Court Opinion

ID: 9700608
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:37:34.212975+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:12.320226
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. The present appeal is wholly frivolous. It was filed pro se from a judgment of sentence entered following counseled pleas of guilty to multiple charges of burglary and robbery. The present appeal was filed without prior petition to withdraw the pleas of guilty1 *164or for reconsideration of sentence. When the trial court entered an order under Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) directing the filing of a statement of matters complained of on appeal, neither appellant nor his counsel responded.2 Thus, the adequacy of the guilty plea colloquy has not been considered by the trial court. From this it can readily be seen that there are no issues which have been properly preserved for appellate review.
Moreover, if I assume arguendo that a challenge to the validity of the guilty plea is properly before us on this direct appeal, I would be compelled to find it wholly lacking in merit. The guilty plea colloquy was impeccable. Both counsel and the trial court assiduously complied with the mandates of Commonwealth v. Ingram, 455 Pa. 198, 316 A.2d 77 (1974) and Pa.R.Crim.P. 319.
Therefore, I would affirm the judgment of sentence. The alleged inadequacy of the guilty plea colloquy has been argued in an advocate’s brief filed by appellate counsel, and his stewardship in failing to file a statement of matters complained of on appeal can be examined if and when the issue is properly raised. Meanwhile, I can perceive no practical reason for keeping alive this frivolous appeal merely because counsel added a paragraph to his brief in which he stated that he wished to withdraw as appellant’s counsel.

. Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 321 sets forth the requisite procedure for challenging a guilty plea. Appellate decisions have made compliance with this rule mandatory. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 258 Pa.Super. 214, 392 A.2d 760 (1978). Thus, prior to filing an appeal in this Court, an appellant must file with the trial court a petition for withdrawal of his guilty plea. A waiver will be found where no such petition has been filed, provided the record affirmatively demonstrates that appellant has been advised of the right to petition, the right to assistance of appointed counsel, and the consequences of failure to file such a petition. The record in this case demonstrates that appellant was fully and properly advised.

. In Commonwealth v. Silver, 499 Pa. 228, 238, 452 A.2d 1328, 1333 (1982), the Supreme Court discussed the waiver provision of Rule 1925(b). Noting that “[t]he statement provided for therein is intended to aid the trial court in the preparation of an opinion where the basis of an appeal is unclear [,]” the Court went on to state that: "The waiver provision of the Rule is properly invoked only where failure to file a statement or omission from a statement of issues raised on appeal defeats effective appellate review."