Court Opinion

ID: 9759195
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:08:31.826471+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:00.203745
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring.
While I agree with the majority that appellant is not entitled to relief, I would not address the merits of appellant’s claim that his plea of guilty was involuntarily entered. Appellant pled guilty on July 15,1975, and was sentenced on September 12, 1975. Although appellant promptly petitioned the court for a reduction of sentence, he sought no other relief, by appeal or otherwise, until April 11, 1979, when he filed the present petition to withdraw his guilty plea. Appellant has failed to explain his delay of three years and seven months in filing the petition to withdraw his plea. This unexplained delay bars consideration of the merits of his claim. See Commonwealth v. Minarik, 493 Pa. 573, 583, 427 A.2d 623, 628-29 (1981) (Roberts, J., joined by O’Brien, C. J., and Nix, J., concurring in the judgment).
O’BRIEN, C. J., and NIX, J., join this concurring opinion.