Court Opinion

ID: 9749083
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:23:50.517454+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:43.833365
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
dissenting.
For the reasons set forth in Commonwealth v. Pettus, 492 Pa. 558, 424 A.2d 1332 (1981) (Roberts, J., dissenting), I dissent. As was stated in Pettus, supra,
“[t]he juvenile system inherently confers substantial benefits:
‘[JJudges in the juvenile courts do take a different view of their role than that taken by their counterparts in the criminal courts. * * *
[T]he juvenile system has available and utilizes much more fully various diagnostic and rehabilitative services.
[T]he end result of a declaration of delinquency is significantly different from and less onerous than a finding of criminal guilt. * * * ’ *300Terry Appeal, 438 Pa. 339, 348-49, 265 A.2d 350, 354-55 (1970), aff’d, 403 U.S. 528, 91 S.Ct. 1976, 29 L.Ed.2d 647 (1971) . Further, contrary to the majority’s assumption, the decision not to seek a transfer is not for counsel to make alone. Clearly the decision to forgo the substantial benefits conferred by the juvenile system is crucial and must be shared by the juvenile. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 6355(c) (transfer from juvenile to criminal court may be requested by ‘child’); ABA Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Standards Relating to the Defense Function §§ 5.1, 5.2 (Approved Draft, 1971); Comment, Criminal Waiver: The Requirement of Personal Participation, Competence and Legitimate State Interest, 54 Calif.L.Rev. 1262 (1966).”
Id., 492 Pa. at 565, 424 A.2d at 1336. I would, therefore, remand the record for an evidentiary hearing “at which trial counsel may state his reasons for having chosen the course of action taken.” Commonwealth v. Turner, 469 Pa. 319, 324, 365 A.2d 847, 849.(1976).
O’BRIEN, C. J., joins this dissenting opinion.