Court Opinion

ID: 9652602
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:28:02.835468+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:52.864505
License: Public Domain

CONCURRING OPINION BY
COLVILLE, J.:
¶ 1 I too would affirm the PCRA court’s order. I write separately because I disagree with the manner in which the Majority disposes of Appellant’s last three issues.
¶2 In the “statement of questions involved” portion of his brief, Appellant frames his last three issues in terms of Attorney Pass rendering ineffective assistance by failing to preserve challenges to the discretionary aspects of Appellant’s sentence. However, in my view, under these issues, Appellant ultimately contends that Attorney Pass rendered ineffective assistance by failing to challenge discretionary aspects of Appellant’s sentence.7 *481More specifically, Appellant argues Attorney Pass should have presented claims that: the trial court rendered its sentence merely by focusing on the serious nature of the crimes Appellant committed; the trial court rendered its sentence based upon the extent of the victim’s injuries, which is a factor already accounted for in the sentencing guidelines; and the trial court failed to consider Appellant’s rehabilitative needs in fashioning his sentence. The PCRA court adequately rejected these claims in its opinion. PCRA Court Opinion, 3/7/08, at 7-13. For the reasons stated by the PCRA court, I conclude Appellant’s underlying claims have no merit. Consequently, Appellant’s claims that Attorney Pass rendered ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the discretionary aspects of Appellant’s sentence fail for lack of arguable merit.

. See, e.g., Appellant's Brief at 31-32 (“Accordingly, [Appellant] presents an arguably meritorious claim (and substantial question regarding the propriety of sentence) that his sentence must be vacated and he must be re-sentenced. Attorney Pass had no reasonable *481basis for failing to raise such a claim. It is reasonably probable that [Appellant’s] sentence would have been vacated (and, to the extent further prejudice is required, a minimum and/or maximum of reduced length imposed).”).