Com. v. Windom, R.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 11, 2022
Docket1942 EDA 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Windom, R. (Com. v. Windom, R.) 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. Windom, R., (Pa. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

J-S12042-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : ROY WINDOM : : Appellant : No. 1942 EDA 2021

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered August 30, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0005594-2017

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., BOWES, J., and DUBOW, J.

MEMORANDUM BY DUBOW, J.: FILED JULY 11, 2022

Appellant, Roy Windom, appeals pro se from the August 30, 2021 Order,

entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, dismissing his

Petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), 42 Pa.C.S.

§§ 9541-46. After careful review, we affirm.

We adopt the facts as set forth by the PCRA court. See PCRA Ct. Op.,

11/9/21, at 1-3. In summary, on May 17, 2017, police arrested Appellant

after his younger sister, D.J., reported that Appellant had been physically and

sexually abusing her for years. At the time the abuse began, D.J. was 9 years

old and Appellant was 24 years old.

The Commonwealth charged Appellant with numerous offenses arising

from these allegations. On June 7, 2019, a jury convicted Appellant of Rape

of a Child, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Endangering the Welfare of a Child,

and Indecent Assault of a Person Less than 13. J-S12042-22

On January 13, 2020, the trial court sentenced Appellant to an

aggregate term of 12½ to 25 years of incarceration followed by 12 years of

probation. This Court affirmed Appellant’s Judgment of Sentence.

Commonwealth v. Windom, 256 A.3d 31 (Pa. Super. filed May 13, 2021)

(unpublished memorandum). Appellant did not seek further review.

On May 7, 2021, Appellant pro se filed the instant PCRA petition raising

claims that his trial counsel, Richard J. Giuliani, Esquire, had been ineffective

by, inter alia, failing to investigate the victim’s alleged motive to fabricate the

allegations against him. Appellant further asserted that his trial counsel was

ineffective for failing to object to the Commonwealth’s closing arguments,

which Appellant characterized as constituting prosecutorial misconduct, and

by not ensuring that Appellant was in the courtroom for the presentation of

the jury’s questions to the court during the jury’s deliberation. The PCRA court

appointed counsel, who, on June 23, 2021, filed a Letter of No Merit pursuant

to Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988) and

Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988) (en banc), and

a Motion to Withdraw as Counsel.

On July 6, 2021, in response to counsel’s “no-merit” letter, Appellant

pro se filed an Amended PCRA Petition.

On July 29, 2021, the PCRA court notified Appellant of its intent to

dismiss his Petition without a hearing pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 907. Appellant

did not file a response to the court’s Rule 907 Notice.

-2- J-S12042-22

On August 30, 2021, the PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s Petition as

meritless.1 Appellant filed a timely pro se appeal from the court’s dismissal

order and complied with the court’s order to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)

Statement. In addition to asserting that the PCRA court had erred in its

determination that the issues Appellant raised in his PCRA Petition lacked

merit, in the Rule 1925(b) Statement, Appellant also claimed that his PCRA

counsel had been ineffective in reaching the same conclusion and in filing a

“no-merit” letter. The PCRA court filed a responsive Rule 1925(a) Opinion.

Appellant raises the following issues on appeal:

1. Whether the PCRA court erred in deny[ing] Appellant[’s P]etition[?]

2. Whether PCRA counsel was ineffective for filing his no merit letter on the above issues[?]

3. Whether [A]ppellant is entitled to relief[?]

Appellant’s Brief at 6.

We review an order denying a petition for collateral relief to determine

whether the PCRA court’s decision is supported by the evidence of record and

free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Jarosz, 152 A.3d 344, 350 (Pa.

Super. 2016) (citing Commonwealth v. Fears, 86 A.3d 795, 803 (Pa.

2014)). “This Court grants great deference to the findings of the PCRA court

if the record contains any support for those findings.” Commonwealth v.

Anderson, 995 A.2d 1184, 1189 (Pa. Super. 2010). “Further, the PCRA

____________________________________________

1The PCRA court granted counsel’s Motion to Withdraw on September 15, 2021.

-3- J-S12042-22

court’s credibility determinations are binding on this Court, where there is

record support for those determinations.” Id.

To be eligible for relief under the PCRA, a petitioner must establish that

his conviction or sentence resulted from one or more of the enumerated errors

or defects found in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9543(a)(2): a constitutional violation;

ineffective assistance of counsel; an unlawfully induced plea; improper

obstruction by governmental officials; a case where exculpatory evidence has

been discovered; an illegal sentence has been imposed; or the tribunal

conducting the proceeding lacked jurisdiction. See 42 Pa.C.S. §§

9543(a)(2)(i)-(viii). In addition, a petitioner must establish that the issues

raised in the PCRA petition have not been previously litigated or waived, and

that “the failure to litigate the issue prior to or during trial, during unitary

review or on direct appeal could not have been the result of any rational,

strategic or tactical decision by counsel.” Id. at § 9543(a)(3), (a)(4).

We presume that counsel has rendered effective assistance.

Commonwealth v. Bickerstaff, 204 A.3d 988, 992 (Pa. Super. 2019). In

order to overcome the presumption that counsel has provided effective

assistance, a petitioner must establish that: (1) the underlying claim has

arguable merit; (2) counsel lacked a reasonable basis for his act or omission;

and (3) petitioner suffered actual prejudice. Commonwealth v. Bradley,

261 A.3d 381, 390 (Pa. 2021). A petitioner must plead and prove by a

preponderance of the evidence each of these elements. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9543(a).

A claim will be denied if the petitioner fails to meet any one of these prongs.

-4- J-S12042-22

See Jarosz, 152 A.3d at 350 (citing Commonwealth v. Daniels, 963 A.2d

409, 419 (Pa. 2009)).

In his Brief, Appellant argues that his PCRA counsel was ineffective for

filing a “no-merit” letter because his underlying claims of trial counsel’s

ineffectiveness are meritorious.2 In particular, Appellant emphasizes the

meritoriousness of the claims he raised in his PCRA Petition, i.e., that his trial

counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the Commonwealth’s statements

during closing argument, which he characterizes as prosecutorial misconduct,

and for not insisting that Appellant be present in the courtroom during the

presentation of the jury’s questions to the court.

The Honorable Timika R. Lane, who presided over Appellant’s trial and

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