Commonwealth v. Butler

812 A.2d 631, 571 Pa. 441, 2002 Pa. LEXIS 2809

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: December 19, 2002
• Docket: 12 EAP 2001
• Status: Published

Opinions

OPINION

Chief Justice ZAPPALA.

We granted allowance of appeal in this case to determine whether the Superior Court erred in affirming the denial of Appellant’s petition for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-46, when it deemed all of Appellant’s issues waived due to counsel’s failure to file a Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.1925(b). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

On November 17, 1995, a jury convicted Appellant of murder of the first degree, robbery, and criminal conspiracy.¹ The trial court sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment for the first degree murder conviction, along with two concurrent sentences of five to ten years’ imprisonment for the robbery and conspiracy convictions. The Superior Court affirmed, Commonwealth v. Butler, 706 A.2d 1249 (Pa.Super.1997) (unpublished memorandum), and Appellant did not seek allowance of appeal to this Court.

Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition on February 26, 1998. Alter the PCRA court appointed counsel, Appellant filed an amended petition.² The PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s amended petition without a hearing and Appellant filed a notice of appeal with the Superior Court. On June 25,1999, the PCRA court ordered Appellant to file a Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). Appellant failed to file a Rule 1925(b) statement. As a result, the PCRA court issued an opinion that addressed only the claims raised in the amended PCRA petition.

The Superior Court affirmed in a published opinion. Commonwealth v. Butler, 756 A.2d 55 (Pa.Super.2000). Relying on this Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Lord, 553 Pa. 415, 719 A.2d 306 (1998), the court reasoned that it could “only conduct meaningful review where the appellant writes a Rule 1925(b) statement and the court below ... responds to those issues in its opinion.” Butler, 756 A.2d at 58. Accordingly, the court held that appellants will face waiver if they fail to comply with a court’s order to file a Rule 1925(b) statement. Id. In light of Appellant’s failure to file a Rule 1925(b) statement, the Superior Court deemed all of Appellant’s issues waived and affirmed the denial of Appellant’s amended PCRA petition. Id.

We granted Appellant’s petition for allowance of appeal, limited to the issue of whether the Superior Court erred in deeming all of Appellant’s issues waived due to his failure to file a Rule 1925(b) statement. Commonwealth v. Butler, 564 Pa. 471, 769 A.2d 442 (2001). As the Commonwealth never raised Rule 1925 waiver, Appellant argues that the Superior Court improperly deemed his issues waived sua sponte.

As promulgated by this Court, Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925 provides, in pertinent part:

(a) General rule. Üpon receipt of the notice of appeal the judge who entered the order appealed from, if the reasons for the order do not already appear of record, shall forthwith file of record at least a brief statement, in the form of an opinion, of the reasons for the order, or for the rulings or other matters complained of, or shall specify in writing the place in the record where such reasons may be found.

(b) Direction to file statement of matters complained of. The lower court forthwith may enter an order directing the appellant to file of record in the lower court and serve on the trial judge a concise statement of the matters complained of on the appeal no later than 14 days after entry of such order. A failure to comply with such direction may be considered by the appellate court as a waiver of all objections to the order, ruling or other matter complained of.

Prior to our decision in Lord, the intermediate appellate courts seized upon an apparent vest of discretion contained in the language of Rule 1925: “A failure- to comply with such direction may be considered by the appellate court as a waiver....” Pa.R.A.P.1925(b) (emphasis added). As a result, courts enforced waiver under Rule 1925 by determining whether they could conduct a “meaningful review” despite an appellant’s failure to either file a Rule 1925(b) statement or include certain issues within a filed statement.³

In Lord, however, this Court eliminated any aspect of discretion and established a bright-line rule for waiver under Rule 1925: “[I]n order to preserve their claims for appellate review, [ajppellants must comply whenever the trial court orders them to file a Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal pursuant to Rule 1925. Any issues not raised in a 1925(b) statement mil be deemed waived.” Lord, 719 A.2d at 309 (emphasis added). Thus, waiver under Rule 1925 is automatic.

