Court Opinion

ID: 9961285
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-18 15:24:39.433627+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:20:31.387602
License: Public Domain

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

  COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA                 :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
                                               :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                               :
                v.                             :
                                               :
                                               :
  CARL ROBINSON                                :
                                               :
                       Appellant               :   No. 705 EDA 2023

           Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered February 9, 2023
  In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at
                     No(s): CP-51-CR-0802251-2006

BEFORE:       DUBOW, J., KING, J., and LANE, J.

MEMORANDUM BY LANE, J.:                                  FILED APRIL 18, 2024

       Carl Robinson (“Robinson”) appeals pro se from the order dismissing his

second petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act1 (“PCRA”). We

affirm.

       Robinson was charged with the 2006 fatal shooting of two victims: the

owner, as well as an employee, of the store where Robinson previously

worked.    Robinson also fired at customers who were present in the store.

Responding police officers apprehended Robinson and sprayed him with OC

spray, a substance similar to mace or pepper spray.2 The police transported

Robinson to Temple University Hospital (“Temple”) for treatment for the OC

____________________________________________

1 See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546.

2 N.T. Trial Vol. 2, 2/8/11, at 103-04; N.T. Trial Vol. 4, 2/10/11, at 223.
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spray, and then brought him to the police homicide division.          Issues

concerning Robinson’s competency delayed trial for years. During this time,

Robinson was committed under the Mental Health Procedures Act to

Norristown State Hospital (“Norristown”), where he underwent psychological

evaluations.

      After Robinson was found competent to stand trial, the trial court

conducted a non-jury trial in 2011. According to the PCRA court, “[t]he facts

of the killing were proven beyond any doubt.     The issue in the case was

insanity.   Both sides presented expert testimony on [Robinson’s] state of

mind.” PCRA Court Opinion, 12/20/16, at 1-2. The parties argued, inter alia,

to what extent Robinson was aware of what he was doing and understood that

it was wrong. Pertinent to this appeal, it was not disputed that Robinson had

a history of using phencyclidine (“PCP”) and marijuana, and had used PCP on

the day of the shooting. Both parties’ experts reviewed and testified about

reports by Norristown, which diagnosed Robinson with: psychosis, not

otherwise specified; marijuana abuse; possible malingering; and antisocial

personality.    N.T. Trial Vol.   4, 2/10/11, at 20.       Additionally, the

Commonwealth’s expert witness testified about the Temple report on

Robinson’s treatment on the night of the shooting.

      The trial court found Robinson guilty but mentally ill of two counts of

first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of

attempted murder.     On February 15, 2011, the trial court imposed two

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mandatory sentences of life imprisonment without parole, to run concurrently,

as well as lesser terms of imprisonment for the other offenses, also to run

concurrently. Robinson did not file a post-sentence motion or a direct appeal.

       In 2012, Robinson filed a timely, first PCRA petition. The PCRA court

appointed counsel, who subsequently filed Turner/Finley3 no-merit letter and

petition to withdraw from representation. The PCRA court granted counsel’s

petition to withdraw and denied Robinson’s PCRA petition. Robinson filed an

appeal, but this Court dismissed it due to his failure to file a brief.

       On July 24, 2020, Robinson filed the underlying PCRA petition pro se,

his second.      The thirty-three page petition focused on a claim that the

Commonwealth did not disclose until trial the Norristown reports, which would

have shown he was diagnosed with a PCP-induced psychotic disorder, in

contradiction of the Commonwealth experts’ opinions as to his state of mind.

Robinson’s petition further averred, somewhat disjointedly, that: (1) the

Commonwealth also withheld police reports by Officer Charles Nelson, Temple

reports,4 and “undisclosed witness reports from the . . . investigation;” (2) the

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3 Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988); Commonwealth v.

Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988) (en banc).

4 Although Robinson did not explain particularly what the Temple reports
would have shown, we note that in 2016, he filed a habeas corpus petition in
federal court, arguing, inter alia, the Commonwealth violated Brady v.
Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by withholding “[e]vidence and testimony” by
a Temple psychiatrist, who had evaluated his state of mind on the night of the
shooting. Robinson v. Mooney, 2018 WL 3451560 at *6 (E.D.Pa. 2018).
(Footnote Continued Next Page)

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withholding of this exculpatory evidence was a violation of Brady; (3) the

withholding of this evidence also amounted to interference by government

officials under the PCRA timeliness exception at 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1)(i);5

(4) trial counsel was ineffective for waiving the preparation of a pre-sentence

investigation report (“PSI”); and (5) the trial court “did not hear or question

key pieces of evidence,” including the Commonwealth’s “inflammatory”

statements that “there [was] never any drug test done at Temple” and that

no Temple doctors noticed Robinson having any psychiatric issue.6 Robinson’s

Petition for Post Conviction Relief, 7/24/20, at 2, 17, 18.

