Com. v. Shaffer, A.

• Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: July 21, 2025
• Docket: 939 WDA 2024
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

J-A09029-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : AUSTIN SHAWN SHAFFER : : Appellant : No. 939 WDA 2024

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered April 25, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Armstrong County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-03-CR-0000814-2018

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., NICHOLS, J., and LANE, J.

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED: JULY 21, 2025

Appellant Austin Shawn Shaffer appeals from the judgment of sentence

imposed following the revocation of his probation. On appeal, Appellant

challenges the discretionary aspects of his sentence. For the reasons that

follow, we quash.

By way of background, Appellant entered a negotiated guilty plea at

three separate docket numbers on May 6, 2019. Specifically, Appellant pled

guilty to two counts of simple assault, and one count each of resisting arrest,

statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, and possession with intent to

deliver (PWID). 1 The trial court imposed the agreed-upon sentence of twelve

to thirty-six months’ incarceration with a two-year probationary tail.

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1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2701(a)(1), 5104, 3122.1(a)(1), 6301 (a)(1)(ii), and 35 P.S.

§ 780-113 (a)(30), respectively. J-A09029-25

On February 27, 2024, the trial court revoked Appellant’s probation

based on his failure to comply with the terms of his probation and his failure

to report a change of address. See N.T. Violation of Probation (VOP) Hr’g,

2/27/24, at 4-5. The trial court deferred sentencing for the preparation of a

pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report. Id. at 5. On April 25, 2024, the trial

court imposed a sentence of twenty-four to sixty months’ incarceration. See

N.T. Sentencing Hr’g, 4/25/24, at 11.

Appellant filed a motion to modify his sentence in which he argued that

his sentence was “unfair and excessive in regards to the plea that was

negotiated for [Appellant]” in 2019. See Pet. to Modify Sentence, 5/6/24, at

1. Following a hearing, the trial court issued an order denying Appellant’s

motion, which noted that Appellant’s guilty plea was “part of a global plea

offer which encompassed [multiple] cases, . . . that this resentencing was the

result of the fourth revocation of [Appellant’s] supervision as part of that

global plea” and explaining that Appellant’s PSI report provided details

regarding Appellant’s history of “complete non-compliance with all attempts

at supervision, including new criminal charges.” Trial Ct. Order, 8/1/24, at 1

(unpaginated).

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On August 6, 2024, Appellant filed a notice of appeal and subsequently

filed a court-ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement.2 The trial court issued a

Rule 1925(a) opinion addressing Appellant’s claims.

On appeal, Appellant raises the following issue for review:

Did the trial court abuse its discretion by imposing a sentence upon Appellant without citing any reasons for the sentence on the record?

Appellant’s Brief at 4.3

Initially, we must determine whether Appellant’s appeal is timely. See

Commonwealth v. Duffy, 143 A.3d 940, 942 (Pa. Super. 2016) (stating that

we may raise the timeliness of an appeal sua sponte as it implicates our

jurisdiction). It is well settled that in a VOP matter, a notice of appeal must

be filed within thirty days of sentencing, regardless of whether a post-

sentence motion is filed. Pa.R.Crim.P. 708(E) (stating that “[a] motion to

modify a sentence imposed after a revocation shall be filed within 10 days of

the date of imposition” and that “[t]he filing of a motion to modify sentence

will not toll the 30-day appeal period”); see also Commonwealth v.

2 In his Rule 1925(b) statement, Appellant claimed that (1) the trial court “sentenced outside of the standard range of guidelines for this offense, without enumerating any aggravated factors onto the record” and (2) the trial court “abused its’ discretion by sentencing Appellant to two (2) to five (5) years’ at state.” See Rule 1925(b) Stmt., 9/9/24, at 2 (unpaginated).

3 We note that Appellant initially raised an additional issue concerning the applicability of the Resentencing Guidelines at 204 Pa. Code §§ 307.1-307.4. However, in his brief, Appellant concludes that the issue is meritless and has withdrawn it for purposes of appeal. See Appellant’s Brief at 7.

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Flowers, 149 A.3d 867, 871 (Pa. Super. 2016) (explaining that, generally,

although the filing of a post-sentence motion extends the appeal period until

after the motion is decided, the filing of a motion to modify a VOP sentence

does not toll the thirty-day appeal period).

Further, although the filing of a notice of appeal generally divests the

trial court of jurisdiction, an exception applies where the defendant files a

timely motion for reconsideration of a revocation sentence and the court

expressly grants reconsideration within the appeal period. See Pa.R.A.P.

1701(b)(3) & cmt. (stating that “because the clock is running on the appeal

period and the period for reconsideration simultaneously, filing the notice of

appeal at the same time as or shortly after the motion for reconsideration will

protect against waiver of the appeal if the trial court . . . fails to act”).

Here, the trial court imposed Appellant’s VOP sentence on April 25,

2024. Although Appellant filed a post-sentence motion, the trial court did not

expressly grant reconsideration. Therefore, Appellant’s post-sentence motion

did not toll the appeal period, and Appellant had thirty days from the date of

his VOP sentencing to file a notice of appeal. Accordingly, the August 6, 2024

notice of appeal, filed 103 days after the imposition of Appellant’s sentence,

was untimely. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 708(E); see also Flowers, 149 A.3d at 871.

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For these reasons, this Court is without jurisdiction to consider the merits of

Appellant’s claims and is constrained to quash the appeal.4 Id.

Appeal quashed. Jurisdiction relinquished.

DATE: 7/21/2025

4 In any event, even if Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, we would conclude that he waived his discretionary sentencing claim. The record reflects that although Appellant filed a motion to modify his sentence, he did not challenge the trial court’s failure to state the reasons for the sentence it imposed. See Pet. to Modify Sentence, 5/6/24, at 1 (claiming that his sentence was “unfair and excessive in regards to the plea that was negotiated for [Appellant]” in 2019”). Therefore, because Appellant failed to preserve this issue in his post-sentence motion, Appellant’s claim is waived. See Malovich, 903 A.2d at 1251; see also Pa.R.A.P. 302(a).

Further, the record reflects that the trial court ordered a PSI report, which it reviewed prior to sentencing. See N.T. Revocation Hr’g, 2/27/24, at 4-5; Trial Ct. Order, 8/1/24, at 1 (unpaginated); N.T. Sentencing Hr’g, 4/25/24, at 3; Trial Ct. Op., 10/4/24, at 4-6. It is well settled that the trial court can “satisfy the requirement that reasons for imposing sentence be placed on the record by indicating that he or she has been informed by the [PSI]; thus properly considering and weighing all relevant factors.” Commonwealth v. Ventura, 975 A.2d 1128, 1135 (Pa. Super. 2009). Therefore, even if properly preserved, Appellant would not be entitled to relief.

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