The same is true in PCRA appeals, despite the recitation of issues within a PCRA petition. As we noted in Lord, the purpose of Rule 1925 is “to aid trial judges in identifying and focusing upon those issues that the parties plan to raise on appeal.” Id. at 308; see also Commonwealth v. Johnson, 565 Pa. 51, 771 A.2d 751, 755 (2001) (Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court). As the Superior Court cogently observed, PCRA petitions fail to serve that purpose. Here, the claims in Appellant’s amended PCRA petition were identical to the issues that Appellant ultimately argued before the Superior Court. While the PCRA court was well acquainted with the claims raised in the amended PCRA petition, Appellant’s failure to comply with the court’s order to file a Rule 1925(b) statement compelled the court to speculate which of those claims Appellant would maintain on appeal. Bearing in mind the purpose of Rule 1925, this result is unsupportable. Therefore, as PCRA petitions do not fully inform PCRA courts of what issues an appellant will raise on appeal, a PCRA petition cannot serve as a substitute for a Rule 1925(b) statement.

We reiterate our holding in Lord, and now expressly apply it to PCRA appeals. PCRA appellants, in order to preserve their claims for appellate review, must comply whenever the PCRA court orders them to file a Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal under Rule 1925. Accordingly, any issues not raised in a Rule 1925(b) statement are waived. See Lord, 719 A.2d at 309.

Applying the preceding to the case sub judice, Appellant’s failure to comply with the PCRA court’s order to file a Rule 1925(b) statement resulted in the automatic waiver of any issues he may have raised on appeal. As issues not preserved for appellate review generally may not be considered by an appellate court, the Superior Court properly refused to address the merits of Appellant’s waived claims.

Even so, Appellant argues that the Superior Court erred in deeming his issues waived sua sponte. As explained supra, however, Rule 1925 waiver is automatic. Accordingly, the Superior Court properly deemed Appellant’s issues waived under Rule 1925, notwithstanding that the Commonwealth never briefed or argued Rule 1925 waiver. Moreover, if we were to accept Appellant’s position, courts would be constrained to selectively enforce the Rule based upon the arguments of parties, which would subvert the purpose and effectiveness of Rule 1925.

Lastly, Appellant has attached an unverified Rule 1925(b) statement to his brief and avers that he “provided” it to the PCRA court. Appellant’s Brief at 5, Appendix “C.” Appellant does not allege that he properly filed this statement with the PCRA court. Rather, the unverified Rule 1925(b) statement is addressed directly to the PCRA court judge. In addition, Appellant’s unverified Rule 1925(b) statement does not appear anywhere, in the original record, is not evinced by any docket entry, and does not bear the customary “time stamp” of the clerk of courts.

Rule 1925 is not satisfied when an appellant merely mails his Rule 1925(b) statement to the presiding judge. Rather, Rule 1925(b) requires appellants to “file of record in the lower court and serve on the trial judge a concise statement of the matters complained of on the appeal.... ” Pa.R.A.P.1925(b). Even if we were to accept Appellant’s unproven assertions that he mailed his statement to the PCRA court judge, Appellant nonetheless failed to properly file the statement with the clerk of courts. Thus, as “[a]ny issues not raised in a 1925(b) statement will be deemed waived!,]” Appellant’s failure to properly file a Rule 1925(b) statement waives any issues he may have raised. See Lord, 719 A.2d at 309.

The order of the Superior Court is affirmed.

Justice EAKIN did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case. Justice CASTILLE and Justice SAYLOR file concurring opinions. Justice NIGRO files a dissenting opinion.

1 . 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2502(a), 3701, 903, respectively.

2 . Appellant’s court-appointed attorney has represented Appellant throughout the PCRA proceedings and this appeal.

3 . See Commonwealth v. Ervin, 456 Pa.Super. 782, 691 A.2d 966 (1997) (holding that mere omission of issue from statement does not automatically result in waiver; rather, Superior Court will address merits of any issue in criminal case whenever certified record is sufficient to conduct meaningful appellate review); Commonwealth v. Stilley, 455 Pa.Super. 543, 689 A.2d 242 (1997) (holding that appellate court may exercise discretion to invoke waiver provision of Rule 1925 only where failure to file statement or omission from statement defeats effective appellate review); Reynolds v. Commonwealth, Dept. of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 694 A.2d 361 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997) (explaining that Commonwealth Court would review merits of appeal despite agency’s failure to file statement if trial court filed an opinion allowing meaningful appellate review); Commonwealth v. Nelson, 453 Pa.Super. 637, 684 A.2d 579 (1996) (holding that waiver of claims on appeal for failure to file statement is not automatic; Superior Court will discharge its appellate function unless failure to file statement prevenís meaningful appellate review). Indeed, this analysis has survived despite our decision in Lord. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Ortiz, 745 A.2d 662 (Pa.Super.2000) (finding no impediment to meaningful review where trial court’s opinion discussed sole issue raised on appeal, despite untimely filing of statement).