Com. v. Cunningham, J.

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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee :
:
v. :
:
JAMES CUNNINGHAM, :
:
Appellant : No. 2111 MDA 2015
Appeal from the Order November 13, 2015,
in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County,
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-40-MD-0000745-2015
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee :
:
v. :
:
JAMES CUNNINGHAM, :
:
Appellant : No. 2281 MDA 2015
Appeal from the Order December 2, 2015,
in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County,
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-40-MD-0000745-2015
BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., DUBOW, and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.: FILED APRIL 13, 2017
In these consolidated appeals, James Cunningham (Appellant)
challenges the November 13, 2015 and December 2, 2015 trial court orders
addressing his petition for writ of habeas corpus, which contested the
validity of an extradition warrant ordering his surrender to the state of
*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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Colorado.1 Additionally, at both appeal numbers, Appellant’s counsel has
filed a petition to withdraw and a brief pursuant to Anders v. California,
386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Commonwealth v. Santiago, 978 A.2d 349 (Pa.
2009). We grant counsel’s motions to withdraw and dismiss the appeals as
moot.
For the purposes of these appeals, we consider the following relevant
information. On April 11, 2013, Appellant allegedly committed a number of
offenses in the state of Colorado, among them attempted second-degree
murder. Appellant fled that state and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Subsequently, he was located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and, on July
15, 2015, was taken into custody on the outstanding Colorado warrant. On
July 16, 2015, Appellant was arraigned, bond was set at $1,000,000, and
the process of extraditing Appellant to Colorado began. On or about October
22, 2015, Appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, in which he
alleged that he had been held in Luzerne County “for a total of 90 days”
without production of a Governor’s Warrant in violation of 42 Pa.C.S. §§
9136 and 9138 (governing the timeframes applicable to production of
Governor’s Warrants in challenges to extradition proceedings). Appellant’s
First Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, 10/22/2015, at 1 ¶¶ 4-6.
1
We have sua sponte consolidated Appellants appeals as they each raise a
similar issue. See Pa.R.A.P. 513.
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On October 23, 2015, Appellant’s petition was granted and he was
ordered to be “released p.o. [pending other] detainers.” Order, 10/23/2015.
However, that same day, Appellant was arrested on new fugitive from justice
charges. Once again, he challenged extradition. On November 10, 2015,
Appellant filed a second petition for writ of habeas corpus which, after
substantial litigation, was effectively denied by court order dated December
2, 2015. That order (1) granted the Commonwealth’s petition for extradition
and (2) denied Appellant’s motion to stay extradition. See N.T., 12/2/2015,
at 31-38; Order Granting Extradition 12/2/2015; Order Denying Defense
Motion for Stay Pending Appeal, 12/2/2015; Findings of Fact and Order,
12/4/2015.
Appellant filed two notices of appeal. The first, which was filed on
November 30, 2015 and docketed at 2111 MDA 2015, was taken from a
November 13, 2015 order granting the Commonwealth 30 days to produce a
Governor’s Warrant, with leave to file for an extension. The second, which
was filed on December 2, 2015 and docketed at 2281 MDA 2015, was taken
from the December 2, 2015 order. Both Appellant and the trial court have
complied with the mandates of Pa.R.A.P. 1925. After filing his notices of
appeal, Appellant was transferred to Colorado. Anders Brief at 10.
On July 5, 2016, Appellant’s counsel filed with this Court, at both case
numbers, an Anders brief and a petition to withdraw as counsel. On
December 23, 2016, due to deficiencies in counsel’s Anders briefs and
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petitions to withdraw, we denied the petitions and remanded to allow
counsel to file either an advocate’s brief or a proper Anders brief and
petition to withdraw. Counsel’s second Anders briefs and petitions to
withdraw, filed on January 31, 2017, are now before us.
Before we may consider the substance of this appeal, we must address
counsel’s compliance with Anders.
Direct appeal counsel seeking to withdraw under Anders
must file a petition averring that, after a conscientious
examination of the record, counsel finds the appeal to be wholly
frivolous. Counsel must also file an Anders brief setting forth
issues that might arguably support the appeal along with any
other issues necessary for the effective appellate presentation
thereof….
Anders counsel must also provide a copy of the Anders
petition and brief to the appellant, advising the appellant of the
right to retain new counsel, proceed pro se or raise any
additional points worthy of this Court’s attention.
If counsel does not fulfill the aforesaid technical
requirements of Anders, this Court will deny the petition to
withdraw and remand the case with appropriate instructions
(e.g., directing counsel either to comply with Anders or file an
advocate’s brief on Appellant’s behalf). By contrast, if counsel’s
petition and brief satisfy Anders, we will then undertake our
own review of the appeal to determine if it is wholly frivolous. If
the appeal is frivolous, we will grant the withdrawal petition and
affirm the judgment of sentence. However, if there are non-
frivolous issues, we will deny the petition and remand for the
filing of an advocate’s brief.
