Court Opinion

ID: 9694555
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:46:41.43766+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:03.348502
License: Public Domain

OPINION OF THE COURT
LARSEN, Justice.
Appellant Tyrone Jones appeals from the judgment of the Superior Court en banc, which quashed the appeal of his *538conviction for robbery and criminal conspiracy. 388 Pa.Super. 22, 564 A.2d 983 (1989). The court concluded that appellant forfeited his right to appellate review because he was a fugitive during the appellate process. We affirm.
The relevant facts are as follows. On January 27, 1984, appellant was arrested in Philadelphia on charges stemming from the mugging of James Watson. Jury selection began on Friday, February 1, 1985. Appellant, who was free on bail, failed to appear in court on Monday, February 4, 1985, after the weekend recess. The trial court issued a bench warrant for appellant’s arrest and continued with jury selection and the ensuing trial in his absence, pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 1117(a).1
On February 6, 1985, the jury found appellant guilty of robbery and criminal conspiracy. In appellant’s absence, defense counsel timely filed post-verdict motions, which the trial court denied on the merits. On June 10, 1985, the trial court sentenced appellant in absentia to a prison term of three to eight years on the robbery conviction and a consecutive sentence of one to two years on the conspiracy conviction. The trial court denied the subsequent petition for reconsideration of sentence filed on appellant’s behalf, and defense counsel timely filed a notice of appeal to the Superi- or Court on June 20, 1985. While his appeal was pending, appellant was arrested as a fugitive in Maryland on February 2, 1987 — two years after his escape.
On appeal, a panel of the Superior Court granted appellant, who had by this time been in custody for over a yeár and a half, a new trial. The Commonwealth timely filed a petition for reargument, which was granted. The en banc panel of the Superior Court sua sponte quashed appellant’s appeal because of his flight from justice during jury selection in February of 1985. The sole issue presented for our *539review is whether appellant forfeited his right to appellate review by having been a fugitive from justice.2
The right to appeal is guaranteed by our state constitution.3 However, “the right to appeal is conditioned upon compliance with the procedures established by this Court, and a defendant who deliberately chooses to bypass the orderly procedures afforded one convicted of a crime for challenging his conviction is bound by the consequences of his decision.” Commonwealth v. Passaro, 504 Pa. 611, 614, 476 A.2d 346, 348 (1984); Commonwealth v. Coleman, 458 Pa. 324, 327 A.2d 77 (1974); Commonwealth v. Wallace, 427 Pa. 110, 233 A.2d 218 (1967).
The dismissal of an appeal, where a defendant deliberately bypasses the judicial process by means of escape, is one such consequence. “Disposition by dismissal of pending appeals of escaped prisoners is a longstanding and established principle of American law.” Estelle v. Dorrough, 420 U.S. 534, 537, 95 S.Ct. 1173, 1175, 43 L.Ed.2d 377, 380 (1975). The United States Supreme Court has held that escape “disentitles the defendant to call upon the resources of the Court for determination of his claims.” Molinaro v. New Jersey, 396 U.S. 365, 90 S.Ct. 498, 24 L.Ed.2d 586 (1970). Likewise, this Court has held that a defendant who escapes from custody forfeits his right to appellate review. E.g., Commonwealth v. Passaro, 504 Pa. 611, 476 A.2d 346 (1984); Commonwealth v. Luckenbaugh, 520 Pa. 75, 550 A.2d 1317 (1988) (per curiam); Commonwealth v. Craddock, 522 Pa. 491, 564 A.2d 151 (1989) (per curiam). A *540court may dispose of such an appeal by dismissal upon motion of any party,4 or it may act sua sponte.5
In Passaro, the defendant escaped while his appeal was pending. Consequently, the Commonwealth filed a motion to quash the appeal, which the Superior Court granted. The defendant was subsequently returned to custody. He filed a petition to reinstate his appeal, which the Superior Court denied, and then filed a similar petition in this Court.
We denied the defendant’s petition to reinstate his appeal, stating:
... a defendant’s resort to escape constitutes a flagrant and deliberate bypass of the entire judicial process. The escape of a convicted defendant from confinement may properly be considered a rejection of the legitimate means afforded the defendant for challenging his conviction and imprisonment. Thus, by choosing to flee and live as a fugitive, a defendant forfeits the right to have his claims considered.
Id. 520 Pa. at 615, 476 A.2d at 349.
In subsequent cases, we have repeatedly held that a defendant who chooses to bypass proper judicial procedures by fleeing from justice forfeits his appellate rights. In Luckenbaugh, the defendant escaped while his petition for reconsideration of sentence was pending. The trial court sua sponte dismissed his petition for reconsideration because of his fugitive status, and defense counsel filed a notice of appeal on behalf of the defendant. The Superior Court held that the defendant had not forfeited his appellate rights and addressed the merits of his appeal. On appeal, this Court reversed on the basis of Passaro. Luckenbaugh, 520 Pa. 75, 550 A.2d 1317 (per curiam). Similarly, in Craddock, we upheld the Superior Court’s application of Passaro where the defendant escaped during jury deliberations and was sentenced in absentia.
*541A defendant’s voluntary escape acts as a per se forfeiture of his right of appeal, where the defendant is a fugitive at any time after post-trial proceedings commence. Such a forfeiture is irrevocable and continues despite the defendant’s capture or voluntary return to custody. Thus, by choosing to flee from justice, appellant forever forfeited his right to appeal.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court en banc quashing appellant’s appeal.
McDERMOTT, Justice, joins this opinion and files a concurring opinion.
NIX, C.J., concurs in the result.
CAPPY, J., files a dissenting opinion joined by ZAPPALA, J.

. Rule 1117(a) provides, in pertinent part, that "[t]he defendant’s absence without cause shall not preclude proceeding with the trial including the return of the verdict.”

. Although appellant also challenges his sentencing in absentia, we do not have jurisdiction to review that issue because allocatur was limited solely to the issue of whether the en banc Superior Court properly quashed appellant’s appeal per Commonwealth v. Passaro, infra, based on appellant having been a fugitive.

. Pa.Const.Art. 5, § 9 provides:
There shall be a right of appeal in all cases to a court of record from a court not of record; and there shall also be a right of appeal from a court of record or from an administrative agency to a court of record or to an appellate court, the selection of such court to be as provided by law; and there shall be such other rights of appeal as may be provided by law.

. Pa.R.A.P. 1972(6).

. Commonwealth v. Tomlinson, 467 Pa. 22, 354 A.2d 254 (1976).