Court Opinion

ID: 9746265
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:10:13.397778+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:11.311100
License: Public Domain

NIGRO, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully disagree with the Majority that a remand for an evidentiary hearing is necessary. Rather, I conclude that Appellant complied with the Rules of Appellate Procedure in ordering the necessary transcripts for his appeal and thus, was not at fault for the delay in the transmission of the record. I would therefore vacate the Superior Court’s order quashing Appellant’s appeal.
As observed by the Majority, this appeal focuses on whether the notes of testimony from Appellant’s suppression hearing were properly ordered and made a part of the record for purposes of Appellant’s appeal to the Superior Court. Since the uncontradicted record indicates that Appellant had a copy of the suppression notes, I can come to no conclusion other than the notes of testimony were ordered and transcribed by the court stenographer.
As I read the applicable Rules of Appellate procedure, the ordering of those transcripts necessary to one’s appeal is all that is required of an appellant to secure the availability of those transcripts for appellate review. See Pa. R.A.P. 1911 (an appellant must request all transcripts necessary to his *465appeal). Since the transcript of the suppression notes was ordered here, I therefore agree with Appellant that he complied with his obligations under Pa. R.A.P. 1911. That is not to say, however, that Appellant’s counsel fulfilled his obligations as an officer of the court. It seems clear that, as a courtesy to the court, Appellant’s counsel should have provided the Superior Court with a copy of the suppression notes from his file. While this simple act of cooperation would have spared the judicial resources we are now expending, and I admonish counsel’s behavior, Appellant should not be penalized for his counsel’s conduct. Therefore, since I conclude from the record that Appellant complied with his obligations under the Rules of Appellate Procedure, there is no need for an evidentiary hearing.
It appears that the failure to timely transmit the record to the Superior Court was caused by a breakdown in the administration of the appellate process. As explained by the Majority, personnel in the Quarter Sessions office failed to respond, for whatever reason, to multiple orders from the Superior Court to transmit the record “forthwith.” Although the Superior Court sent such directives on December 20, 1994 and July 6, 1995, the Quarter Sessions office failed to send the record until January 18, 1996, nearly two months after the Superior Court quashed Appellant’s appeal for lack of a certified record. As stated in Judge Cercone’s dissent, “the difficulty in this case is not that the appellant has failed to act, but that the trial court has failed to comply with the directives of the Superior Court to transmit the quarter sessions file and the existing transcripts.” Commonwealth v. Williams, 449 Pa.Super. 729, 674 A.2d 822 (1995) (Cercone, J., dissenting).1 Given *466the waste of judicial resources involved in this case, I find cause for great concern that such a breakdown in the administrative process could occur and would expect that the personnel responsible for completing and transmitting the record will take precautions to prevent any future problems of this kind. Nonetheless, a remand for an evidentiary hearing to ascertain the genesis of the office of the Quarter Sessions’ failure to timely transmit the record is collateral to this appeal once it is concluded that Appellant complied with the Appellate Rules. Thus, I disagree with the Majority’s disposition of this case and would vacate the Superior Court’s order quashing Appellant’s appeal.

. As the majority notes, it is unclear whether the stenographer also sent a copy of the notes of testimony to the Clerk of Quarter Sessions for the record after they were transcribed on May 29, 1992. Appellant maintains that, upon counsel’s request for transcription, it is standard operating procedure for the stenographer to send the original copy to the Clerk for inclusion in the Quarter Sessions file. This practice not only would seem to be the most efficient and sensible, but more significantly, one that is in accord with the Rules of Appellate Procedure. See Pa. R.A.P.1922 (upon receipt of the order for transcript, the official court reporter shall have notes transcribed and shall lodge the *466transcript with the clerk of the trial court). Appellant, however, should not be prejudiced by any administrative error that may have occurred in the preparation of his record.