Court Opinion

ID: 9752135
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 17:38:41.410965+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:08.288138
License: Public Domain

POMEROY, Justice
(concurring).
*62I agree with the majority that the orphans’ court decree should be affirmed. I add this separate statement only because I believe that the question whether a child has a right to representation by counsel in proceedings initiated to terminate involuntarily his parent’s parental rights is not properly before us in this appeal. The majority tackles this difficult question notwithstanding the concession that the issue is raised for the first time on this appeal and without discussion of whether appellant has standing to assert this claim. Assuming without deciding that a father has standing to assert his child’s entitlement to counsel, it is my view that appellant John Kapcsos has waived his right by failing to raise this objection at the hearing below. See In re Martorano, 464 Pa. 66, 346 A.2d 22 (1975) (procedural due process claim waived because not asserted at hearing below); Dilliplaine v. Lehigh Valley Trust Co., 457 Pa. 255, 322 A.2d 114 (1974).