Court Opinion

ID: 9753064
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 18:56:03.350285+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:29.128169
License: Public Domain

TAMILIA, Judge,
dissenting:
I disagree with the majority in its determination that this conviction must be vacated for failure to comply with Commonwealth v. Iancovetti, 298 Pa.Super. 441, 444 A.2d 1257 (1982). Admittedly, the facts are comparable but since lancovetti, there has been further review by our Supreme Court of our function in passing on Rule 1100 cases, and pursuant to Commonwealth v. Crowley, 502 Pa. 393, 466 *313A.2d 1009 (1983), I believe the Commonwealth and the lower court are correct in advocating no violation thereof.
Crowley holds:
Rule 1100 was designed to promote the administration of criminal justice within the context of our entire judicial system, not to render that system hostage to its own closed logic. The goals of efficiency and ease of administration which Rule 1100 serves are worthy; they should not be exalted at the expense of justice. Thus, in interpreting our Rule 1100, we must throw away the stopwatch and pick up the scales of justice. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Blady, 492 Pa. 285, 424 A.2d 864 (1980) (dissenting opinion, Larsen, J., in which Flaherty, J. joined).
Id., 502 Pa. at 402-403, 466 A.2d at 1014.
Permitting a defendant to be considered for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) carries with it a considerable benefit, and indeed had he been accepted to the program, defendant would likely have obtained a clear record. In return, it is only reasonable to require him to waive the benefits of Rule 1100 to permit the administrative proceedings to be worked out pending a determination of defendant’s acceptability to the program. A longer than usual delay was occasioned by the necessity of the district attorney to have resolved an issue as to whether the court could impose fines in ARD cases. Rule 178 (ARD) requires an in-court proceeding on the motions for acceptance into ARD (in a counseled proceeding) but there is no similar requirement for administrative review by the district attorney concerning defendant’s amenability to the program. Thus I would find that the waiver, although uncounseled, was adequate for the purpose of being considered for ARD, as appellant received a substantial benefit which he sought, which was unavailable without the waiver. This is entirely different from the waiver requested prior to trial, usually for the Commonwealth or court’s benefit, in which the consequences to the defendant are mostly negative. It must be presumed that a student who was in post-high *314school training, was sufficiently astute to understand the printed statement, advising of the need to waive the speedy trial rule, and his signature, at the end thereof, is sufficient to evidence that he read it.
The move toward a more even-handed approach to Rule 1100 problems, led to the change in the rule 1100(d)(2) to permit exclusion of any period of time for which the defendant expressly waived Rule 1100. The comments to the rule provided that:
In addition to waiving Rule 1100 for the period of enrollment in the ARD program (see Rule 178, paragraph (3)), the attorney for the Commonwealth may request that the defendant waive Rule 1100 for the period of time spent in processing and considering the defendant’s inclusion with the ARD program.
Thus I perceive no harm or prejudice to the defendant under the Crowley doctrine in the uncounseled waiver or the noninclusion of the time elapsing (July-October) until the decision not to accept him was rendered.
Thereafter, defendant, out of town in school, failed to respond to notice of the hearing, which was sent to his last known address, but not forwarded to him by his parents. This time, at least from that of nonappearance until the defendant was located (by issuance of process), can be considered a further waiver of time due to defendant’s unavailability.
Finally, since the district attorney had no control over the court calendar, and delays were occasioned by illness of two trial judges and failure of the senate to confirm a third in time for the proposed term (thus three out of six not being available) the Commonwealth is not chargeable with the delay.
Crowley further instructs:
We adopted Rule 1100 pursuant to our supervisory powers to reduce the backlog of criminal cases in Common Pleas and to provide an objective standard for protection of defendant’s speedy trial rights. Commonwealth v. *315Mayfield, 469 Pa. at 217, 364 A.2d at 1347; Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 449 Pa. 297, 297 A.2d 127 (1972).
Rule 1100 “serves two equally important functions: (1) the protection of the accused’s speedy trial rights, and (2) the protection of society.” Commonwealth v. Brocklehurst, 491 Pa. 151 [153-54], 420 A.2d 385, 387 (1980); Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 449 Pa. 297, 297 A.2d 127 (1972). In determining whether an accused’s right to a speedy trial has been violated, consideration must be given to society’s right to effective prosecution of criminal cases, both to restrain those guilty of crime and to deter those contemplating it. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 487 Pa. 197 n. 4, 409 A.2d 308 n. 4 (1980). The administrative mandate of Rule 1100 certainly was not designed to insulate the criminally accused from good faith prosecution delayed through no fault of the Commonwealth. (Footnote omitted)
Id., 502 Pa. at 399, 466 A.2d at 1012.
