J-A16001-16
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee :
:
v. :
:
WILLIAM COATES, III, :
:
Appellant : No. 247 WDA 2015
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence January 13, 2015
in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0012614-2013
BEFORE: SHOGAN, OLSON, and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.
DISSENTING MEMORANDUM BY STRASSBURGER, J.:
FILED: September 28, 2016
Because I conclude that the facts of this case do not result in Appellant
having waived his issues on appeal, I dissent. At sentencing, counsel for
Appellant moved to withdraw, and the trial court stated that it would appoint
counsel, and entered an order to that effect two days later. That order was
not filed until five days after that, January 20, 2015.1 Thus, Appellant was
effectively not represented by counsel for at least 7 of the 10 days available
to him for filing timely a post-sentence motion. Accordingly, I conclude that
this situation is sufficiently analogous to the situation in Commonwealth v.
1
Moreover, appointed counsel from the public defender represents that her
office did not receive notice of this appointment until sometime in early
February.
*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-A16001-16
Leatherby, 116 A.3d 73, 79 (Pa. Super. 2015);2 and constitutes a
breakdown in the workings of the court. Thus, this Court is permitted to
consider the issues raised in Appellant’s late-filed post-sentence motion.
2
While certain aspects are distinguishable, the principle in Leatehrby is
applicable here. In that case, “the trial court did not appoint new counsel for
Leatherby in time to preserve his post-sentence rights,” and he “was
effectively abandoned by counsel.” 116 A.3d at 79.
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