Summary
In Commonwealth v. Black, 433 Pa. 150, 249 A.2d 561 (1969), we held that the finally litigated provision of Section 4 of the PCHA precludes relitigation of an issue which had been decided on the merits in a previous, counseled petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Hearing Act, Act of January 25, 1966, P. L. (1965) 1580, §§ 1 et seq., 19 P. S. § 1180-1 et seq. (Supp.
Summary of this case from Commonwealth v. BeechamOpinion
Submitted November 21, 1968.
January 15, 1969.
Criminal Law — Practice — Post-conviction relief — Contention raised in prior post-conviction proceeding in which petitioner was represented — Waiver of claims not raised in prior proceeding — Post Conviction Hearing Act.
1. Where it appeared that in his first post-conviction proceeding, in which he was represented by counsel, petitioner contended, inter alia, that his confession was unlawfully induced, that after a full hearing the petition was dismissed, and that petitioner did not appeal from this determination, it was Held that, by the terms of § 4(a) (1) of the Post Conviction Hearing Act, petitioner's allegations about the voluntariness of his guilty plea had been "finally litigated".
2. It was Held that, because petitioner had had a hearing at which he was represented by counsel, his claims presented in the second petition for collateral relief about effective assistance of counsel, self-incrimination and insufficient evidence of guilt to accept his guilty plea had all been waived by his failure to raise them at the first hearing; since petitioner did not produce any evidence of extraordinary circumstances which would justify this failure, it was to be assumed that his failure to raise the issues was knowing and understanding.
Mr. Justice COHEN took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
Before BELL, C. J., JONES, EAGEN, O'BRIEN and ROBERTS, JJ.
Appeal, No. 352, Jan. T., 1968, from order of Court of Oyer and Terminer of Philadelphia County, Feb. T., 1962, No. 281, in case of Commonwealth v. Lloyd Black. Order affirmed.
Petition for post-conviction relief. Before SMITH, JR., J.
Petition denied. Defendant appealed.
Lloyd Black, appellant, in propria persona.
James D. Crawford, Assistant District Attorney, Richard A. Sprague, First Assistant District Attorney, and Arlen Specter, District Attorney, for Commonwealth, appellee.
This is an appeal from the dismissal without hearing of appellant's second petition for collateral relief. On this petition he raises four claims: (1) denial of effective assistance of counsel at trial; (2) his guilty plea was not voluntarily and knowingly entered; (3) his privilege against self-incrimination was violated; (4) there was insufficient evidence of guilt for the court to properly accept his guilty plea. However, we need not reach the merits of any of these claims because of appellant's prior collateral attack proceeding.
On September 20, 1967 appellant filed his first post-conviction petition. Counsel was appointed for him and he was granted a full hearing on his two contentions: (1) he had not been advised of his right to appeal; (2) his confession was unlawfully induced. The hearing judge denied the petition after finding no merit in the petitioner's claims. Although there was an opportunity for appeal, none was taken from this determination; rather this second petition was filed. Because of these events we conclude that by the terms of section 4(a)(1) of the Post Conviction Hearing Act, appellant's allegations about the involuntariness of his guilty plea have been "finally litigated." Further, because appellant had a hearing at which he was represented by counsel, we hold that his claims about effective assistance of counsel, self-incrimination and insufficient evidence of guilt to accept his guilty plea all have been waived by his failure to raise them at the first hearing. Since appellant does not produce any evidence of extraordinary circumstances which would justify this failure, we must assume that his failure to raise was knowing and understanding. Act of January 25, 1966, P. L. (1965) 1580, 19 P. S. § 1180-4(b); Commonwealth v. Satchell, 430 Pa. 443, 243 A.2d 381 (1968); Commonwealth ex rel. Linde v. Maroney, 432 Pa. 324, 248 A.2d 235 (1968).
Therefore, we affirm the dismissal of appellant's second petition by the hearing judge as a correct implementation of the terms of section 4 of the Post Conviction Hearing Act.
Mr. Justice COHEN took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.