As to delay by the court, relying on Commonwealth v. Mayfield, 469 Pa. 214, 364 A.2d 1345 (1976) (unavoidable judicial delay as a basis for grant of extension of time) Crowley repeated:
In Mayfield this Court did recognize that an inflexible approach to Rule 1100 is inappropriate. In that case, Superior Court had held that delays attributable to court administration could never justify an extension under Rule 1100(c). At that time, Rule 1100(c) did not, as it does today, provide expressly for the exclusion of judicial delays. This court, nevertheless, reversed Superior Court, holding that we never intended such an inflexible result under Rule 1100. The Mayfield decision and the accompanying 1981 amendment, effective January 1, 1982, to Rule 1100 permit extensions provided the record shows:
“(1) the due diligence of the prosecution, and (2) certification that trial is scheduled for the earliest date consistent with the court’s business; provided that if the delay is due to the court’s inability to try the defendant *316within the prescribed period, the record must also show the causes of the court delay and the reasons why the delay cannot be avoided.”
469 Pa. at 222, 364 A.2d at 1349-50. That requirement must be given a realistic construction. A rigid requirement that the Courts of Common Pleas, particularly in urban areas with severely crowded criminal and civil dockets, must continually arrange and rearrange their schedules to accommodate the 180 day rule, would be ill-advised. (Emphasis added)
Id. 502 Pa. at 400-401, 466 A.2d at 1013.
Whether before or after the January 1, 1982 amendment to Rule 1100 (supra) the Mayfield and Crowley rationale would permit an extension of time under the circumstances of this case. Thus the final and usually ultimate claim of ineffectiveness of counsel is unwarranted as on the record there is a proper waiver, and despite refusal to object to failure of the court to set an original trial date or move to dismiss on that basis, the Commonwealth’s petition, granted by the court, included a date certain within which trial was commenced. Pursuant to Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. 259, 372 A.2d 687 (1977), Commonwealth v. Garvin, 335 Pa.Super. 560, 485 A.2d 36 (1984) and Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) failure to show prejudice results in a dismissal of the alleged ineffectiveness of counsel claim.
Returning for a final time to Crowley,
Ironically, prophylactic application of Rule 1100 coupled with our standard for determining ineffective assistance render criminal counsels’ ineffectiveness ultimately effective because failure to object to arguably improper extensions increases the likelihood of .an erroneous grant of a continuance leading to the ultimate discharge for a Rule 1100 violation. Indeed, in this ease, trial counsel’s carelessness insured a favorable result. That insurance would have been cancelled had he properly objected to the Commonwealth’s petition for an extension of time and *317given the trial court an opportunity to consider the question in an adversary posture.
Such a rule tempts the result-oriented practitioner to “deliberate” inadvertence or at least benign neglect. Trial and appellate court judges have long suspected the possibility of “build in” ineffective assistance by clever trial counsel. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Boykin [501] Pa. [250], 460 A.2d 1101 (1983) (Larsen, J. dissenting opinion). See also Commonwealth v. Brown, 497 Pa. 7, 438 A.2d 592 (1981). Our standard of ineffectiveness is ill-designed to recognize such perversions of an adversary system which was intended to vigorously safeguard the rights of criminal defendants.
Defense counsel’s failure to object to an extension of time did not result in a denial of a fair trial nor is it fundamentally unfair to deny appellant the prophylactic effect of Rule 1100. When defense counsel fails to object to a Commonwealth petition for an extension of time, we will not discharge the defendant unless he has been deprived of his underlying right to a speedy trial under either the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution or Article 1, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. See Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). Such a failure to assert a basic constitutional right is likely to also involve an additional Sixth Amendment denial of the basic right to effective counsel. The present failure to assert a prophylactic rule when noncompliance with it could have arguably been remedied does not.
Id. 502 Pa. at 404-405, 466 A.2d at 1015.
Thus the failure to object, as analyzed above, provides a meritless claim of ineffectiveness of counsel.
Defendant also alleges that the plea of guilty to summary retail offenses, on which the present charge is enhanced, was uncounseled and therefore invalid. This allegation is without merit as they were summary offenses.
I would affirm the trial judge.