For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 41
ANATOMY OF A PCRA
1
Stuart Wilder
I
n March, I had the honor of winning a PostConviction Hearing Act ("PCRA") case in
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf
of a court appointed client, MD, establishing
that counsel's failure to secure interpreters for
defendants constitutes ineffective assistance of
counsel per se.2 The path to that victory was not
straight, nor on my part, error-free. We all learn
from our mistakes, and now you can learn from
mine.
Post-conviction practice may be the most
avoided specialty in criminal law. Almost all the
clients are jailed and lack financial resources and
are generally represented by appointed counsel.
Almost all initial post-conviction petitions are on
forms provided by courts that inmates, or their
imprisoned friends with some talent for legal
writing, complete. Every PCRA matter, with or
without merit, is time consuming and requires
review of the record and facts or defenses that
did not get into the record. MD's case was the
kind that justifies the work on all the others. If I
had not done the earlier cases, I could not have
helped MD.
In 2011, I had been a member of the Bucks
County criminal conflict panel for less than a
year. The court added me to the panel to aid
another member who at the time received most
of the post-conviction appointments-PCRAs
and orphaned direct appeals. After a few
months, that member could no longer serve,
and I received about half of his files, the rest
distributed among other panel members. PCRAs,
once filed, have loose and easily extended time
limits, and judges kindly gave me the time I
requested to review the new files.
Vol. 5, Issue 2 l For The Defense
41
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2
Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 1
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 2
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 4
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 5
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 6
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 7
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 8
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 9
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 10
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 11
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 12
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 13
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 14
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 15
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 16
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 17
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 18
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 19
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 20
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 21
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 22
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 23
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 24
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 25
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 26
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 27
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 28
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 29
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 30
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 31
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 32
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 33
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 34
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 35
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 36
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 37
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 38
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 39
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 40
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 41
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 42
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 43
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 44
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 45
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 46
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 47
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 48
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 49
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 50
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 51
For the Defense - Vol. 5, Issue 2 - 52
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol9_issue1_2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol8_issue4_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol8_issue3_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol8_issue2_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol8_issue1_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol7_issue4_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol7_issue3_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol7_issue2_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol7_issue1_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol6_issue4_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol6_issue3_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol6_issue2_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol6_issue1_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol5_issue4_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol5_issue3_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol5_issue2_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol5_issue1_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol4_issue4_2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol4_issue3_2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol4_issue2_2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol4_issue1_2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol3_issue4_2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol3_issue3_2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol3_issue2_2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol3_issue1_2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pacdl/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol2_issue4_2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pacdl/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol2_issue3_2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pacdl/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol2_issue2_2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pacdl/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol2_issue1_2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol1_issue4_2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol1_issue3_2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol1_issue2_2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/PACDL/FORTHEDEFENSE_vol1_issue1_2016
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com