       One year after the filing of the PCRA petition, Robinson filed a motion

for the appointment of counsel, which the PCRA court granted.              However,

appointed     counsel,     Coley    Reynolds,    Esquire,   subsequently    filed   a

Turner/Finley no-merit letter and petition to withdraw.           The PCRA court

issued Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 notice of intent to dismiss the PCRA petition without

____________________________________________

The federal magistrate court denied relief. Accordingly, Robinson cannot show
that he was not previously aware of a report or other evidence from Temple,
nor that he could not have ascertained its existence through due diligence.

5 As we discuss infra, although Robinson’s statement of questions involved,

as well as the corresponding headings in his argument, purport to challenge
the Commonwealth’s withholding of evidence, Robinson concedes that his trial
counsel received this evidence.

6 Robinson avers that the Commonwealth made the first statement during its

examination of his mother, and the latter statement in closing arguments.

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a hearing, finding the petition was untimely filed. Robinson filed several pro

se motions and responses, both before and after the Rule 907 notice.

       On February 9, 2023, the PCRA court formally denied Robinson’s PCRA

petition, and permitted Attorney Reynolds to withdraw from representation.

Robinson filed a timely notice of appeal7 and, although the PCRA court did not

require one, a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) concise statement of errors complained of

on appeal.

       On appeal, Robinson presents the following issues for our review:

       1.(a) Did the PCRA court err when it failed to grant [Robinson]
       relief for exceptions: 9545(b)(2), and (b)(3), 9545(b)(1)(i), (ii),
       and (iii)[?]

       2.(a) Whether the PCRA court erred in dismissing [Robinson’s]
       PCRA petition without an evidentiary hearing because without
       such a hearing the PCRA court did not have evidence from which
       to conclude if trial counsel, direct appeal counsel, and PCRA
       counsel had [a] reasonable basis for abandoning the Temple
       Hospital emergency room report from the day of the offense and
       from doctor’s report[s] at Norristown State Hospital.

       3.(a) Whether the PCRA court erred in dismissing [Robinson’s]
       PCRA petition without an evidentiary hearing because without
       such a hearing the PCRA court did not have evidence from which
       to conclude if there was a prosecutorial misconduct [under] Brady
       [and] Giglio v. United States, 405 [U.S.] 150 (1972).

       4.(a) Did the prosecut[o]r commit a Brady/Giglio [violation] by
       not turning over homicide Detective’s Kenneth Rossiter, P., and
____________________________________________

7 Robinson prematurely filed a pro se notice appeal following the PCRA court’s

Rule 907 notice, but before the final order dismissing it. However, this Court
accepted the notice of appeal as timely filed. See Pa.R.A.P. 904(a)(5) (stating
that “[a] notice of appeal filed after the announcement of a determination but
before the entry of an appealable order shall be treated as filed after such
entry and on the day thereof”).

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      Micah Spotwood [sic], and was PCRA counsel ineffective for not
      motioning the court for a new trial based on officer’s misconducts
      and [Robinson’s] investigation[?]

      5.(a) Did the trial court err when it imposed a state sentence
      without co[n]sidering the requisite statutory factors required by
      the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania outlined within Pa.R.Crim[.]P.
      702(A)(2), (a), (b), and (c)?

      6.(a) Was direct appeal counsel and PCRA counsel ineffective for
      not raising plea counsel’s ineffectiveness for not doing a
      presentence investigation report or presenting any mitigating
      evidence?

      7.(a) Was direct appeal counsel and PCRA counsel ineffective for
      not presenting a strategical and cognent [sic] diminished capacity
      defense to contradict his plea of insanity defense?

      8.(a) Was direct appeal counsel and PCRA counsel ineffective for
      withdrawing from the case without perfecting Robinson’s PCRA
      petition[?]

Robinson’s Brief at 9-10.

      “We review a denial of PCRA relief to determine whether the PCRA

court's findings are supported by the record and free of legal error.”

Commonwealth v. Albrecht, 994 A.2d 1091, 1093 (Pa. 2010). “All PCRA

petitions ‘including a second or subsequent petition, shall be filed within one

year of the date the judgment becomes final.’ 42 Pa.C.S.[A.] § 9545(b)(1).

. . . [I]f a PCRA petition is untimely, neither this Court nor the trial court has

jurisdiction over the petition.” Albrecht, 994 A.2d at 1093 (some citations

omitted).

