J-S01036-22 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : GERALD ROBERT MARTIN : : Appellant : No. 795 MDA 2021 Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered May 24, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-08-CR-0000362-2020 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : GERALD ROBERT MARTIN : : Appellant : No. 796 MDA 2021 Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered May 24, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-08-CR-0000214-2020 BEFORE: BOWES, J., NICHOLS, J., and COLINS, J.* DISSENTING MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED: JULY 15, 2022 As the Majority aptly observes, Attorney John E. Thompson, Esquire, has twice ignored orders from this Court directing him to comply with his well- established obligations for seeking to withdraw as counsel following his decision to file an Anders brief in this Court rather than advocate for his client. ____________________________________________ * Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S01036-22 As a result, this appeal has sat in limbo for six months. Nonetheless, the Majority opts to remand to the trial court for a determination of whether Attorney Thompson has abandoned Appellant. In my view, it is plain from the information before us that counsel, intentionally or not, has abandoned Appellant and a hearing on that subject is unnecessary. Therefore, I would instead remand for the trial court to immediately appoint new counsel to pursue this appeal for Appellant. Attorney Thompson’s failure to comply or otherwise respond to two Superior Court orders, at best, constitutes evidence that he failed to put in place sufficient measures to ensure that his cases are managed in the event of his unexpected unavailability. At worst, he is acting in contempt of this Court. Since I am of the opinion that the Majority’s disposition unnecessarily injects further delay into the resolution of Appellant’s appeal and fails to adequately address Attorney Thompson’s ostensible departure from the rules of professional conduct, I respectfully dissent. -2-