Com. v. Krause, D.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 7, 2016
Docket1455 MDA 2015
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Krause, D. (Com. v. Krause, D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Com. v. Krause, D., (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

J. S27018/16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : : v. : : DERIK L. KRAUSE, : : Appellant : No. 1455 MDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Entered July 22, 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County Criminal Division No.: CP-38-CR-0001715-2014

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., DUBOW, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY DUBOW, J.: FILED JUNE 07, 2016

Appellant, Derik L. Krause, appeals from the trial court’s Judgment of

Sentence entered on July 22, 2015, in the Court of Common Pleas of

Lebanon County. Appellant’s counsel, Elizabeth Judd, Esquire (“Attorney

Judd”) has filed a Brief and Petition to Withdraw pursuant to Anders v.

California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Commonwealth v. Santiago, 978

A.2d 349 (Pa. 2009). We affirm the Judgment of Sentence and grant

Attorney Judd’s Petition to Withdraw.

On June 8, 2015, Appellant entered an open guilty plea to Burglary,

Criminal Trespass, Possession of an Instrument of Crime, Resisting Arrest,

Loitering and Prowling at Night Time, Criminal Mischief, and Driving Under

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. J.S27018/16

the Influence.1 The Commonwealth stated the following facts during the

guilty plea hearing, to which Appellant pleaded guilty:

This incident occurred September 29th, 2014, at [Hobbeze], Incorporated, in North Lebanon Township.

***

What had occurred is that he used a crowbar to get into the address of 1604 East Cumberland Street. It was a back door to the business. He was able to open the door, but did not enter that facility.

He then was found heavily intoxicated -- by his vehicle -- when the police arrived. There was a slight struggle when he refused to cooperate and get out of his vehicle at that point.

Of course, the Loitering and Prowling deals with him being around the business.

There is some testimony that he was sort of trying to enter different windows and doors. So he used a crowbar on a back door.

As far as Resisting Arrest, they had to struggle to try to get him out of the car.

N.T. Guilty Plea Hearing, 6/8/15, at 6-7.

On July 22, 2015, the trial court sentenced Appellant to an aggregate

term of 9 months to 2 years less one day of incarceration.

Appellant filed a timely Notice of Appeal. Both Appellant and the trial

court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. On January 8, 2016, Attorney Judd

filed an Anders Brief and a Petition to Withdraw as counsel.

1 18 Pa.C.S. § 3502(a)(3); 18 Pa.C.S. § 3503(a)(1)(ii); 18 Pa.C.S. § 907(a); 18 Pa.C.S. § 5104; 18 Pa.C.S. § 5506; 18 Pa.C.S. § 3304(a)(5); and 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(e), respectively.

-2- J.S27018/16

As a preliminary matter, we address Attorney Judd’s Petition to

Withdraw. Commonwealth v. Rojas, 874 A.2d 638, 639 (Pa. Super. 2005)

(“When faced with a purported Anders brief, this Court may not review the

merits of the underlying issues without first passing on the request to

withdraw.” (quotation and citation omitted)).

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 expounded further upon the

requirements of Anders:

[I]n the Anders brief that accompanies court-appointed counsel’s petition to withdraw, counsel must: (1) provide a

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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.

Commonwealth v. Santiago, supra at 361.

We note that Attorney Judd has complied with all of the requirements

of Anders as articulated in Santiago. Additionally, Attorney Judd confirms

that she sent Appellant a copy of the Anders Brief, as well as a letter

explaining to Appellant that he has the right to proceed pro se or the right to

retain new counsel. See Commonwealth v. Daniels, 999 A.2d 590, 594

(Pa. Super. 2010) (describing notice requirements). Attorney Judd

appended a copy of the letter to the Anders Brief as Exhibit F.

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, 1248 (Pa. Super. 2015) (quoting Santiago, supra at 355 n. 5).

We now proceed to examine the issues counsel set forth in the Anders

Brief.2 Appellant first contends that the trial court “erred when it would not

permit [Appellant] to withdraw his guilty plea” after sentencing because his

2 Appellant has not filed a response to Attorney Judd’s Anders Brief and Petition to Withdraw.

-4- J.S27018/16

guilty plea was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Second, Appellant

argues that the trial court “erred when it ruled claims of ineffectiveness []

are not permitted on direct appeal[.]” Anders Brief at 4.

The Honorable Charles T. Jones, Jr., sitting as the trial court, has

authored a comprehensive and well-reasoned Opinion, citing to the record

and relevant case law in addressing Appellant’s two claims on appeal. After

a careful review of the parties’ arguments and the record, we affirm on the

basis of the trial court’s Opinion and conclude that Appellant’s appeal is

wholly frivolous. See Trial Court Opinion, filed 10/12/15, at 5-10

(concluding: (1) Appellant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered

his guilty plea as demonstrated by the written and oral guilty plea colloquy

and the transcripts of his guilty plea hearing and sentencing; Appellant’s

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Related

Anders v. California
386 U.S. 738 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Commonwealth v. Kulp
382 A.2d 1209 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Commonwealth v. Carpenter
725 A.2d 154 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Stork
737 A.2d 789 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Muhammad
794 A.2d 378 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Persinger
615 A.2d 1305 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Commonwealth v. Grant
813 A.2d 726 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Commonwealth v. Mendoza
730 A.2d 503 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Shaffer
446 A.2d 591 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Commonwealth v. Daniels
999 A.2d 590 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Commonwealth v. Rojas
874 A.2d 638 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Commonwealth v. Wrecks
931 A.2d 717 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)
Commonwealth v. Flowers
113 A.3d 1246 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015)

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