      The PCRA court concluded Robinson’s PCRA petition was untimely filed.

The trial court imposed sentence on Robinson on February 15, 2011. Because

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Robinson did not file any post-sentence motion or direct appeal, his judgment

of sentence became final for PCRA purposes on March 17, 2011 — the

expiration of the thirty-day appeal period. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(3);

see also Pa.R.A.P. 903(a). Robinson then generally had one year, or until

March 17, 2012, to file a PCRA petition.      See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1).

Robinson did not file the underlying petition until July 24, 2020, more than

eight years later. The petition is thus facially untimely.

      Pennsylvania courts may nevertheless consider an untimely PCRA

petition if the petitioner properly invokes one of three exceptions at section

9545(b)(1)(i) through (iii):

             (i) the failure to raise the claim previously was the result of
      interference by government officials with the presentation of the
      claim in violation of the Constitution or laws of this Commonwealth
      or the Constitution or laws of the United States;

            (ii) the facts upon which the claim is predicated were
      unknown to the petitioner and could not have been ascertained by
      the exercise of due diligence; or

             (iii) the right asserted is a constitutional right that was
      recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States or the
      Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after the time period provided in
      this section and has been held by that court to apply retroactively.

42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1)(i)-(iii). With respect to the first exception above,

our Supreme Court has stated that “information that was clearly available to

[the petitioner] at the time of trial cannot be cloaked as a claim of

governmental interference to circumvent the PCRA timeliness requirements.”

Commonwealth v. Williams, 168 A.3d 97, 123 (Pa. 2017) (citation

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omitted). A petition invoking an exception “shall be filed within one year of

the date the claim could have been presented.” 42 Pa.C.S.A § 9545(b)(2).

      Preliminarily, we note that Robinson’s pro se 118-page brief is

disjointed, as his discussion jumps between numerous, unrelated issues. Most

of his   claims   lack sufficient background information        or   explanation.

Furthermore, as we discuss infra, Robinson sometimes fails to address the

issue set forth in his heading, and instead discusses an entirely different issue.

Nevertheless, we review Robinson’s claims in the order he presents them.

      Robinson’s first claim is that the PCRA court erred in not granting relief

under the three PCRA timeliness exceptions. We note that the failure to raise

a claim in a PCRA petition results in waiver of the claim on appeal.         See

Commonwealth v. Bedell, 954 A.2d 1209, 1216 (Pa. Super. 2008); see

also Pa.R.A.P. 302(a) (stating that “[i]ssues not raised in the trial court are

waived and cannot be raised for the first time on appeal”). Additionally, an

appellant’s argument must include “such discussion and citation of authorities

as are deemed pertinent.” Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a).

      Robinson asserts that he could not raise “his issues” in his first PCRA

petition because two police officers, who testified at his trial, were on the

“‘Right to Be Free Philadelphia’s Accused Detective List,’” as they were

accused, convicted, and/or disciplined for “misconduct.” Robinson’s Brief at

28. Next, Robinson alleges that the arresting officers violated his due process

rights by “prevent[ing] him from being involuntary committed to Temple

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Hospital emergency room” due to his PCP-induced psychotic disorder. Id. at

29. Robinson then claims that trial counsel was ineffective for not presenting

“expert psychiatric testimony” from the Temple and Norristown doctors, which

would have shown “mitigating” and exculpatory evidence.               Id. at 30.

Robinson maintains that his claims met all three of the PCRA’s timeliness

exceptions, as the underlying facts were unknown to him and could not have

been discovered with due diligence.

       To the extent that Robinson attempts to invoke the retroactive

constitutional right PCRA exception, such a claim is waived because he did not

raise it in the PCRA petition, and because he presents no discussion in his

brief. Bedell, 954 A.2d at 1216; see also Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a). For the same

two reasons,— Robinson has also waived his allegations concerning: a “Right

to Be Free Philadelphia’s Accused Detective List;” Detective Rossiter’s records;

the arresting officers’ precluding him from receiving psychiatric treatment at

Temple; and trial counsel’s failure to present expert psychiatric testimony. 8

See Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a).

       Additionally, we note that in his first issue, Robinson briefly claims that

his PCRA counsel was ineffective for, inter alia, not requesting a “Homicide

investigation report by” the arresting officer, Detective Kenneth Rossiter, “and

his IAD officer complaint history, . . . police board of inquiry discipline record

____________________________________________

8 We reiterate that at trial, defense counsel did present expert testimony on

Robinson’s state of mind.

