Court Opinion

ID: 9763835
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:56:57.301762+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:49.973139
License: Public Domain

Justice NIGRO
Concurring.
I agree with the majority that the trial court did not err in allowing Denise Chiappini to testify about her observations of Appellant’s actions. I write separately, however, because I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that house arrest constitutes “custody” for purposes of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9760(1), as I generally frown upon a process that allows people to serve *528sentences in the comforts of their own home. Instead, in my view, the Superior Court properly concluded in Commonwealth v. Shartle that time spent in “custody” must be the “equivalent of time served in an institutional setting.” 438 Pa.Super. 403, 652 A.2d 874, 877 (1995).
Given the particular circumstances in the instant case, however, I agree with the majority that Appellant should be credited for his time spent in the electronic monitoring program. Here, Appellant was put on the monitoring program as a condition of bail following a guilty verdict in his first trial. He remained in the program while the trial court considered his motion for a new trial, after the trial court granted that motion and while he awaited his new trial. After his second trial resulted in a guilty verdict, Appellant continued to be subject to electronic monitoring until his sentence was imposed. At that point, Appellant had been in the electronic monitoring program for a total of 518 days. In light of these circumstances, I believe that Appellant should, on the basis of equity, receive credit for the 518 days he spent in the electronic monitoring program.