Court Opinion

ID: 9755976
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:01:29.302563+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:13.501877
License: Public Domain

CASTILLE, Justice,
concurring.
I concur with the result reached by the majority but write separately as I believe that once a defendant willfully and purposefully flees from a court’s jurisdiction, he waives any review of the court’s decision regardless of whether such review be requested at the trial or appellate level. Thus, while I would affirm the trial court’s denial of relief, I would do so on different grounds.
Over the last decade, as noted by Mr. Chief Justice Flaherty, this Court has repeatedly revisited the impact of a defendant’s flight upon post-flight judicial proceedings despite the seminal case of Commonwealth v. Jones, 530 Pa. 536, 610 A.2d 439 (1992). The wording in Jones was unambiguous and is barely five years old:
A defendant’s voluntary escape acts as a per se forfeiture of his right of appeal, where the defendant is a fugitive at any *297time after post-trial proceedings commence. Such a forfeiture is irrevocable and continues despite the defendant’s capture or voluntary return to custody. Thus, by choosing to flee from justice, appellant forever forfeited his right to appeal.
530 Pa. at 541, 610 A.2d at 441. I believe that the reasoning of this Court in Jones applies with equal force to this matter even though here, the defendant became a fugitive during his trial, as opposed to “after post-trial proceedings,” as was the case in Jones. To hold differently gives little meaning to stare decisis.
Persons who disregard the laws and rules which society has formulated for its orderly functioning, who disregard the mandate for their day in court, and who voluntarily and purposefully ignore a court’s jurisdiction and authority, should forego the opportunity for review of the matter and receive their due punishment.
All that is required under the federal or state constitutions is that an accused be afforded the opportunity to exercise his rights thereunder, not that such rights actually be exercised. Here, appellant chose not to participate in his trial. Accordingly, I would find that appellant has waived any complaint he may have about the proceeding and that under Commonwealth v. Jones, further review is precluded.
NEWMAN, J., joins this concurring opinion.