COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. JEANETTE GARCIA

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. JEANETTE GARCIA No. 2611 EDA 2009 2010 PA Super 171 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 9/16/2010
	Appeal from the Order entered August 4, 2009 In the Court of Common Pleas of Pike County Criminal No. 294-2009; CP-52-CR-0000294-2009
Before: BENDER, OTT and KELLY, JJ.
Opinion by: KELLY, J.
Appellant, Jeanette Garcia, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered in the Pike County Court of Common Pleas following her guilty plea before the magisterial district court. This case presents a novel issue: what relief is available to a defendant who seeks to withdraw a guilty plea made in the magisterial district court after the relevant ten-day period of Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 550(D) has expired. We hold that a defendant may file an appeal with the court of common pleas within thirty days after the case is transferred there from the magisterial district court. If that appeal is denied, the defendant will have thirty days thereafter to appeal to the Superior Court. We remand the instant matter for Appellant to file an appeal nunc pro tunc with the Court of Common Pleas. We also deny the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

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