Commonwealth v. Lukyanchikov

5 Pa. D. & C.5th 151
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedAugust 25, 2008
Docketno. 05-7896
StatusPublished

This text of 5 Pa. D. & C.5th 151 (Commonwealth v. Lukyanchikov) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Lukyanchikov, 5 Pa. D. & C.5th 151 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2008).

Opinion

GOLDBERG, J.,

This case stems from incidents occurring in November 2005, wherein appellant confronted police officers with a shotgun and later head-butted an officer while in custody. Sergey Lukyanchikov (appellant) has appealed this court’s denial of his amended petition for post-conviction collateral relief. Appellant’s allegations of error generally revolve around ineffective assistance of counsel claims arising at his guilty plea hearing.

We file this opinion pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(a).

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Procedural Background

Appellant was originally charged separately for the shotgun incident and head-butting incident, both discussed in detail below. After a preliminary hearing on both incidents, two criminal informations were generated. Criminal information no. 2005-7637, which pertained to the shotgun incident, charged three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of simple assault, four counts of recklessly endangering another person, three counts of harassment, one count of criminal mischief, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of public drunkenness. Criminal information no. 2005-7896, which pertained to the head-butting incident, charged aggravated assault under section 2702(a)(6) and simple assault.

[154]*154Appellant subsequently filed a writ of habeas corpus seeking to discharge the aggravated assault charge on the head-butting incident. There, he argued that the police officers preliminary hearing testimony failed to establish a prima facie case because it was not established that the officer was placed in fear of serious bodily injury. On January 19,2006, the Honorable Rea B. Boylan granted this motion and dismissed that charge. At that time, the Commonwealth informed appellant’s counsel that they intended to amend the charges to include an aggravated assault charge under a different section of section 2702. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 3-4.)

On February 27, 2006, the scheduled trial date, the Commonwealth moved to amend Information no. 2005-7896 to charge aggravated assault under section 2702(a) (3), defined as intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to an officer. Appellant’s counsel objected to this request, however, the Honorable John J. Rufe, the assigned trial judge, permitted the amendment, reasoning that appellant had been given notice of this proposed amendment over a month prior to the trial date. After allowing the amendment, Judge Rufe offered appellant a continuance, which appellant declined. Instead, appellant opted to proceed to a guilty plea hearing wherein he pled guilty to all counts under both informations.1 At the conclusion of the plea hearing, Judge Rufe sentenced appellant to 15 to 30 months incarceration on Information no. 2005-7896 (the head-butting incident) and a con[155]*155secutive term of 30 months of probation on Information no. 2005-7637 (the shotgun incident). Judge Rufe’s sentence included the possibility that if the first six months of incarceration were acceptably completed, appellant could serve the remainder of his sentence on house arrest. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 12-13, 72-77.)

On March 30, 2006, the Commonwealth filed a petition to modify sentence, based on numerous alleged misconducts by appellant during his incarceration. This petition was denied on April 17, 2006.

On June 18,2006, an immigration detainer was lodged against appellant by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This detainer prevented appellant from serving his sentence on house arrest and consequently, appellant filed a motion to restructure sentence on November 29,2006. This motion was denied by Judge Rufe on January 12, 2007. (N.T. 9/24/07, pp. 99-100.)

On February 26,2007, appellant filed a timely petition for post-conviction collateral relief (PCRA), and thereafter, filed an amended petition on June 20, 2007. The amended petition generally alleged that appellant’s guilty plea was unlawfully induced, he is innocent of the charges against him, and the facts presented at the plea indicated that defendant may have a defense. (Amended petition, ¶7.) The amended petition also alleged that appellant’s guilty plea was defective and that Michael Parlow, Esquire, his plea counsel, was ineffective in his representation. Appellant specifically claimed that Par-low was ineffective because: the plea was not knowing, voluntary and intelligent; Parlow did not adequately inform appellant of his options once Judge Rufe allowed the Commonwealth to amend the information; there was [156]*156no factual basis to support the charges, the plea colloquy was generally deficient; and that appellant did not understand the consequences of the guilty plea due to his medical condition. At the subsequent PCRA hearing, appellant also complained that Parlow failed to fully discuss with him the immigration consequences of pleading guilty. (Amended petition for post-conviction collateral relief; ¶¶7-10, 13; N.T. 9/24/07, pp. 14-17, 160-62.)

Guilty Plea Hearing Record

The following information was covered at Appellant’s guilty plea hearing:

•Judge Rufe first reviewed all of the charges to which a plea of guilty would be entered. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 15-16);
•Judge Rufe inquired as to whether appellant had any medical conditions. Appellant responded that he was on medication for various conditions, but confirmed that he was alert and aware, and not confused, dazed or drowsy. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 17-18);
•Judge Rufe then carefully explained all of the various rights and presumptions appellant was entitled to, including: the presumption of innocence; that the burden of proof rested with the Commonwealth; the right to a jury trial and the jury selection process; and the trial process, including the right to cross-examine, to present evidence and testify, and the applicable burdens of proof. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 18-24);
•Judge Rufe then again reviewed the pending charges and the maximum sentences that appellant could face by [157]*157pleading guilty, and noted that no agreement existed as to sentence. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 24-27);
•Appellant was advised that by pleading guilty, he was waiving his rights on appeal, except issues pertaining to sentencing, jurisdiction and the voluntariness of the plea. (N.T. 2/27/06, pp. 27-29); and
•Lastly, Judge Rufe confinned that he was satisfied with his counsel. (N.T. 2/27/06, p. 30.)

The facts presented by the Commonwealth in support of the charges were as follows:

On November 19, 2005, officers from the Northampton Police Department were dispatched to 506 Holly Knoll Drive, Churchville, Bucks County, PA, in response to a 9-1-1 call. Upon arrival, the officers noticed that appellant was highly intoxicated, and was threatening and taking an aggressive stance toward his brother. The officers separated appellant and his brother and attempted to usher his brother outside. Immediately thereafter, appellant was observed walking down the stairs with a shotgun, which he pointed at the officers and his brother. The officers and the brother then immediately retreated from the house and for several minutes, appellant refused to comply with commands from the officers to disarm. Appellant eventually complied and threw the shotgun onto a concrete patio.

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Bluebook (online)
5 Pa. D. & C.5th 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-lukyanchikov-pactcomplbucks-2008.