Commonwealth v. Lincoln

72 A.3d 606, 2013 Pa. Super. 177, 2013 WL 3421981, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1626
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 9, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by331 cases

This text of 72 A.3d 606 (Commonwealth v. Lincoln) 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
Commonwealth v. Lincoln, 72 A.3d 606, 2013 Pa. Super. 177, 2013 WL 3421981, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1626 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION BY

GANTMAN, J.:

Appellant, Robert Lincoln, appeals nunc pro tunc from the judgment of sentence entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, following his negotiated guilty plea to attempted murder, aggravated assault, and robbery.1 For the following reasons we hold Appellant’s challenge to the validity of his guilty plea is not properly before us for review at this time. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of sentence.

A prior memorandum decision of this Court sets forth the relevant facts of this case as follows:

In November, 2002, [Ajppellant savagely beat a woman in whose home he was a guest, stole the proceeds of her social security checks, and left the victim and her two severely retarded children to fend for themselves. Unable to reach his sister by telephone, the victim’s brother came to the victim’s home, discovered her lying in a pool of blood, and her children sitting in a pile of their own feces.

Commonwealth v. Lincoln, No. 2746 EDA 2005, unpublished memorandum at 1, 905 A.2d 1045 (Pa.Super filed June 19, 2006). The recent trial court opinion continued as follows:

On October 27, 2003, following a guilty plea colloquy, [Appellant] entered a negotiated plea of guilty to Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and Attempted Murder. This [c]ourt sentenced [Appellant] to sixteen (16) to forty (40) years for Attempted Murder and twenty (20) years® probation for Robbery, to be served consecutive to the prison term. [608]*608The sentence for Aggravated Assault merged with Attempted Murder for sentencing purposes. All other charges were nolle prosequi.
On November 28, 2003 [Appellant] filed a Notice of Appeal. On January 5, 2004, the appeal was withdrawn. On February 6, 2004, [Appellant] filed a Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”) Petition. Counsel was appointed, and on August 25, 2005, the Petition was dismissed .... [2] On September 9, 2005, [Appellant] filed a pro se Notice of Appeal. On June 19, 2006, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the [PCRA] court. On July 31, 2006, [Appellant] filed a Petition for Allowance of Appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. On July 4, 2007, the Supreme Court denied [Appellant’s] petition.[3]
... On July 10, 2012, this [c]ourt issued an order directing [Appellant] to file a Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). [Appellant] did so on August 21, 2012....

(Trial Court Opinion, filed September 25, 2012, at 1).

Appellant raises three claims for our review:

DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR WHEN, DURING THE PLEA COLLOQUY, IT MISINFORMED [APPELLANT] OF THE CORRECT MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR THE OFFENSES HE FACED, OVERSTATING THE MAXIMUM BY 20 YEARS, THEREBY VIOLATING PENNSYLVANIA RULE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 590 AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND CAUSING THE PLEA TO HAVE BEEN MADE UNKNOWINGLY AND INVOLUNTARILY IN VIOLATION OF THAT RULE AND THE CONSTITUTION?
DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR WHEN IT ENTERED A GUILTY PLEA ON THE CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED MURDER, DESPITE (I) [APPELLANT’S] DENIAL OF A FACT CRUCIAL TO ONE OF THE NECESSARY ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE AND (II) THE SUBMISSION OF FACTS ESTABLISHING AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE TO THAT OFFENSE, THEREBY VIOLATING PENNSYLVANIA RULE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 590 AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND CAUSING THE PLEA TO HAVE BEEN MADE UNKNOWINGLY AND INVOLUNTARILY IN VIOLATION OF THAT RULE AND THE CONSTITUTION?
DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR WHEN IT ENTERED A GUILTY [609]*609PLEA WITHOUT INFORMING [APPELLANT] OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSES OR OTHERWISE ENSURING THAT [APPELLANT] WAS SUFFICIENTLY AWARE OF THE NATURE OF THE OFFENSES, THEREBY VIOLATING PENNSYLVANIA RULE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 590 AND THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND CAUSING THE PLEA TO HAVE BEEN MADE UNKNOWINGLY AND INVOLUNTARILY IN VIOLATION OF THAT RULE AND THE CONSTITUTION?

(Appellant’s Supplemental Brief at 4).

We outline Appellant’s issues as one. First, Appellant complains the court misstated the potential maximum sentence Appellant faced when the court stated it could impose a sentence of eighty-five (85) years’ incarceration or a de facto life sentence. Appellant complains the court failed to consider the merger of two of the offenses, aggravated assault and attempted murder, which would have resulted in a proper maximum sentence of only sixty-five (65) years’ incarceration.

Next, Appellant argues the trial court should not have accepted his plea to attempted murder when Appellant contested an element of his guilty plea, i.e., using the radio to strike the victim. Appellant claims he did not commit attempted murder because he did not have specific intent to kill as shown by his denial of the use of the radio. He also maintains the facts of this case support a charge of attempted manslaughter, not attempted murder, because he attacked the victim only in response to her assault.

Finally, Appellant asserts his guilty plea was not knowing, intelligent, or voluntary because the trial court did not explain to Appellant the elements of the offenses to which he plead guilty. Appellant claims the court could have stated on record the elements of the offenses, or the court could have ensured by a totality of the circumstances that Appellant understood the elements, but the court did neither. Appellant concludes he has demonstrated a manifest injustice that would allow him to withdraw his plea and have his judgment of sentence vacated. For the following reason, we do not reach the merits of these issues.

Settled Pennsylvania law makes clear that by entering a guilty plea, the defendant waives his right to challenge on direct appeal all nonjurisdictional defects except the legality of the sentence and the validity of the plea. Commonwealth v. Pantalion, 957 A.2d 1267, 1271 (Pa.Super.2008).

Indeed, a defendant routinely waives a plethora of constitutional rights by pleading guilty, including the right to a jury trial by his peers, the right to have the Commonwealth prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and his right to confront any witnesses against him. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 288, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969) (knowing and voluntary guilty plea waives privilege against self-incrimination, right to jury trial, and right to confront one’s accusers). Furthermore, a defendant is permitted to waive fundamental constitutional protections in situations involving far less protection of the defendant than that presented herein. [See, e.g.], Peretz v. United States, 501 U.S. 923, 936, 111 S.Ct. 2661, 115 L.Ed.2d 808 (1991) ([stating:] “The most basic rights of criminal defendants are ... subject to waiver”); Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 465, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938) ([stating] sixth amendment right to counsel may be waived).

Commonwealth v. Byrne, 833 A.2d 729, 735-36 (Pa.Super.2003). A defendant [610]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Com. v. Wiggins, G.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Glenn, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Collins, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Santiago-Rivera, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Coudriet, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Youmans, K.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Ortiz-Reyes, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Birchard, V.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Robinson, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Auen, B.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Thomas, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Negron-Martinez, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Rush, B.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Martin, G.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Will, T.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Blackman, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Miller, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2022
Com. v. Fagair, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Com. v. Russell, A.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020
Com. v. Hartman, M.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2020

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
72 A.3d 606, 2013 Pa. Super. 177, 2013 WL 3421981, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-lincoln-pasuperct-2013.