Court Opinion

ID: 9756594
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:39:27.004399+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:26.482984
License: Public Domain

Justice SAYLOR,
concurring.
I have no objection to the majority’s approach to sentencing merger in the absence of a specific expression of legislative intent; indeed, consistent with such approach, I believe that it is sensible to treat criminal trespass as a lesser-included offense of burglary. However, I agree with Madame Justice Newman that the Legislature has now evinced an intent in Section 9765 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9765, to require a pure statutory elements approach to sentencing merger. Since, however, the enactment of Section 9765 postdates Appellant’s offenses in this case, I do not believe that it need necessarily be applied here. Thus, I am able to join in the result of the majority opinion.