Com. v. Peyton, A.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided September 30, 2025·No. 995 WDA 2024·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

ALEXANDER JAMES PEYTON :

:

Appellant : No. 995 WDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered March 27, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County Criminal Division at No(s):

CP-25-CR-0001062-2023

BEFORE: DUBOW, J., NICHOLS, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.* MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED: September 30, 2025 Appellant Alexander James Peyton appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed after he pled guilty to attempted murder, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possessing an instrument of crime (PIC), drivers required to be licensed, accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property, and careless driving.1 On appeal, Appellant challenges the discretionary aspects of his sentence and the restitution imposed at sentencing. After careful review, we vacate Appellant’s judgment of sentence in part and remand for further proceedings consistent with this memorandum.

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 901(a), 2702(a)(1), 3701(a)(1)(ii), 2702(a)(4), 907(b); 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 1501(a), 3743(a), and 3714(a), respectively.

The trial court summarized the facts of the case as follows:

Appellant shot the victim as a result of a road rage incident.

Appellant pulled out a gun and demanded that the victim give Appellant his phone with the very reasonable presumption that he wanted the phone so that [the victim] could not provide evidence to the authorities about Appellant’s Motor Vehicle [Code]

violations. He then shot [the victim] in the face/neck area and left him to die.

Trial Ct. Op., 11/20/24, at 5 (some formatting altered).

Appellant pled guilty to the above charges on January 16, 2024. At the plea hearing, Appellant was represented by Tyler Lindquist, Esq. (Plea Counsel). On March 27, 2024, the trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of fifteen to fifty years’ incarceration. Specifically, the trial court sentenced Appellant to 140 to 480 months’ incarceration for attempted murder,2 40 to 120 months’ incarceration for robbery, 16 to 60 months’ incarceration for

2 There is a discrepancy between the trial court opinion, sentencing order, and

notes of testimony from the sentencing hearing regarding Appellant’s maximum term for attempted murder. The trial court opinion states that the trial court imposed a maximum term of 280 months for this charge. See Trial Ct. Op. at 4. However, the sentencing order and notes of testimony from the hearing reflect that the maximum term was 480 months. See Sentencing Order, 3/27/24, at 1 (unpaginated); N.T. Sentencing Hr’g, 3/27/24, at 42. Ultimately, the text of the sentencing order determines Appellant’s sentence. See Commonwealth v. Borrin, 80 A.3d 1219, 1226 (Pa. 2013) (plurality) (explaining that “the text of the sentencing order, and not the statements a trial court makes about a defendant's sentence, is determinative of the court's sentencing intentions and the sentence imposed” (citations omitted)). We note that both terms are within the statutory limit for this offense. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102(c) (stating a person convicted of attempted murder where serious bodily injury results “may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which shall be fixed by the court at not more than 40 years”).

aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and 3 to 12 months’ incarceration for PIC.3 The trial court imposed Appellant’s sentence for robbery to run consecutive to his sentence for attempted murder but ordered that Appellant’s sentences for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and PIC to run concurrent to Appellant’s attempted murder sentence.

On April 3, 2024, while still represented by Plea Counsel, Appellant filed a pro se post-sentence motion.4 On April 9, 2024, Plea Counsel filed a motion to reconsider sentence on behalf of Appellant.5 On May 24, 2024, the trial court denied Appellant’s post-sentence motion.

3 The trial court did not sentence Appellant on aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury because it merged with attempted murder. See Trial Ct. Op. at 4. Additionally, the trial court only imposed court costs, fines, and surcharges on the counts of drivers required to be licensed, accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property, and careless driving. See id.

4 Because Appellant was represented by counsel, this filing was a legal nullity. See Commonwealth v. Nischan, 928 A.2d 349, 355 (Pa. Super. 2007). 5 Appellant’s post-sentence motions were due by April 6, 2024, which was ten

days after he was sentenced on March 27, 2024, However, April 6, 2024 fell on a Saturday and the Erie County Court of Common Pleas was closed on the following Monday, April 8, 2024, due to the 2024 total solar eclipse. See Erie Co. Admin., Some Erie County Buildings to Be Closed April 8 Due to Eclipse Visitors Impact, https://eriecountypa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3- 27-Eclipse-Info.pdf. Accordingly, the next business day was April 9, 2024. Therefore, Appellant’s post-sentence motion was timely filed. See Pa.R.J.A. 107(b) (stating “[w]henever the last day of any such period shall fall on Saturday or Sunday, or on any day made a legal holiday by the laws of this Commonwealth or of the United States, such day shall be omitted from the computation”).

On June 17, 2024, the trial court received a letter from Appellant alleging Plea Counsel’s ineffectiveness and requesting that Plea Counsel withdraw. The trial court scheduled a Grazier6 hearing, which was subsequently held on July 11, 2024. After the hearing, the trial court issued an order removing Plea Counsel from his representation of Appellant. The next day, the trial court appointed the Office of the Erie County Public Defender to represent Appellant on appeal as long as Appellant qualified financially for the office’s services. Jessica Fiscus, Esq. (Appellate Counsel), from the Erie County Public Defender’s Office, entered her appearance on July 18, 2024. On August 2, 2024, the trial court amended its July 11, 2024 order sua sponte to “expressly reinstate [Appellant’s] right to file a counseled direct appeal” and directed Appellate Counsel to “file a notice of appeal within 30 days” of the order.7 Trial Ct. Order, 8/2/24.

Appellant filed a notice of appeal on August 12, 2024. Both Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Appellant presents two issues for our review:

1. Did the trial court commit an abuse of discretion when it imposed a manifestly excessive sentence of fifteen to fifty

6 Commonwealth v. Grazier, 713 A.2d 81 (Pa. 1998).

7 We note that, in the absence of a PCRA petition, it was improper for the trial

court to sua sponte reinstate a defendant’s appellate rights nunc pro tunc. See Commonwealth v. Turner, 73 A.3d 1283, 1285 n.2 (Pa. Super. 2013); see also Commonwealth v. Rosario, 5 EDA 2020, 2021 WL 2395904, at *4 (Pa. Super. filed June 8, 2021) (unpublished mem.). See Pa.R.A.P. 126(b) (stating this Court may rely on unpublished decisions of this Court filed after May 1, 2019, for their persuasive value).

years’ imprisonment where the trial court failed to consider certain mitigating factors, specifically, Appellant’s reasons for taking the actions he did following the commission of the crime?

2. Did the trial court impose an illegal sentence when it ordered Appellant to pay restitution to [the victim] for his attorney fees as such an award is not authorized by statute?

Appellant’s Brief at 9 (some formatting altered).

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Com. v. Peyton, A., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

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