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Commonwealth v. Duff

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Nov 14, 1968
213 Pa. Super. 248 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1968)

Opinion

September 10, 1968.

November 14, 1968.

Criminal Law — Sentence — Consideration of outstanding indictments.

Argued September 10, 1968.

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

Appeal, No. 721, Oct. T., 1968, from judgment of sentence of Court of Oyer and Terminer of Montgomery County, Sept. T., 1967, No. 180, in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Thomas A. Duff. Judgment of sentence affirmed.

Indictments charging defendant with burglary, larceny and conspiracy. Before LOWE, J.

Verdict of guilty and judgment of sentence thereon. Defendant appealed.

David N. Brook, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Richard A. Devlin, Assistant District Attorney, with him Henry T. Crocker, Assistant District Attorney, Parker H. Wilson, First Assistant District Attorney, and Milton O. Moss, District Attorney, for Commonwealth, appellee.


Judgment of sentence affirmed.


On April 5, 1968, appellant was sentenced to imprisonment for not less than 1 1/2 nor more than 6 years.

Just before imposing sentence, the court said:

"While I am not taking into account the charges that are presently lodged against them (the defendants), I can't close my eyes to the fact that there are outstanding charges." (N.T. 17)

The ambiguity of this statement is apparent. Inferentially, there is reason to believe that the court did give some weight to the outstanding indictments. This was clearly error.

Accordingly, I would remand this case to the court below for resentencing.


Summaries of

Commonwealth v. Duff

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Nov 14, 1968
213 Pa. Super. 248 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1968)
Case details for

Commonwealth v. Duff

Case Details

Full title:Commonwealth v. Duff, Appellant

Court:Superior Court of Pennsylvania

Date published: Nov 14, 1968

Citations

213 Pa. Super. 248 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1968)
247 A.2d 480

Citing Cases

Commonwealth v. Bellerby

This case is similar in all relevant respects to Commonwealthv. Duff, 213 Pa. Super. 248, 247 A.2d 480…