Court Opinion

ID: 9728858
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:17:49.018222+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:52.608380
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
dissenting.
The majority holds that appellant knowingly and intelligently waived his right to file post-verdict motions, and thus affirms the order of the PCHA court. I dissent.
Personal waivers of important constitutional rights, such as the right to appeal, cannot be inferred from an incomplete and ambiguous record. See Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506, 82 S.Ct. 884, 8 L.Ed.2d 70 (1962); Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). *135The PCHA court here denied appellant’s petition on the basis of evidence in the trial record that appellant was advised of his rights of appeal after verdict and again before sentencing. That petitioner was advised of his rights, however, does not in itself establish that the failure to exercise those rights was the product of free choice. This evidence alone, therefore, does not support the PCHA court’s conclusion that appellant’s waiver was knowing and intelligent. Moreover, in light of the PCHA court’s opinion, I am unwilling to assume, as does the majority, that the PCHA court relied upon testimony taken at the PCHA hearing on the waiver issue. Accordingly, I would vacate the order of the PCHA court and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.