Commonwealth v. Siebert

451 A.2d 552, 305 Pa. Super. 321, 1982 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5534
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 8, 1982
Docket1308
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 451 A.2d 552 (Commonwealth v. Siebert) 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. Siebert, 451 A.2d 552, 305 Pa. Super. 321, 1982 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5534 (Pa. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinions

[323]*323JOHNSON, Judge:

On July 31,1980, Appellant was charged with one count of Burglary.1 Appellant’s guilty plea was received on September 17, 1980; and he was sentenced on April 21, 1981. The court denied Appellant’s motion to withdraw guilty plea and for modification of sentence. This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Appellant presents two issues for our consideration. First, did the lower court err in denying Appellant’s motion to withdraw guilty plea since the court failed to advise Appellant that he was presumed innocent until proven guilty?2 Second, did the lower court err in denying Appellant’s motion for modification of sentence?

In considering Appellant’s first issue, we must consider not only what the court failed to tell Appellant but also the information that the court conveyed to Appellant regarding the presumption of innocence. The relevant portion of the very thorough and complete colloquy in the instant case consisted of the following dialogue between the judge and Appellant:

If you should elect to plead not guilty, then the court advises you that before you can be convicted, the prosecution will have the burdon [sic] of proving beyond a reason[324]*324able doubt your guilt, and before a jury could find you guilty of the charge of burglary, all twelve of them would have to agree that you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
However, if your plea of guilty is accepted, you waived, that is you give up each of the rights that I have just mentioned to you.
Do you have any questions about any of the matters which I have just explained to you?
A. No, Your Honor.
Q. Do you realize that by a plea of guilty, you would be giving up each of those rights?
A. Yes, Your Honor. [Emphasis added.]

Appellant contends that, because the trial judge failed to utter either the phrase, “presumed innocent,” or “presumption of innocence,” the guilty plea colloquy was defective. After a review of previous cases concerning Rule 319, we hold that the colloquy in the instant case was not defective.

In Commonwealth v. Ingram, 455 Pa. 198, 316 A.2d 77 (1974), the supreme court stated, “The essential element [of a guilty plea colloquy] is therefore a recorded demonstration that the defendant is fully aware of the ramifications of his action and is entering his plea voluntarily.” Id., 455 Pa. at 200, 316 A.2d at 78. Ingram referred to the comments to Rule 319(a) as “guidelines [which] will serve to protect the rights of defendants while simultaneously facilitating appellate review.” Id., 455 Pa. at 204-205, 316 A.2d at 81.

In Commonwealth v. Dilbeck, 466 Pa. 543, 353 A.2d 824 (1976), the supreme court reviewed a guilty plea colloquy in a case involving charges of murder and conspiracy to murder, in which the trial judge had not even mentioned “malice” much less any of the other guidelines listed in the comment to Rule 319. The supreme court quoted the above-cited passage from Ingram which viewed the comments to Rule 319 as guidelines; and the court proceeded to state, “Failure to satisfy these minimal requirements will result in reversal.”

[325]*325In Commonwealth v. Willis, 471 Pa. 50, 369 A.2d 1189 (1977), the defendant argued that the lower court had erred because the defendant had not been informed of the presumption of innocence. Citing Dilbeck for the principle that the six (6) questions in the comments to Rule 319 are mandatory, the supreme court reversed and remanded for a new trial. Willis was the authority cited by our court in Commonwealth v. Dello Buono, 271 Pa.Super.Ct. 572, 414 A.2d 631 (1979), to reverse and remand a guilty plea colloquy because the defendant had not been informed of the presumption of innocence.3

In Commonwealth v. Wyatt, 292 Pa.Super.Ct. 71, 436 A.2d 1009 (1981), a panel of our court was constrained to follow Dello Buono and reverse a guilty plea because the court failed to inform the defendant that he was presumed innocent until proven guilty. MONTEMURO, J., who wrote the opinion for the panel, said it was clear from the record that the defendant’s guilty plea was knowing and intelligent. Id., 292 Pa.Superior Ct. at 73, 436 A.2d at 1010. Although the defendant in Wyatt was not informed of the presumption of innocence, he was advised that the Commonwealth must prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The opinion in Wyatt did not discuss the relation of proof beyond a reasonable doubt to the concept of presumption of innocence. We presume, however, that proof beyond reasonable doubt is not the obverse of presumption of innocence. Unlike Wyatt, in Ingram, Dilbeck, Willis, and Dello Buono, the respective colloquies referred neither to proof beyond a reasonable doubt nor to presumption of innocence. In the instant case, the trial judge informed Appellant not only that the prosecution would have the burden of proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but also “before a jury could find you guilty ... all twelve of them would have to [326]*326agree that you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” When the trial judge informed Appellant that the members of the jury must agree before they could find him guilty, the judge was, in essence, informing Appellant that he was innocent until proven guilty. The phrase, “before a jury could find you guilty,” conveys the same idea as the phrase, “presumed innocent.”

Two recent decisions by our court, considering the validity of a waiver of jury trial, have viewed the colloquies in question in light of the intent conveyed rather than requiring that the lower court employ specific words and phrases. Our court en banc decision in Commonwealth v. Fortune, 289 Pa.Super.Ct. 278, 433 A.2d 65 (1981), held that a waiver of jury trial was not defective because the trial judge failed to inform the defendant either that the jury would be composed of his peers or that the jury was composed of members of the community. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 454 Pa. 368, 312 A.2d 597 (1973). In Fortune, the trial judge advised Appellant that “12 people . . . would sit as that jury... .” Our court, per HESTER, J., with SPAETH, J., dissenting, held that the “essential ingredients of a jury trial” had been explained to the defendant. The judge’s failure to employ specific words did not constitute error. 289 Pa.Super.Ct. at 290, 433 A.2d at 71.

Commonwealth v. Sanders, 299 Pa.Super.Ct. 410, 445 A.2d 820

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Commonwealth v. Siebert
451 A.2d 552 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
451 A.2d 552, 305 Pa. Super. 321, 1982 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-siebert-pasuperct-1982.