judge finds, after a colloquy on the record, that the petitioner's election
					 constitutes a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of a claim that counsel
					 was ineffective; or
(C) the judge
					 finds, after a colloquy on the record, that the defendant has engaged counsel
					 who has entered, or will promptly enter, an appearance for the collateral
					 review proceedings.