Court Opinion

ID: 9710378
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:08:29.429091+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:56.363005
License: Public Domain

STEVENS, J.,
dissenting.
¶ 1 I respectfully dissent from the majority’s memorandum on two grounds.
¶ 2 Initially, as I indicated in my dissenting opinions to Commonwealth v. Garcia, 749 A.2d 928 (Pa. Super.2000) (en banc ) (Stevens, J., dissenting), Commonwealth v. Hitchcock, 749 A.2d 935 (Pa.Super.2000) (en banc ) (Stevens, J., dissenting), I believe Lantzy should be applied retroactively. As such, I would find that Appellant’s petition seeking reinstatement of PCRA appellate rights nunc pro tunc should be considered an untimely second PCRA petition, which was properly dismissed by the PCRA court.
¶3 Further, I disagree that a PCRA petitioner is entitled to appointment of counsel on his initial PCRA petition, with*858out first remanding for the PCRA court to make a determination as to whether or not the PCRA petition is patently frivolous and without support in the record.
If 4 Pa.R.Crim.P. 1507 provides in relevant part as follows:
[I]f the judge is satisfied from this review that there are no genuine issues concerning any material fact and that the defendant is not entitled to post-conviction collateral relief and no purpose would be served by any further proceedings, the judge shall give notice to the parties of the intention to dismiss the petition and shall state in the notice the reasons for the dismissal. The defendant may respond to the proposed dismissal within 20 days of the date of the notice. The judge thereafter shall order the petition dismissed, grant leave to file an amended petition, or direct that the proceedings continue.
Pa.R.Crim.P. 1507(a).
¶ 5 In the comment to the aforesaid rule, it is stated that:
To determine whether a summary dismissal is appropriate, the judge should thoroughly review the petition, the answer, if any, and all other relevant information that is included in the record. If, after this review, the judge determines that the petition is patently frivolous and without support in the record, or that the facts alleged would not, even if proven, entitle the defendant to relief, or that there are no genuine issues of fact, the judge may dismiss the petition as provided herein.
Comment, Pa.R.Crim.P. 1507.
¶ 6 Although Rule 1504(a) indicates that “...the judge shall appoint counsel to represent the defendant on the defendant’s first petition for post-conviction collateral relief ... ”, I would first require the PCRA court to apply the principles of Rule 1507, supra, and summarily dismiss the petition without the appointment of counsel if the judge finds that the petition is “patently frivolous and without support in the record.” In the event the PCRA court finds the petition is not frivolous, then I would apply Pa.R.Crim.P. 1504(a) for the appointment of counsel.
¶ 7 There is no constitutional right to counsel in a collateral proceeding. See Commonwealth v. Travaglia, 541 Pa. 108, 661 A.2d 352 (1995). Therefore, if the record supports the finding of a PCRA court that a petition is patently frivolous, there should be no automatic right to the appointment of counsel. To rule otherwise opens the door for a continued assault on our legal system by the filing of frivolous appeals.
¶ 8 For the above reasons, I would affirm the dismissal of Appellant’s petition.