Com. v. Boone

Full title: COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Respondent v. RASHAN BOONE, Petitioner

Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District

Date published: Jan 2, 2009

No. 398 EAL 2008 (Pa. Jan. 2, 2009)

Opinion

No. 398 EAL 2008.

January 2, 2009.

Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court.

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

AND NOW, this 2^nd day of January, 2009, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is hereby GRANTED only as to the issue of merger. The order of the Superior Court affirming the judgment of sentence for robbery is hereby VACATED. The crimes of robbery and second degree murder merge for sentencing purposes under Pennsylvania law and the circumstances of this case. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Tarver, 426 A.2d 569, 573 (Pa. 1981) (holding the same robbery that was the basis for defendant's conviction for murder during a robbery could not be the basis of a separate conviction and sentence for robbery). The Petition for Allowance of Appeal is DENIED in all other respects.¹

1 Though the robbery sentence is vacated, Petitioner will still serve life plus the remaining concurrent terms. As a result, there is no need to remand for additional sentencing by the trial court because the sentencing scheme will not be different than already imposed. See Commonwealth v. Henderson, 938 A.2d 1063, 1067 (Pa.Super. 2007) (holding that there was no need to remand for re-sentencing where sentences are concurrent and alteration of one sentence will not alter the trial court's overall sentencing scheme).