COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. THOMAS RAY ANDERSON

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. THOMAS RAY ANDERSON No. 506 WDA 2009 2010 PA Super 64 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 4/21/2010
	Appeal from the PCRA Order February 17, 2009 In the Court of Common Pleas of Clarion County Criminal, No. CP-16-CR-0000278-2005
Before: MUSMANNO, GANTMAN, AND COLVILLE, JJ.
Opinion by: GANTMAN, J.
Appellant, Thomas Ray Anderson, appeals from the order entered after remand in the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas, which denied after remand his petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). We hold Appellant failed to establish the Commonwealth breached the plea agreement. We also hold Pa.R.Crim.P. 600(D)(1)-(2) does not apply in the context of a remand for a PCRA evidentiary hearing. Accordingly, we affirm.

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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. ZEBULA MELVIN BROWN

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. ZEBULA MELVIN BROWN No. 254 MDA 2009 2009 PA Super 199 Atlantic: n/a Filed: 10/14/2009
	Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence of October 17, 2008, in the Court of Common Pleas of Union County, Criminal Division at No. CP-60-CR-0000078-2008
Before: ORIE MELVIN, DONOHUE and COLVILLE, JJ.
Opinion by: COLVILLE, J.
Zebula Brown (“Petitioner”) seeks permission to appeal the discretionary aspects of his sentence. We deny the petition for allowance of appeal

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Superior Court - COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. STEPHEN J. PARSONS

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. STEPHEN J. PARSONS No. 615 MDA 2006 2009 PA Super 66 Atlantic: 969 A.2d 1259 Filed: 4/9/2009
	Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence April 4, 2006 In the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County Criminal, No. CP 06 CR 3312 - 2004
Before: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J., STEVENS, ORIE MELVIN, BENDER, BOWES, GANTMAN, PANELLA, DONOHUE, AND ALLEN, JJ.
Opinion by: GANTMAN, J.
Dissenting Opinion by: BENDER, J.
Appellant, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, asks us to determine whether the trial court erred when it sentenced Appellee, Stephen A. Parsons, to three (3) months of electronic monitoring under the supervision of the Berks County Probation Office, followed by a five-year term of probation, in violation of the parties’ plea agreement that called for a greater sentence. After careful review of the certified record as well as the relevant, settled law pertaining to plea agreements, we hold the court erred when it allowed Appellee to lodge an untimely challenge to the sentencing term of the plea agreement, and when the court set aside the sentencing term, without the Commonwealth’s consent, despite the clarity of the plea agreement both as to the charges and the specific sentence, which the court had previously accepted. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of sentence and remand for imposition of the sentence contained in the parties’ plea bargain.

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Superior Court - COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. BLAKE TENNISON

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. BLAKE TENNISON No. 1529 ED 2005 2009 PA Super 51 Atlantic: 969 A.2d 572 Filed: 3/25/2009
	Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence May 10, 2005 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal at No(s): 0401-0083
Before: STEVENS, McCAFFERY, and KELLY, JJ.
Opinion by: STEVENS, J.
This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County after the Court denied Appellant’s pre-sentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea. At issue is whether a defendant provides a “fair and just reason” to withdraw his plea prior to sentencing whenever he asserts his innocence. We hold such an assertion does not divest a judge of discretion to weigh its sincerity according to the totality of circumstances known to the judge, and to deny the motion where, as here, the motion is founded not upon a sincere assertion, but upon a desire to delay sentencing in one case in order to obtain a favorable sentence in another.

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