Com. v. Segreaves, R.

J-S35041-20
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
ROSS JARED SEGREAVES :
:
Appellant : No. 2278 EDA 2019
Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered July 8, 2019
In the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County Criminal Division
at No(s): CP-48-CR-0001443-2018
BEFORE: BOWES, J., STABILE, J., and COLINS, J.*
CONCURRING MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED OCTOBER 21, 2020
I join the Majority Memorandum. I write separately to emphasize two
points. First, although Appellant included in his amended PCRA petition in the
above-captioned case the claim that counsel was ineffective in failing to file
an appeal of his revocation sentence,1 and the PCRA court suggests that he
may have pursued that claim,2 it is clear from the notes of testimony that
Appellant only challenged counsel’s failure to appeal the contempt sentence.
In addition to the express limitation quoted in the Majority Memorandum,3 the
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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
1 See Amended PCRA Petition, 4/25/19, at ¶ 9(a).
2 See PCRA Court Opinion, 9/8/19, at 7 n.1.
3See Majority Memorandum at 4 (quoting N.T. PCRA Hearing, 5/30/19, at
13).
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testimony elicited from counsel by both PCRA counsel and the Commonwealth
related solely to the contempt sentence. For example, counsel testified that
he became involved with Appellant when his office received an application for
an appeal to the Superior Court on the PFA contempts. See N.T. PCRA
Hearing, 5/30/19, at 7. Counsel acknowledged that Appellant repeatedly
informed him of his desire to appeal his sentence to this Court, but he rejected
Appellant’s demand, thinking it better to pursue a motion for reconsideration
of sentence.4 Id. at 18-20. Following the reconsideration hearing, counsel
advised Appellant to “file a PCRA against me if you think I did a bad job.” Id.
at 21. Appellant testified that he agreed with counsel’s recitation of the facts.
Id. at 30. The hearing on the motion for reconsideration of the contempt
sentences was held immediately prior to the revocation hearing,5 and the
record contains no comparable reconsideration motion filed in the instant
case. Therefore, the record does not support a finding that Appellant pursued
or proved a claim that counsel failed to file a requested direct appeal in the
instant revocation case.
Second, while the Majority correctly asserts that counsel’s blatant, per
se ineffective assistance in the contempt case is not before us in the instant
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4 The PCRA court aptly noted that counsel had the option of seeking
reconsideration first and then filing the requested appeal when reconsideration
was denied. See N.T. PCRA Hearing, 5/30/19, at 24.
5 See N.T. Hearing, 1/18/19, at 2-5.
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J-S35041-20
appeal, I observe that the appealed-from order in this case does not include
the docket number for the contempt case (CP-48-MD-197-2017), and the
public docket for that case does not reflect entry of any order disposing of the
PCRA claims therein. Accordingly, Appellant’s PCRA petition remains pending
in the contempt case, and Appellant’s PCRA counsel should take steps to
secure a final order disposing of the claim related to the contempt convictions.
If the PCRA court enters an order denying relief rather than reinstating
Appellant’s direct appeal rights, Appellant may then file an appeal from that
order to obtain the relief to which he is entitled.
Judge Bowes files a concurring memorandum in which both Judge
Stabile and Judge Collins join.
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