Commonwealth v. Myers

86 A.3d 286, 2014 Pa. Super. 30, 2014 WL 688225, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 96
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 21, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 86 A.3d 286 (Commonwealth v. Myers) 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. Myers, 86 A.3d 286, 2014 Pa. Super. 30, 2014 WL 688225, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 96 (Pa. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION BY

WECHT, J.:

Matthew Myers challenges the judgment of sentence entered on October 4, 2012. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Myers’ judgment of sentence, but remand for further proceedings concerning Myers’ bail status.

The trial court has provided the following account of the factual history underlying Myers’ conviction:

On May 13, 2011, [Myers’] Cadillac De-Ville was towed to Pep Boys in Exton, Pennsylvania, at the request of [Myers]. A new alternator was installed in [Myers’] vehicle and an extended warranty was sold with the alternator. The total cost for work and labor was $605.80. Before the work was completed on the vehicle, the Assistant Service Manager, Robert McManus, spoke with [Myers] to inform [him] what was wrong with the vehicle and to obtain verbal authorization from [Myers] to proceed with fixing the vehicle. [Myers] was informed of the repair costs at that time. [Myers] provided the verbal authoriza[288]*288tion necessary for [Pep Boys] to fix the vehicle. On May 14, 2011, [Myers] arrived at Pep Boys to retrieve his vehicle. Andrew Benes, a service advisor at Pep Boys, was working the front desk on that day and presented the work order to [Myers]. The work order reflected the total cost of repairs of $605.80. [Myers] did not dispute the bill. [Myers] patted his jacket and pants pockets as if searching for a wallet and then told Mr. Benes that his checkbook was in his vehicle. [Myers] asked Mr. Benes for his car keys so that he could retrieve the checkbook from his car. Mr. Benes gave [Myers] his keys so that [Myers] could retrieve his checkbook. [Myers] walked to his vehicle and entered on the passenger side of the vehicle. While in the passenger seat, [Myers] rifled through his glove box. [Myers] then shut the passenger door and slid over to the driver’s seat. When [Myers] started the car, Mr. Benes realized that [Myers] was about to drive away and Mr. Benes ran outside and tried to wave [Myers] down. As he sped away, [Myers] made eye contact with Mr. Benes, waved and smiled. Mr. Benes immediately contacted the police. Additionally, Mr. Benes and his supervisor attempted to contact [Myers] by phone and left voice messages, but [Myers] never responded. [Myers] never returned to Pep Boys.

Trial Court Opinion (“T.C.O.”), 2/8/2013, at 1-2 (record citations omitted).

Based upon the above, evidence, on August 16, 2012, Myers was convicted by a jury of theft of services, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, and receiving stolen property.1 Myers was charged based upon the allegation that, after a Pep Boys service station repaired his car, he drove away from the facility without paying for the parts and services rendered.

On October 4, 2012, Myers was sentenced in the standard range of the sentencing guidelines to an aggregate six to twenty-three months’ incarceration, to be followed by two years’ probation. On October 5, 2012, Myers filed post-sentence motions. Among his claims for relief, Myers asked the court to defer his reporting date and asserted a request for bail pending appeal. Post Sentence Motion for Reconsideration, for Appointment of Counsel, 10/5/2012, at 2-3 ¶¶6-10 (unpaginat-ed). The trial court denied Myers’ motion on the same day.2 On October 17, 2012, Myers filed a notice of appeal, and, on October 22, 2012, new counsel was appointed for the purpose of pursuing that appeal.

On October 23, 2012, the trial court ordered Myers to file a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) within twenty-one days. On November 7, 2012, Myers filed a motion requesting an extension of the time to file his Rule 1925 statement, which was granted by trial court order entered on November 8, 2012. In that order, the trial court afforded thirty additional days from that date for Myers to file his concise statement. Myers filed his concise statement on December 12, 2012.

We pause to note that, unfortunately, the order extending the time for filing of the Rule 1925(b) statement is ambiguous on its face. The November 8, 2012 order provided as follows: “Petition for [289]*289Extension of Time for Filing Appellant’s Statement pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)(2) is granted. Counsel shall comply with the Order dated 10/28/12, but Counsel will have an additional 30 days to file and serve the statement.” This order left unclear whether the court intended to add thirty days to the twenty-one days afforded by the October 23 order or intended to grant counsel thirty days from its November 8 order to file the Rule 1925(b) statement. This ambiguity is problematic because, if the court intended the latter calculation, Myers’ Rule 1925(b) statement was untimely. Were that the case, then, we would be obligated as a matter of our rules of procedure to deem appellate counsel ineffective, and to remand the case for the filing of a Statement nunc pro tunc. See Pa.R.A.P. 1925(c)(3).

While it is clear that, whatever else we may do, we may not consider the merits of an appeal when the Rule 1925 statement was untimely filed, Commonwealth v. Castillo, 585 Pa. 395, 888 A.2d 775, 780 (2005), we find that this rule does not apply under the circumstances of this case. In the interest of the just and expedient disposition of the instant appeal, and in light of the fact that the trial court filed a Rule 1925(a) opinion addressing in detail the issues Myers has raised for our consideration, we will construe the trial court’s November 8, 2012 order as reflecting the court’s intention to provide thirty days in addition to the twenty-one days provided in the October 23, order. Consequently, pursuant to the November 8 order, Myers had fifty-one days from October 23, to file his statement. The fifty-first day was December 13. Myers filed his Rule 1925(b) statement on December 12, 2012. Consequently, Myers’ statement was filed timely, and we may address the merits of his appeal.

Before this Court, Myers raises the following issues:

I. Whether the Trial Court erred by denying Appellant’s postsentence motion for reconsideration of sentence and Appellant’s motion for bail pending appeal?
II. Whether [Myers’] conviction on the charges of Theft By Unlawful Taking, Receiving Stolen Property and Theft of Services were against the sufficiency of the evidence presented?

Brief for Myers at 3.3

In the interests of clarity, we address ourselves first to Myers’ unavailing suffi[290]*290ciency challenge. See id. at 9-11. Our standard of review of a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction is as follows:

The standard for review of the sufficiency of the evidence is whether the evidence admitted at trial, and all reasonable inferences drawn from that evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, was sufficient to enable the factfinder to conclude that the Commonwealth established all of the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.

Commonwealth v. Eichinger, 591 Pa. 1, 915 A.2d 1122, 1130 (2007) (citing Commonwealth v. Ockenhouse, 562 Pa. 481, 756 A.2d 1130, 1135 (2000)).

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

Related

Com. v. Hawkins, R.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2025
Com. v. Mertz, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Guzman, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Miller, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023
Com. v. Rookstool, R.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2021
Com. v. Malloy, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017
Com. v. Battle, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
In the Interest of: J.J., a Minor
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2016
Com. v. Campbell, D.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015
Com. v. Richardson, W.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015
Com. v. Westerfield, R.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015
Com. v. Lawrence, L.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015
Com. v. Acosta, C.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015
Com. v. Bagley, J.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014
Com. v. Smith, S.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
86 A.3d 286, 2014 Pa. Super. 30, 2014 WL 688225, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-myers-pasuperct-2014.