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information form [sic].” Robinson’s Brief at 29. “Our Supreme Court recently

held that a PCRA petitioner may, after a PCRA court denies relief, and while

acting pro se, raise claims of PCRA counsel's ineffectiveness at the first

opportunity to do so, even if on appeal.” Commonwealth v. Bradley, 261

A.3d 381, 401 (Pa. 2021).

      In Bradley, the petitioner asserted the ineffectiveness of prior PCRA

counsel on appeal from the dismissal of his timely, first petition. Bradley,

261 A.3d at 384, 401. The Bradley Court did not, expressly or impliedly,

state that its holding would apply to serial, untimely petitions such as the one

presently before us.    To the contrary, the Bradley Court stated that its

decision “does not sanction extra-statutory serial petitions,” and instead, the

Court deemed “the consideration on collateral appeal of claims of PCRA

counsel ineffectiveness to spring from the original petition itself, and that

doing so does not amount to impermissibly allowing a ‘second or subsequent’

serial petition[.]” Id. at 403, 404.

      Here, Robinson’s PCRA counsel was appointed to represent him in his

prior PCRA petition, filed in 2012. Robinson cannot now raise, in his second,

untimely PCRA petition or on appeal from its dismissal, a new claim of PCRA

counsel’s ineffectiveness. After careful review of Robinson’s PCRA petition and

the record, we conclude no relief is due on his first issue.

      In his second issue, Robinson avers the PCRA court erred in dismissing

his PCRA petition without an evidentiary hearing. In support, he claims that

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the trial court erred in not allowing trial counsel to present “mitigating

evidence,” including testimony by his mother that he was “very intoxicated on

the day of the offense.” Robinson’s Brief at 32. Robinson further asserts that

trial counsel was ineffective for: (1) not introducing the contents of the

Norristown reports and Temple report, which were in counsel’s possession; 9

(2) not calling Temple doctors to testify; and (3) making a “late plea at

sentencing of the defense of diminished capacity.” Id. at 35, 39.

       We conclude that Robinson has waived all of these claims for failure to

raise them in his PCRA petition. See Bedell, 954 A.2d at 1216. Additionally,

the claim of trial court error — for precluding testimony from Robinson’s

mother about his intoxication on the day of the shooting — is waived because

it could have been raised on direct appeal. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9543(a)(3)

(requiring PCRA petitioner to show “[t]hat the allegation of error has not been

previously litigated or waived”); see also 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9544(b) (providing

that “an issue is waived if the petitioner could have raised it but failed to do

so before trial, at trial, during unitary review, on appeal or in a prior state

postconviction proceeding”). Moreover, we conclude that even if Robinson

had preserved these issues in his PCRA petition, they would not be reviewable

because Robinson has not shown the applicability of any PCRA timeliness

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9 This discussion contradicts Robinson’s other claim, that the Commonwealth

withheld the Norristown reports from the defense.

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exception. After careful review of Robinson’s PCRA petition and the record,

we conclude no relief is due on his second issue.

       In his third issue, Robinson argues the PCRA court erred in denying his

Brady claims without an evidentiary hearing.10 All of his discussion, however,

goes to trial counsel’s alleged ineffectiveness. Robinson reiterates that trial

counsel: failed to present the contents of the Norristown and Temple reports;

failed to call Temple doctors to testify about his state of mind; failed to present

expert testimony on the effects that PCP had on his capacity to perceive the

situation; and made a “late plea at sentencing of the defense of diminished

capacity[.]” Robinson’s Brief at 48-49, 51, 55.

       We conclude that no relief is due on these claims of trial counsel’s

ineffectiveness because Robinson has failed to establish they are reviewable

under any PCRA timeliness exception.               Accordingly, no relief is due on

Robinson’s third issue.

       The heading for Robinson’s fourth issue is that the Commonwealth

committed a Brady violation by not disclosing “Homicide Detective Rossiter

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10 Under Brady, “[d]ue process is offended when the prosecution withholds

evidence favorable to the accused where the evidence is material either to
guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the
prosecution.” Commonwealth v. Natividad, 200 A.3d 11, 25 (Pa. 2019).
“Although a Brady violation may fall within the [PCRA’s] governmental
interference exception, the petitioner must plead and prove that the failure to
previously raise these claims was the result of interference by government
officials, and that the information could not have been obtained earlier with
the exercise of due diligence.” Commonwealth v. Smith, 194 A.3d 126, 133
(Pa. Super. 2018) (citation omitted).

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and Micah Spotwood [sic].”          Robinson’s Brief at 64.   Robinson also claims

PCRA counsel was ineffective for not requesting a new trial based on Detective

Rossiter’s “misconduct[].” Id.

