Court Opinion

ID: 9701203
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 22:10:21.37619+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:20.773363
License: Public Domain

*345CERCONE, Judge,
concurring:
Although I agree with the majority that the trial court improperly modified appellant’s sentence beyond the maximum sentence originally imposed, I reach this conclusion for reasons other than those cited by the majority.
On July 25, 1990, the trial court sentenced appellant to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten (10) days, nor more than twenty-three (23) months. Appellant served ten days in jail, then was paroled for the remainder of his sentence. Towards the end of appellant’s period of parole, his parole officer informed him that he had not paid the fines and costs imposed in his judgment of sentence. Thus, appellant faced the probability of a parole violation hearing and the possibility of incarceration for the unserved portion of his twenty-three month sentence. Rather than risking recommitment, appellant requested and received a two-year extension of his parole for an opportunity to pay his fines. The majority finds that by granting appellant’s request for an extension of his parole, the trial court violated 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5505 by modifying appellant’s sentence beyond the thirty-day time limit.
I agree with the majority’s finding that the extension of appellant’s parole constituted an improper modification of his sentence. However, I do not agree that the trial court may not, under any circumstances, extend the parole period at the request of a defendant. Under Pennsylvania law, the authority to parole convicted offenders is shared between the court of common pleas and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. When, as in the instant case, the offender is sentenced to a maximum term of imprisonment of less than two years, the common pleas court retains authority to grant and revoke parole; when the maximum term is two years or more, authority to grant and revoke parole is vested in the Parole Board. 61 P.S. § 331.17, 331.21, 331.26; Commonwealth v. McDermott, 377 Pa.Super. 623, 630-31, 547 A.2d 1236, 1236 (1988).
Parole is an established variation on imprisonment and is primarily concerned with rehabilitation and restoration of the *346parolee to useful life. Commonwealth v. Quinlan, 488 Pa. 255, 258, 412 A.2d. 494, 496 (1980). This court has stated:
A “parole” is not an act of clemency obliterating the crime or forgiving the offender, but is a penological measure for disciplinary treatment of prisoners apparently capable of rehabilitation outside prison, and it does not set aside or affect the sentence.
Commonwealth ex rel. Forsythe v. Myers, 200 Pa.Super. 636, 639, 189 A.2d 920, 921 (1963) [emphasis added]. Accord Commonwealth v. Ford-Bey, 404 Pa.Super. 281, 285-86, 590 A.2d 782, 784 (1991).
However, even though parole is a form of imprisonment, a defendant is not entitled to count time served on parole towards his maximum sentence upon recommitment for a parole violation. See Commonwealth v. Cole, 222 Pa.Super. 229, 231, 294 A.2d 824, 825 (1972) (maximum period for which appellant could be sentenced after revoking parole set for charges was limited to maximum term under which appellant was originally sentenced because increase of original sentence would violate double jeopardy). Accord Commonwealth v. Bischof, 420 Pa.Super. 115, 122, 616 A.2d 6, 10 (1992).
In the instant case, the trial court extended appellant’s parole beyond the maximum unserved term of imprisonment set forth in the trial court’s judgment of sentence dated July 25, 1990. Specifically, appellant served ten days of the maximum twenty-three months imprisonment. By imposing parole which would extend beyond the remaining unserved sentence of twenty-two months and twenty days, I believe that the trial court improperly “modified” appellant’s sentence in violation of 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5505. This period extended beyond the possible time for which appellant could be recommitted if, after a hearing, he was found to be in violation of his parole. It is for this reason that I would find that the trial court improperly modified appellant’s original judgment of sentence.
Upon review of 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5505, I find nothing that would prevent a trial court, in the exercise of its discretion, from accepting the request of a criminal defendant to forego a *347parole violation hearing and the possibility of recommitment in favor of an extension of parole. In fact, such action by the trial court is consistent with its continuing authority to grant or revoke parole more than thirty days after judgment of sentence. In this way, the trial court may determine whether recommitment or extended parole would best suit appellant’s rehabilitative needs. However, I believe that the parole should not extend beyond the period for which appellant could be recommitted if he were found to be in violation of his parole after a hearing on the matter.
Accordingly, I concur with the majority’s finding that the trial court’s imposition of parole beyond twenty-two months and twenty days constituted an improper modification of appellant’s sentence.