Opinion ID: 2319241
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Commonwealth's Decision to Seek the Death Penalty

Text: Appellant next alleges the Commonwealth should have been precluded from seeking the death penalty based on an alleged representation made by the District Attorney of Westmoreland County, Albert Nichols, during plea negotiations concerning additional pending cases against Appellant, wherein D.A. Nichols purportedly indicated that, in the event of a retrial for the murder of Officer Miller, he would not seek the death penalty. See Appellant's Brief at 76 (Argument XVIII). The trial court, in rejecting this claim, noted that it had been raised and rejected by the Superior Court in Travaglia, 723 A.2d at 196. Appellant presently avers that both he and his attorney, Westmoreland County Public Defender Dante Bertani, testified that the alleged promise by D.A. Nichols was a significant factor in Appellant's decision to plead guilty to the Levato and Newcomer homicides, and he argues that this testimony stands alone, as the Commonwealth failed to call any witnesses, including D.A. Nichols, Assistant D.A. Timothy Geary, or the Honorable Donetta Ambrose, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, to contradict it. Appellant further maintains that [m]erely because the agreement does not appear to be reflected on the record does not, in and of itself, mean that it did not take place or was not an inducement to [Appellant] to plead guilty. Appellant's Brief at 77. As this Court explained in Commonwealth v. Spence, where a plea agreement has been entered of record and accepted by the trial court, the state is required to abide by the terms of the plea agreement. Prior to entry of the plea, however, a defendant has no right to specific performance of the agreement. 534 Pa. 233, 248, 627 A.2d 1176, 1184 (1993). The Superior Court, in addressing Appellant's contention that, in exchange for Appellant's guilty plea to the Levato and Newcomer homicides, D.A. Nichols agreed that he would not seek the death penalty in any retrial for the murder of Officer Miller, determined: Contrary to Appellant's contention, the plea colloquy indicates that the guilty pleas would not be used as aggravating circumstances should the Miller case be retried. There is no mention that the District Attorney represented that he would not seek the death penalty based on other aggravating circumstances, i.e., the police officer's death. Therefore, Appellant's claim is meritless. Travaglia, 723 A.2d at 196. Upon review of the transcript of Appellant's guilty pleas, we find the Superior Court is correct in its determination that, based on the plea colloquy, D.A. Nichols agreed only that the Commonwealth would not introduce evidence of Appellant's guilty pleas as aggravating circumstances to support imposition of the death penalty, not that the Commonwealth would not seek the death penalty in the event of a retrial in the Miller case. Indeed, as the Commonwealth argues, [h]ad an agreement not to seek the death penalty existed, there would have been no need to have an agreement not to use the Newcomer and Levato homicides as aggravating circumstances in the event of a retrial. Commonwealth's Brief at 66. As the record does not support Appellant's assertion that D.A. Nichols agreed not to seek the death penalty in any retrial, Appellant is not entitled to relief.