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Commonwealth v. Siljak

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Jun 16, 1967
232 A.2d 200 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1967)

Opinion

April 10, 1967.

June 16, 1967.

Appeals — Criminal law — Opinion of counsel for indigent defendant that appeal would be fruitless.

An indigent defendant's right to review cannot be foreclosed by the opinion of counsel, standing alone, that an appeal would be fruitless.

Submitted April 10, 1967.

Before ERVIN, P.J., WRIGHT, WATKINS, MONTGOMERY, JACOBS, HOFFMAN, and SPAULDING, JJ.

Appeal, No. 31, April T., 1967, from order of Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny County, Oct. T., 1965, No. C.A. 3053, in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Joseph P. Siljak. Order reversed.

Petition for post-conviction relief.

Petition dismissed without hearing, opinion by WEAVER, P.J., specially presiding. Petitioner appealed.

Joseph Siljak, appellant, in propria persona.

Edwin J. Martin, Assistant District Attorney, and Robert W. Duggan, District Attorney, for Commonwealth, appellee.


This is an appeal from the dismissal, without hearing, of a petition for post-conviction relief.

Petitioner was convicted on October 14, 1965 of burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods. He received sentences totaling five to ten years. He now alleges that ". . . he was denied his right to a direct appeal. I asked my attorney if there was anything more he could do, and he said `No'."

The lower court held that trial counsel's inaction was justified, apparently because he felt there were no grounds for appeal. It is well settled, however, that an indigent defendant's right to review cannot be foreclosed by the opinion of counsel, standing alone, that an appeal would be fruitless. Commonwealth ex rel. Newsome v. Myers, 422 Pa. 240, 244, 220 A.2d 886 (1966). Cf. Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).

The order of the court below is reversed, and the record is remanded for a hearing on petitioner's allegations, consistent with the guidelines established in Commonwealth ex rel. Stevens v. Myers, 419 Pa. 1, 22-23, 213 A.2d 613 (1965).


Summaries of

Commonwealth v. Siljak

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Jun 16, 1967
232 A.2d 200 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1967)
Case details for

Commonwealth v. Siljak

Case Details

Full title:Commonwealth v. Siljak, Appellant

Court:Superior Court of Pennsylvania

Date published: Jun 16, 1967

Citations

232 A.2d 200 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1967)
232 A.2d 200