       Robinson’s discussion, however, is that the trial court precluded trial

counsel from explaining that Inspector Sullivan11 made a radio call to officers

at the crime scene, and told them “to stop [Robinson’s] treatment [at] the

emergency room” and to take Robinson to police headquarters. Robinson’s

Brief at 64.     This claim, focused on trial court error, is waived because

Robinson could have raised it at trial or on appeal. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9544(b).

Moreover, our review of the trial transcript reveals only one reference to an

Inspector Sullivan. One of the arresting officers testified that he received a

radio call from Inspector Sullivan while transporting Robinson from Temple

to the homicide division — thus after they left Temple.         Inspector Sullivan

directed the officer to stop so that other officers could bring eyewitnesses to

identify Robinson. N.T. Trial Vol. 2, 2/8/11, at 120. The premise of Robinson’s

claim is thus not supported by the record.

       Robinson also alleges trial counsel was ineffectiveness for failing to elicit

testimony from defense expert Dr. Timothy Michals that Robinson’s PCP use

“prevented him from forming the specific intent to kill.” Robinson’s Brief at

65. Robinson further alleges trial counsel failed to call Temple emergency

____________________________________________

11 Neither Robinson’s brief nor our review of the trial transcripts indicate
Inspector Sullivan’s first name.

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room physicians, who would have testified that Robinson was “intoxicated”

from the ingestion of PCP just hours before the shooting.         Id. at 66.   As

Robinson has also failed to establish the applicability of a PCRA timeliness

exception to these claims, we conclude no relief is due on his fourth issue.

      We address Robinson’s next two issues together. In his fifth issue, he

contends that the trial court erred in failing to order a PSI prior to sentencing,

in violation of Pa.R.Crim.P. 702(a) (providing that the sentencing judge may,

in his discretion, order a PSI).    Robinson reasons that a PSI would have

included: “a complete description of the offense;” his Temple toxicology

report, which would have shown high levels of PCP; and a Temple doctor’s

testimony that Robinson was hallucinating and exhibited violent behavior.

Robinson’s Brief at 82. In Robinson’s sixth issue, he asserts that trial counsel

was ineffective for agreeing to waive a PSI.

      The PCRA court concluded that because Robinson’s PCRA petition was

untimely filed, no relief was due on any of his issues. In the alternative, the

PCRA court reasoned that even if these claims were timely raised, trial counsel

was not ineffective for any PSI-related issue because Robinson did not suffer

any prejudice. The PCRA court pointed out that Robinson was subject to —

and the trial court imposed — mandatory sentences of life imprisonment

without parole for his two counts of first degree murder.

      Robinson does not address this reasoning, which we determine to be

supported by the record and relevant law.           18 Pa.C.S.A. § 1102(a)(1)

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(providing that “a person who has been convicted of a murder of the first

degree . . . shall be sentenced to death or to a term of life imprisonment”).

We agree with the PCRA court that had trial counsel requested a PSI, or the

trial court reviewed a PSI, Robinson’s sentence would have been the same —

two mandatory life without parole sentences.            Furthermore, Robinson’s

ineffective assistance of counsel claim is time-barred.         Accordingly, we

conclude Robinson’s fifth and sixth issues do not warrant relief.

      In his seventh issue, Robinson avers his “direct appeal counsel” and

prior PCRA counsel were ineffective for not raising a claim that trial counsel

was ineffective for not presenting a “diminished capacity defense to contradict

his . . . insanity defense.” Robinson’s Brief at 101.

      We disagree that Robinson had “direct appeal counsel” — he did not file

any direct appeal. With respect to his claim of PCRA counsel’s ineffectiveness,

we incorporate our above discussion — that although Bradley allows a PCRA

petitioner to raise a claim of PCRA counsel’s ineffectiveness on appeal from

his first, timely PCRA petition, Bradley did not extend this holding to permit

such ineffectiveness claims in a subsequent, untimely petition. Bradley, 261

A.3d at 384. Accordingly, we conclude Robinson is not entitled to relief on his

seventh issue.

      In his eighth issue, Robinson claims the PCRA court erred in “allowing”

direct appeal counsel and PCRA counsel to withdraw, as it denied him his right

to the effective assistance of counsel. Again, Robinson did not have any direct

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appeal counsel. To the extent Robinson wished to challenge the PCRA court’s

granting prior PCRA counsel leave to withdraw, such a claim should have been

raised in a timely appeal from the denial of his prior PCRA petition. The issue

is thus waived for our appeal.

      For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that no relief is due on any of

Robinson’s numerous claims, and we affirm the order dismissing the PCRA

petition as untimely filed.

      Order affirmed.

Date: 4/18/2024

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