Opinion ID: 574319
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Delay in Resolving the Direct Appeal

Text: 79 As with the sentencing computation, there is no dispute that the passage of time from notice of appeal to affirmance of judgment by the Pennsylvania Superior Court was 18 months.
80 Once again, the district court erroneously attributed a portion of the cause for delay to Burkett. The procedural history begins with the notice of appeal filed by Burkett on July 23, 1985. Burkett's brief was filed on February 10, 1986. After Burkett filed a disciplinary action against his counsel, a motion to withdraw was granted on April 4, 1986, and new counsel was appointed on April 9, 1986. 81 Despite the passage of all of this time, the trial court's opinion denying the post-trial motions was not filed until July 16, 1986--one full year after the notice of appeal. As an explanation, Judge Peoples stated that he was not authorized to employ a law clerk until 1984. He also testified that in the years 1983 through 1986 he and his fellow judges were constantly in the courtroom and necessarily compelled to confine their opinion-writing time to nights and weekends. The Court Administrator, however, contradicted this testimony. According to his recollection, in 1985 he scheduled one week per month per judge for opinion-writing time. Also, by the Court Administrator's records, Judge Peoples was not in the courtroom as represented. In fact, neither trials nor court hearings were scheduled in July and August when the Blair County Courthouse was closed. 82 After the opinion was filed, Burkett filed a supplemental brief on August 26, 1986. Burkett then moved for appointment of new counsel, which was denied on September 23, 1986. After the appellee's brief was filed, Burkett filed another motion for new counsel which was denied December 15, 1986. Finally, the judgment of sentence was affirmed by the Superior Court on January 12, 1987. 83 We glean from this history that while Burkett's troubles with his attorneys may have added a month or two to the appellate process, the delay in the appeal was directly caused by the trial judge's failure to file an opinion, in derogation of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure, for one year. Thus, the district court's attribution of delay to Burkett was incorrect and the cause for delay must be charged, instead, against the government.
84 There is no contention that Burkett did not doggedly pursue his appellate claims. Thus this factor will weigh in his favor.
85 Our analysis of those elements which constitute prejudice caused by delay in the appellate process is not distinguishable from our discussion in the context of sentencing. The identical factors of oppressive incarceration, anxiety and distress, and possible impact on the defense at retrial are considered. We add here the additional facts attested to by Burkett concerning the prejudice suffered: the continued inability to participate in rehabilitative programs, the anxiety of not knowing when his appeal would be decided and the further passage of time affecting his ability to reconstruct his defense. It is not, however, a qualitative difference but the increased quantity of prejudice which concerns us. In our analysis of the delay in sentencing, we held that the constitutional protection of the Sixth Amendment had been impacted. We conclude now that that injury has been intensified by the appellate delay in violation of the Due Process Clause. Although one phase of the delay--from conviction through sentencing--invoked Sixth Amendment protection and the later appellate stage involves due process considerations, it makes little substantive difference. The label we attach to the constitutional deprivation--though important--is not as critical as the establishment that indeed such rights have been violated. 86 Burkett's loss incurred due to the post-conviction delay did not take a different form just because the two phases of the delay were protected by different constitutional guarantees. Although our legal authority for granting relief due to a loss of these rights is dictated by the clause which establishes the right, in our prior cases analyzing the prejudice factor, we do not discern a difference whether we discuss speedy trial or due process. Under either constitutional amendment, we analyze whether, after conducting the sensitive balancing test under Barker v. Wingo, the scales tip in favor of the petitioner or of the government. 87 Here, the length and cause for the delay weigh decidedly against the government and in favor of Burkett. Burkett's assertion of his right strongly tips the scale to Burkett's favor. Finally, as to the prejudice factor, while Burkett's evidence is less than overwhelming in this regard, we are satisfied that he has demonstrated genuine loss--cumulative in nature--because of the delays in the post-conviction processing of his case at the trial court level and through the appellate process. Particularly in light of the heavy weighing of the other three factors against the government, we conclude that Burkett is entitled to habeas relief under the Barker v. Wingo test.