Com. v. Bowen, N. ( 2018 )

J-A09032-18
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
NICHOLAS L BOWEN :
:
Appellant : No. 1078 WDA 2017
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence March 3, 2017
In the Court of Common Pleas of Venango County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-61-CR-0000866-1997
BEFORE: BOWES, J., DUBOW, J., and MURRAY, J.
CONCURRING STATEMENT BY BOWES, J.: FILED SEPTEMBER 5, 2018
I join Judge Murray’s well-reasoned memorandum. I write separately
to note that, pursuant to Commonwealth v. Batts, 163 A.3d 410 (Pa. 2017),
“if the Commonwealth seeks to have the sentencing court impose a sentence
of life without parole on a juvenile offender, it must provide reasonable notice
to the defendant prior to the sentencing hearing.” Id. at 455.
Furthermore, while the trial judge opined that Batts would not have
changed its sentence, observations within Batts encourage the use of expert
testimony. See Majority Memorandum at 8 n.1. Additionally, Justice Wecht’s
concurring opinion observed:
Following today's decision, the Commonwealth likely will (and I
believe should) retain and present an expert in the vast majority
of LWOP resentencing hearings, if not in all of them. That being
the case, equity demands that trial courts exercise their discretion
to provide such juveniles with their own expert, in the event that
the juvenile cannot afford one on his or her own.
J-A09032-18
Id. at 460–61 (Wecht, J., concurring).
Accordingly, I would encourage the trial court to afford Appellant
adequate opportunity to respond to any notice filed upon remand.
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