Court Opinion

ID: 9749437
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:43:12.220398+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:48.422557
License: Public Domain

*238CERCONE, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I agree that the judgment of sentence should be affirmed. I disagree with the majority’s holding that in cases where a mandatory sentence is imposed immediately after a verdict is rendered, we should find an appeal from that sentence timely if filed within thirty days of the date that sentence is imposed on the remaining counts of which appellant has been convicted. Such a rule will not in the long run serve the interests of judicial economy as it will foster uncertainty and confusion in an area of law that is now well-settled.
In the instant case, appellant was found guilty by a jury on May 19, 1989 of first degree murder and receiving stolen property. The following day, May 20, 1989, appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on sentencing, as required by 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(c)(l)(v).1 In accordance with Rule 359 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, appellant filed a motion in arrest of judgment and/or for a new trial on May 26, 1989. Rule 359 requires the filing of post-verdict motions within ten days of the imposition of sentence in a case in which' a mandatory sentence is provided for by law, upon verdict, and the court immediately imposes such sentence. Pa.R.Crim.P., Rule 359B and C, 42 Pa. C.S.A. Rule 359 further provides that when the post-verdict motion is decided, the judgment of sentence imposed upon verdict becomes final for purposes of appeal. Id., Rule 359F.
On February 8, 1990, the lower court denied appellant’s post-verdict motions. The court below did not sentence appellant on the receiving stolen property charge until July 13, 1990. On August 10, 1990, appellant filed a notice of *239appeal under Rule 902 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure, challenging both sentences. Pa.R.A.P., Rule 902, 42 Pa.C.S.A.
The majority in the instant case holds that:
In the interests of judicial economy and the avoidance of piecemeal appeals, we hold that in cases where a mandatory sentence is imposed immediately after the verdict is rendered, an appeal from the Rule 359 sentence is not untimely if it is filed within 30 days of the date that sentence is imposed on the remaining counts on which the defendant has been convicted at the same trial. We also hold that it would not be error to file two appeals, one within 30 days of the denial of post-verdict motions following the murder conviction, and one within 30 days of sentence on the murder charge. In both instances, all issues properly preserved at trial and raised in post-trial motions would be preserved for appellate review.
The majority’s holding carves out an exception, without authority, to the well-established requirement of both statute and rule requiring the filing of an appeal from a final order within thirty (30) days of that order. Section 5571(b) of the Judiciary Act provides, “[A]n appeal from a tribunal or other government unit to a court or from a court to an appellate court must be commenced within 30 days after the entry of the order from which the appeal is taken____” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5571(b). Rule 903 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure also provides straightforwardly that “[ejxcept as otherwise prescribed by this rule, the notice of appeal required by Rule 902 (manner of taking appeal) shall be filed within 30 days after the entry of the order from which the appeal is taken.” Pa.R.A.P., Rule 903(a), 42 Pa.C.S.A. In criminal cases, an appeal generally lies from the judgment of sentence. Commonwealth v. Bolden, 472 Pa. 602, 373 A.2d 90 (1977); Commonwealth v. Reagan, 330 Pa.Super. 417, 479 A.2d 621 (1984). In the instant case, the judgment of sentence of life imprisonment became final on February 8, 1990. Pa.R.Crim.P., Rule 359F, supra.
*240With regard to the established time limitations on the taking of appeals, our supreme court has insisted that such limitations be strictly construed; they cannot be extended as a matter of grace. Commonwealth v. Horner, 449 Pa. 322, 296 A.2d 760 (1972). See also Commonwealth v. Hottinger, 370 Pa.Super. 527, 537 A.2d 1 (1987), allocatur denied 520 Pa. 614, 554 A.2d 507 (1988). Indeed, the legislature has itself mandated this requirement. 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5504(a) (legislative time limitations on actions shall not be extended by court order or rule). The filing period will be extended and an appeal nunc pro tunc permitted only in extraordinary circumstances, such as fraud or some breakdown in the processes of the court. West Penn Power Company v. Goddard, 460 Pa. 551, 333 A.2d 909 (1975); Commonwealth v. Horner, supra; Commonwealth v. Liptak, 392 Pa.Super. 468, 573 A.2d 559 (1990). See also 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5504(b) (time limitations prescribed by the legislature may be extended to relieve fraud or its equivalent).
In the instant case, no circumstances which would permit a nunc pro tunc appeal have been alleged. The appeal period for appellant’s life sentence began on February 8, 1990, the date the trial court ruled on appellant’s post-verdict motions. See Pa.R.Crim.P., Rule 359F, supra. Appellant took no action on this appealable order until August 10, 1990, some six months after the commencement of the thirty-day appeal period. Yet, appellant provided no explanation for the delay.
The majority excuses appellant’s unexplained delay by carving out an exception to the thirty-day appeal period which is provided for unequivocally by law. I strongly believe it is error to carve out a judicially created exception to handle this situation. In fact, section 5504(a) of the Judiciary Act, supra, specifically prohibits such judicial action.
I also do not share the majority’s belief in the practical advantages of such a rule. Criminal Rule 359 speaks thoroughly to the appeal procedure to be followed in cases *241involving a mandatory sentence handed down at verdict. It is not an onerous requirement under this rule to insist that criminal defendants and/or counsel analyze a case involving a mandatory sentence at verdict as well as other sentences to ascertain which sentences require an earlier filing of an appeal. Rather than creating an exception to an established and useful rule of appellate procedure, I believe the interests of the judicial system would be better served if we were to follow established law and hold that appellant has waived issues related to his life sentence because of his failure to timely appeal them. The interests to be served by such holding would include uniformity and continued certainty as to what litigants and courts have come to expect in regard to the filing of appeals. The stability which such a ruling would foster is, I believe, preferable to the “savings” to the “judicial economy” which the majority claims will result from its newly created rule.
I agree with the majority that a holding that appellant’s appeal of his life sentence was not timely filed would most likely result in additional litigation, because counsel was almost assuredly ineffective for failing to file an appeal of the life sentence within thirty days of February 8, 1990. Nevertheless, I believe we must keep in mind, in deciding whether to save this court from additional litigation, the particular facts of this case. The sentence upon which appellant delayed to act was a life sentence. There is only one sentence under our law which is more grave and serious than this. In addition, the charges against appellant of first degree murder and receiving stolen property were the result of two separate informations consolidated for the purposes of trial. Surely, under these circumstances, counsel must have been at least vaguely aware that something needed to be done to protect appellant’s appeal rights after appellant received a life sentence on the murder charge. Counsel needed only to have consulted Rule 359 to have determined the proper method of proceeding. I am concerned that the majority’s holding gratuitously excuses counsel’s inaction under circumstances which literally cried *242out for attention, and in the process creates an unnecessary-judicial exception to a well-established and vital rule of appellate procedure.
Accordingly, I would hold that appellant has waived all issues on appeal relative to his untimely appeal of the life sentence which was finalized on February 8, 1990. I would on that basis affirm the judgment of sentence.

. Section 9711, relating to the sentencing procedure for murder of the first degree provides for a separate sentencing hearing "in which the jury shall determine whether the defendant shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9711(a)(1). The statute further provides that “the court may, in its discretion, discharge the jury if it is of the opinion that further deliberation will not result in a unanimous agreement as to the sentence, in which case the court shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment.” Id. § (c)(l)(v).