| COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. ROBERT JEFFREY FINK No. 2041 MDA 2008 2010 PA Super 18 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 2/16/2010 | |
| Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence entered October 16, 2008 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Criminal Division at No. CP-36-CR-0004384-2001 | |
| Before: BENDER, GANTMAN and POPOVICH, JJ. | |
| Opinion by: BENDER, J. | |
| Appellant, Robert Jeffrey Fink, appeals from the judgment of sentence of four to eight years’ incarceration imposed after Fink violated conditions of his parole. Fink raises one issue for our review: “Did the court err in finding that Mr. Fink violated his [parole] by being discharged from sex offender counseling for failing to completely disclose his sexual history, where disclosure of this history required Mr. Fink to confess to committing criminal acts, and to provide information regarding these acts which could have provided an essential link in a chain of evidence resulting in criminal charges against him?” Brief for Appellant at 4. We concur in Fink’s assessment that questions posed in a questionnaire he was required to complete in sex offender counseling would reveal “essential link[s] in a chain of evidence” that could support criminal prosecution on other charges. We conclude accordingly that Fink’s responses were conditionally privileged, subject to his constitutional right against self-incrimination and our holding in Commonwealth v. Shrawder, 940 A.2d 436 (Pa. Super. 2007). Thus, the trial court erred in declaring Fink in violation of his parole for refusing to complete the questionnaire. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of sentence imposed upon Fink’s parole violation and remand this matter for reinstatement of parole and probation. | |
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