Opinion
March 10, 1969.
June 12, 1969.
Criminal Law — Evidence — Confession — Tacit admission — Tacit admission not proscribed at time of trial — Allowance of direct appeal nunc pro tunc.
1. Where a defendant makes a direct appeal nunc pro tunc, he may raise the question of the evidentiary use against him of a tacit admission even though at the time of his trial the employment of such admissions was not proscribed.
2. In this case, in which it appeared that prosecution witnesses testified that when the prosecutrix identified defendant as the man who attacked her he dropped his head and made no denial, it was Held that the employment of the tacit admission against defendant required the grant of a new trial.
Appeals — Appeal nunc pro tunc — Failure of defendant to request allowance — Dismissal of post-trial motions nunc pro tunc after allowance by court below in post-conviction proceeding.
3. Where it appeared that after hearing upon a petition seeking relief under the Post Conviction Hearing Act, the court below determined that defendant had not knowingly and intelligently waived his right to appeal and granted him leave to file post-trial motions nunc pro tunc; that subsequent motions for a new trial and in the arrest of judgment were overruled by the court below; and that defendant then appealed to the Superior Court without an allowance; it was Held that, although the appeal was obviously a direct appeal from the judgment of sentence, and such an appeal could not be taken after the statutory appeal period had expired without allowance of an appeal nunc pro tunc, an appeal nunc pro tunc would be permitted, in the circumstances, rather than remanding for a proper petition.
WRIGHT, P.J., would affirm on the opinion of Judge HERMAN for the court below.
Submitted March 10, 1969.
Before WRIGHT, P.J., WATKINS, MONTGOMERY, JACOBS, HOFFMAN, SPAULDING, and CERCONE, JJ.
Appeal, No. 46, March T., 1969, from judgment of Court of Oyer and Terminer of Dauphin County, June T., 1963, No. 158, in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Leon Morris Wetzel. Judgment vacated and new trial granted.
Petition for post-conviction relief.
Post-trial motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment, nunc pro tunc, dismissed, opinion by HERMAN, J. Defendant appealed.
Frederick W. Andrews, Public Defender, for appellant.
Jerome T. Foerster, Assistant District Attorney, and LeRoy S. Zimmerman, District Attorney, for Commonwealth, appellee.
Appellant was tried in 1963 before the court without a jury and found guilty of rape, robbery and a firearms offense. On June 6, 1963, he was sentenced to not less than seven nor more than fourteen years in a state institution. In 1967 appellant filed a petition seeking relief under the Post Conviction Hearing Act. After hearing, the lower court determined that the appellant had not knowingly and intelligently waived his right to appeal and granted him leave to file post-trial motions nunc pro tunc. Subsequent motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment were overruled by the court below on October 8, 1968.
Appellant then appealed to this court without an allowance. Since this appeal was not taken from the court's action on the Post Conviction Hearing Act petition, which was favorable to the appellant, it was obviously a direct appeal from the judgment of sentence. Such an appeal could not be taken more than five years after the statutory appeal period had expired without allowance of an appeal nunc pro tunc, and appellant should have requested an allowance. Since we would grant an appeal nunc pro tunc under the circumstances of this case, rather than remanding for a proper petition we herewith permit the appeal nunc pro tunc.
Commonwealth v. Dravecz, 424 Pa. 582, 227 A.2d 904 (1967) and Commonwealth v. Little, 432 Pa. 256, 248 A.2d 32 (1968), compel us to grant a new trial to this appellant. In Dravecz it was said that a reversal is required in all cases employing a tacit admission "wherein the judgment was not finalized as of the date Miranda was announced," namely, June 13, 1966. The court in Little held that in a case in which a direct appeal nunc pro tunc has been allowed, the judgment of sentence is not final because the availability of appeal has not been exhausted. Hence this appellant may raise the question of the evidentiary use against him of a tacit admission even though at the time of his trial the employment of such admissions was not proscribed.
This view, expressed in Justice EAGEN'S concurring opinion in Dravecz, was adopted by a majority of our Supreme Court in Commonwealth v. Little, supra at 259, 248 A.2d at 31.
A tacit admission was employed against appellant in several instances at his trial. During the investigation, the appellant was placed in a police office in the presence of two officers and the prosecutrix. On page 43 of the notes of trial testimony, Police Chief Anderson was asked by the district attorney what he had said to the prosecutrix at that time. This exchange followed: "A. I asked Mrs. Hoffer if the man was in the room that allegedly attacked her on the 25th of January, and she said, yes, he is. Q. What did the defendant say, if anything? A. Hung his head and didn't say nothing at all, didn't make no remarks. Q. Well, did or did not Mrs. Hoffer point out the man who attacked her? A. Yes, sir, she pointed to Wetzel." The Chief's testimony was repeated on cross-examination and two other prosecution witnesses testified to the same identification. All stated that the defendant dropped his head and made no denial.
The judgment of sentence of the court below is vacated and a new trial is granted.
WRIGHT, P.J., would affirm on the opinion of Judge HERMAN for the court below.
[*] Reporter's Note: The first page of these Memorandum Reports is arbitrarily numbered 701 in order that these cases may be paged finally in the Advance Reports and included currently in the Table of Cases Reported.