Com. v. Skopinski, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 1, 2016
Docket2773 EDA 2015
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Skopinski, J. (Com. v. Skopinski, J.) 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. Skopinski, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

J-S32032-16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

JOHN E. SKOPINSKI,

Appellant No. 2773 EDA 2015

Appeal from the PCRA Order August 17, 2015 in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Criminal Division at No.: CP-09-CR-0004861-2009

BEFORE: BOWES, J., MUNDY, J., and PLATT, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY PLATT, J.: FILED JUNE 01, 2016

Appellant, John E. Skopinski, appeals from the order entered August

17, 2015, which denied and dismissed, following a hearing, his first,

counseled petition brought under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42

Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546. On appeal, Appellant claims he received

ineffective assistance of plea counsel. We affirm.

We take the underlying facts and procedural history in this matter

from the PCRA court’s August 17, 2015 opinion and our independent review

of the certified record.

The facts underlying Appellant’s conviction stem from his sexual abuse

of his stepdaughter beginning when she was twelve and ending when she ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S32032-16

was approximately fourteen and one-half. (See Affidavit of Probable Cause,

4/30/09, at unnumbered pages 1-2). During this time, Appellant would

order the victim to masturbate him, engage in oral sex with her, and

ultimately have vaginal intercourse with her. (See id.).

On November 15, 2009, the Commonwealth filed a criminal

information charging Appellant with two counts of involuntary deviate sexual

intercourse (IDSI), one count of unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of

sexual assault, two counts of statutory sexual assault, one count of

endangering the welfare of a child (EWOC), one count of indecent assault,

one count of possession of an instrument of crime (PIC), and one count of

corruption of minors.1 On November 16, 2009, Appellant entered an open

guilty plea to two counts of IDSI, unlawful contact with a minor, two counts

of statutory sexual assault, EWOC, indecent assault, PIC, and corruption of

minors. At Appellant’s request, the trial court incorporated the affidavit of

probable cause to serve as the factual basis of the plea and did not read any

of the facts or charges in open court because of the presence of other

prisoners and Appellant’s fear of persecution. (See N.T. Plea Hearing,

11/16/09, at 10-11).

There was a lengthy delay between entry of Appellant’s plea and

sentencing because of the need for a sexually violent predator (SVP) inquiry ____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3123(a)(6), 6318(a)(1), 3124.1, 3122.1, 4304(a), 3126(a)(7), 907(a), and 6301(a)(1), respectively.

-2- J-S32032-16

and an assessment by the Sexual Offenders’ Assessment Board (SOAB). On

January 30, 2010, the SOAB recommended that the trial court designate

Appellant a SVP. The sentencing hearing was again scheduled and

continued several times.

On October 26, 2010, Appellant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty

plea. On January 25, 2011, Appellant filed an amended motion to withdraw

his guilty plea. The trial court held a hearing on Appellant’s motion on March

23, 2011. At the hearing, the trial court heard extensive testimony about

Appellant’s decision to plead guilty and the circumstances under which he

requested that the trial court keep the charges and facts underlying his plea

private. (See N.T. Plea Withdrawal Hearing, 3/23/11, at 12-53). The trial

court denied the motion on April 18, 2011.

On May 4, 2011, the trial court sentenced Appellant to an aggregate

term of incarceration of not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty years.

(See N.T. Sentencing, 5/04/11, at 53-55). The trial court also designated

Appellant a SVP. (See id. at 25). On May 16, 2011, Appellant filed a

motion for reconsideration. The trial court held a hearing on the motion on

August 1, 2011, and denied the motion that same day. On August 25, 2011,

Appellant filed a notice of appeal to this Court. On October 19, 2012, this

Court affirmed the judgment of sentence. (See Commonwealth v.

Skopinski, 62 A.3d 459 (Pa. Super. 2012) (unpublished memorandum)).

-3- J-S32032-16

On June 27, 2013, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied leave to appeal.

(See Commonwealth v. Skopinski, 70 A.3d 810 (Pa. 2013)).

On June 18, 2014, Appellant, acting pro se, filed a timely PCRA

petition. On July 2, 2014, the PCRA court appointed counsel to represent

Appellant. On November 18, 2014, PCRA counsel filed a motion seeking

leave to amend Appellant’s PCRA petition. The PCRA court did not act on the

motion. On January 7, 2015, counsel filed a motion seeking leave to file a

second2 amended PCRA petition. Again, the PCRA court did not act on the

motion.

On January 9, 2015, an evidentiary hearing began. At the hearing,

Appellant withdrew his challenge to the legality of his sentence. (See N.T.

PCRA Hearing, 1/09/15, at 9, 25). In addition, the parties incorporated the

discovery and notes of testimony from previous hearings in the case. (See

id. at 25-29). The hearing continued on July 16, 2015, with the testimony

of Michael Lacson, Esquire, who represented Appellant at the trial level. The

PCRA court summarized his testimony thusly,

[Attorney Lacson] was specifically assigned to [Appellant’s] case on May 11, 2009 after [Appellant’s] arrest. [Attorney] Lacson reviewed the copy of the [c]riminal [c]omplaint and affidavit of [p]robable [c]ause with [Appellant] prior to the [p]reliminary [h]earing, including the elements of the crimes charged, what the Commonwealth would have to prove at the district court level, what a [p]reliminary [h]earing was, etc. At the ____________________________________________

2 The motion is mistakenly titled “Fourth Motion to Amend [Appellant’s] PCRA Petition.”

-4- J-S32032-16

[p]reliminary [h]earing, the victim testified and, although [r]ape of a [c]hild was withdrawn, all remaining charges were held for trial in the Court of Common Pleas. [Attorney] Lacson discussed the remaining charges following the [p]reliminary [h]earing and he testified that [Appellant] did not have difficulty understanding.

[Attorney] Lacson recalled that on two [] separate occasions he received discovery from the Commonwealth which he reviewed, made a copy of this discoverable material in addition to the [n]otes of [t]estimony from the [p]reliminary [h]earing, and provided it for [Appellant’s] review. Again, [Attorney] Lacson explained that he discussed all of the elements of the charges and spoke to [Appellant] at length about his case and, additionally, he broke down what type of conduct was encompassed by the crimes charged.

[Attorney] Lacson prepared this case for trial, as no negotiation was offered by the Commonwealth. During this time, [Attorney] Lacson met with [Appellant] approximately five [] or six [] times to discuss trial strategy and prepare the case for trial. In full disclosure, [Attorney] Lacson discussed with [Appellant] the likelihood of a conviction if he proceeded to a trial and, regardless, [Appellant] was steadfast in his desire for a trial. However, in early November of 2009, [Appellant] admitted to [Attorney] Lacson that “the truth will come out” and he indicated his intent to enter a guilty plea.

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