Court Opinion

ID: 9652299
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:22:04.06798+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:50.197127
License: Public Domain

PRICE, Judge,
dissenting:
The majority alternatively holds (1) that there is no requirement that written notice be placed in the record in every case and (2) that the fact of actual receipt was established by the written notice attached to the Commonwealth’s brief. Although I disagree with the latter holding because it gives undue effect to matters dehors the record, I completely agree with the former holding. I dissent, however, because I believe that appellant has sufficiently raised the issue of whether he in fact received written notice, and therefore the majority’s first holding does not dispose of the case.
Appellant phrases the issue as whether “[he was] denied due process of law since it nowhere appears in the record that he received written notice of the claimed violations of probation.” (Appellant’s Brief at 3). In my view there never has been a requirement that written notice appear in the record unless the issue was raised below. I, therefore, find appellant’s statement of the issue ambiguous and, for the purpose of this appeal, would treat it as if he contends that he was never afforded such notice. I would remand this case for a determination of whether written notice was, in fact, provided.
In Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973) and Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972), the Supreme Court estab*439lished the minimal requirements of due process in probation and parole revocation cases. Prior to revocation, the Commonwealth must, inter alia, provide the probationer or parolee with written notice of the alleged violations which form the basis of the revocation proceeding. The obvious purpose of this rule is to provide the probationer with notice of the charges against which he must defend. Gagnon and Morrissey, however, contain no requirement that the Commonwealth place proof of notice on the record. The administration of these constitutionally required procedures is left to the states.
This court has repeatedly held that the Commonwealth must strictly comply with the requirement that notice of the alleged violations be in writing. See, e. g., Commonwealth v. Martin, 241 Pa.Super. 222, 360 A.2d 733 (1976); Commonwealth v. Stratton, 235 Pa.Super. 566, 344 A.2d 636 (1975); Commonwealth v. Henderson, 234 Pa.Super. 498, 340 A.2d 483 (1975); Commonwealth v. Davis, 234 Pa.Super. 31, 336 A.2d 616 (1975); Commonwealth v. Alexander, 232 Pa.Super. 57, 331 A.2d 836 (1974). As Judge Hoffman points out, we ruled, in Commonwealth v. Stratton, supra 235 Pa.Super. at 569, 344 A.2d at 638, that “Gagnon requires, inter alia, that written notice of the alleged probation violations be furnished to the defendant . . . . There is no evidence in the record to show that the appellant received written notice. The probation revocation hearing, therefore, did not satisfy the requirements of due process.” (Emphasis added). In Commonwealth v. Stratton, supra, however, the appellant never received written notice. An examination of dissenting opinions in Stratton reveals that the issues on appeal concerned whether a criminal conviction could be a proper substitute for written notice and whether written notice could be waived by failure to object at the revocation hearing. Stratton does not stand for the proposition that notice must be placed on the record. Our research reveals no case in which the Commonwealth contended on appeal that written notice was in fact given. See e. g, Common*440wealth v. Kile, 237 Pa.Super. 72, 346 A.2d 793 (1975); Commonwealth v. Henderson, supra; Commonwealth v. Alexander, supra.
In his dissenting opinion, Judge Hoffman objects to the consideration of matters outside the record. I agree that we should not decide a factual question based on facts presented, for the first time, in an appendix to a brief. It must be remembered, however, that the relevant facts wére not presented to the lower court because the issue was not raised at that point in the case. Because of the “informal” nature of the hearing, we have heretofore declined to consider issues waived even if they have not been presented at the probation revocation hearing. Commonwealth v. Alexander, supra. Nevertheless, I find.it totally improper to penalize the Commonwealth for failing to introduce facts directed toward a non-contested issue not relating to the substantive violations.
It may be that a rule requiring on-the-record proof would prove easier to apply and ultimately reduce the number of appeals to this court.1 Whether or not this is true is immaterial. This court has no supervisory power and therefore cannot issue such a rule. See Commonwealth v. Jones, 245 Pa.Super. 487, 369 A.2d 733 (1977).
*441Moreover, such a requirement may not prove easy to apply in other situations. For example, this court has recently been besieged by a host of speedy hearing claims under Pa.R.Crim.P. 1409 and Commonwealth v. White, 218 Pa.Super. 188, 279 A.2d 768 (1971). In his dissenting opinion, Judge Hoffman would hold that “the Commonwealth must establish a record to demonstrate that it complied with the minimum due process requirements of Gagnon.” (At 437). I can perceive no rational basis for distinguishing between written notice and speedy hearing cases.2 Any requiremént that the Commonwealth prove compliance with Rule 1409 when the issue has never been raised would be extremely wasteful. In addition, failure by the Commonwealth to comply with such a requirement could result in discharge even when the speedy hearing claim is substantively without merit. Judge Hoffman’s rule would therefore create a dangerous precedent.
Finally, from the perspective of the lower court and the witnesses who must attend any new hearings, it would be substantially easier to provide a hearing limited to the issue of whether written notice was actually provided.3 From an appellate perspective it is no more difficult to remand for a limited hearing on the notice issue than for a full Gagnon II hearing. This remedy would of course be limited to those situations where the appellant raises lack of notice for the first time on appeal and the Commonwealth contends, in its brief, that written notice was provided.4
I would reverse the judgment of sentence and remand the case for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

. It may be that it is time to re-evaluate the proper relationship of waiver to counseled revocation hearings. In Commonwealth v. Alexander, 232 Pa.Super. 57, 61-62, 331 A.2d 836, 838 (1974) (majority opinion by Price, J.), we held that waiver did not apply to probation cases. This decision was based in large part on the following language from the decision in Commonwealth v. Kates, 452 Pa. 102, 118-19, 305 A.2d 701, 710 (1973):
“Neither Morrissey, nor any other decision that has come to our attention, requires that a revocation hearing be conducted with the same procedural and evidentiary rules as would apply to a [criminal] trial . ... In' this area' of rights of probationers and parolees the controlling factor is not whether the traditional rules of evidence or procedure including Fourth and Fifth Amendment exclusionary rules, have been strictly observed, but rather whether the probative value of the evidence has been affected.”
Perhaps, as Judge Jacobs suggested in his dissenting opinion in Commonwealth v. Stratton, 235 Pa.Super. 566, 344 A.2d 636 (1975), this language does not foreclose traditional concepts of waiver based on the failure to raise an issue in the lower court.

. In Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 488, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 2603-04, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972), the Supreme Court noted that “[t]he revocation hearing must be tendered within a reasonable time after the parolee is taken into custody.” See also Moody v. Daggett, 429 U.S. 78, 97 S.Ct. 274, 50 L.Ed.2d 236 (1976).

. If the lower court finds that notice was given, appellant could appeal that decision. If notice was not given, appellant would be entitled to a second Gagnon II hearing.

. By remanding in this situation, we would avoid the problem of deciding a matter based on evidence dehors the record.