Court Opinion

ID: 9639024
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 16:01:38.515111+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:43:55.728130
License: Public Domain

JOHNSON, Judge,
dissenting:
Pedro Terreforte pled guilty to rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The Honorable Levan Gordon sentenced him to an aggregate sentence of twelve and one-half to twenty-five years’ imprisonment. Post-sentence motions seeking withdrawal of the guilty plea and reconsideration of the sentence were denied. No direct appeal was taken.
A year and one-half later, Terreforte filed a pro se petition under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act, (PCHA) 42 Pa.C.S. § 9541 et seq. A year after that, on April 28, 1987, represented by present counsel, he filed an amended PCHA petition, seeking (1) a direct appeal from judgment of sentence nunc pro tunc, and (2) plea withdrawal allowance.
Following a hearing, the Honorable Joseph D. O’Keefe, denied the request for plea withdrawal but granted Terreforte the right to appeal nunc pro tunc on the narrow issue of the extension of time to commence trial granted to the Commonwealth pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 1100.
Terreforte filed two separate appeals on September 26, 1988. At No. 2774 Philadelphia 1988, he appeals from that portion of the PCHA order entered September 21, 1988 which denied his plea withdrawal. At No. 2775 Philadelphia 1988, he appeals from the judgment of sentence of September 25, 1984, alleging a Rule 1100 violation.
In his submitted brief in this court, Terreforte presents no argument challenging the order extending the time for commencement of trial. Since this argument has not been carried forward in the brief, we need not consider it on *465appeal. The Rule 1100 contention has been abandoned. Giant Markets, Inc. v. Sigma Marketing Systems, Inc., 313 Pa.Super. 115, 126, n. 2, 459 A.2d 765, 771, n. 2 (1983); Upper Gwynedd Twp. Auth. v. Roth, 113 Pa.Cmwlth. 239, 245, n. 9, 536 A.2d 875, 878, n. 9 (1988). Moreover, Terreforte openly admits that his Rule 1100 claim is “weak to the point of frivolity” and “not worth pursuing.” Brief for Appellant at pp. 11, 13.
I would affirm the judgment of sentence at No. 2775 Philadelphia 1988, since the only issue raised in that appeal is, by Terreforte’s own admission, totally devoid of merit.
Where I differ with my esteemed colleague, Judge Popovich, at appeal No. 2774 is on the focus of our review. I read the majority opinion as concentrating on the actions of the trial judge. I prefer to focus on whether ineffective assistance has, in fact, been shown.
Terreforte argues that his plea counsel was ineffective in permitting him to plead guilty under circumstances that placed the preservation of his Rule 1100 claim at risk. The ineffectiveness of counsel is shown where there is merit to the underlying claim, the course chosen by counsel does not have a reasonable basis, and the defendant shows prejudice. Commonwealth v. Graham, 522 Pa. 115, 560 A.2d 129 (1989). Where the prejudice question is resolvable, we need not inquire into whether the action of counsel had a reasonable basis, and the ineffectiveness claim can be dismissed. Commonwealth v. Pierce, 515 Pa. 153, 163, 527 A.2d 973, 977 (1987).
Once Terreforte concedes, as he must, that there is absolutely no merit to the Rule 1100 claim, common sense dictates that he could not have been prejudiced by his then-inability to pursue the claim following a guilty plea.
Since I find no prejudice to the defendant, since the plea was voluntary and entered with knowledge of the charges, and since there is not even a suggestion of manifest injustice, I would also affirm that portion of the order of September 21, 1988 which denied PCHA relief.
Hence, this dissent.