Commonwealth v. Wrecks, 931 A.2d 717, 720-21 (Pa. Super. 2007)
(citations omitted). Our Supreme Court has clarified portions of the Anders
procedure:
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[I]n the Anders brief that accompanies court-appointed
counsel’s petition to withdraw, counsel must: (1) provide a
summary of the procedural history and facts, with citations to
the record; (2) refer to anything in the record that counsel
believes arguably supports the appeal; (3) set forth counsel’s
conclusion that the appeal is frivolous; and (4) state counsel’s
reasons for concluding that the appeal is frivolous. Counsel
should articulate the relevant facts of record, controlling case
law, and/or statutes on point that have led to the conclusion that
the appeal is frivolous.
Santiago, 978 A.2d at 361.
Based upon our examination of counsel’s petitions to withdraw and
Anders briefs, we conclude that counsel has substantially complied with the
above requirements.2 The record further reflects that counsel has (1)
provided Appellant with a copy of both Anders briefs and petitions to
withdraw, (2) sent a letter to Appellant in Colorado, advising him of his right
to retain new counsel, proceed pro se, or raise any additional points that he
deems worthy of this Court’s attention, and (3) attached a copy of this letter
to the petition to withdraw, as required under Commonwealth v.
Millisock, 873 A.2d 748, 751-52 (Pa. Super. 2005). Once “counsel has met
these obligations, ‘it then becomes the responsibility of the reviewing court
to make a full examination of the proceedings and make an independent
judgment to decide whether the appeal is in fact wholly frivolous.’”
Commonwealth v. Flowers, 113 A.3d 1246, 1249 (Pa. Super. 2015)
(quoting Santiago, 978 A.2d at 354 n. 5).
2
Appellant has not responded to counsel’s petitions to withdraw.
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In her second Anders brief, counsel sets forth two issues of arguable
merit.
1. Did the trial court err in failing to grant Appellant’s petition for
writ of habeas corpus where Appellant was detained beyond the
period allowable under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act and
where he was not discharged prior to his arrest[?]
2. Was Appellant’s right to counsel, guaranteed under the Sixth
Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1,
section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution violated when
Appellant was not afforded counsel at his preliminary
arraignment following his rearrest[?]
Anders Brief at 2 (unnecessary capitalization omitted).
We review these claims mindful of the following.
It is well established that the courts of the asylum state
are limited to an extremely narrow determination in extradition
matters. Extradition is a constitutionally mandated process and
will be ordered if the subject of the extradition (1) is charged
with a crime in the demanding state, (2) is a fugitive from the
demanding state, (3) was present in the demanding state at the
time of the commission of the crime, and (4) if the requisition
papers are in order. The only issue before the [lower] court in an
extradition/habeas corpus proceeding is whether the demanding
state has complied with the four criteria of the Extradition Act.
Com. ex rel. Berry v. Aytch, 385 A.2d 354, 356 (Pa. Super. 1978)
(citations omitted).
A similar issue was addressed by this Court in Commonwealth v.
Caffrey, 508 A.2d 322 (Pa. Super. 1986). Caffrey, a fugitive from Delaware,
filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, which was denied following an
extradition hearing. Caffrey filed a timely appeal; however, at some point
prior to his appeal being heard, Caffrey was returned to Delaware. Finding
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that this Court was bound by our Supreme Court’s decision in
Commonwealth v. Carlos, 341 A.2d 71, 73(Pa. 1975), which held that “the
demanding state [is] not the appropriate forum to test, by writ of habeas
corpus, the legality of the extradition,” the Caffrey Court determined that
“the legality of the extradition must be tested in the asylum state prior to
extradition, not afterwards.” Id. at 324. The Court then quashed Caffrey’s
appeal as moot because Caffrey had been transferred to Delaware. Id. The
Court reasoned that to do otherwise would place it in the position of “issuing
orders that can have no effect.” Id. Thus, pursuant to Caffrey, an appeal
challenging the legality of extradition is rendered moot when the accused is
removed from Pennsylvania. Id. Here, because Appellant has been
extradited to Colorado, his appeals challenging the legality of the extradition
proceedings are moot.
After thorough review of the certified record, we are convinced that
Appellant’s appeals are wholly frivolous and that there are no non-frivolous
issues to be considered. Accordingly, we dismiss both appeals as moot and
grant counsel’s petitions to withdraw.
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Appeals dismissed. Motions for leave to withdraw granted.
Judge Dubow joins.
P.J. Gantman concurs in the result.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 4/13/2017
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