Com. v. Frazier, R., 1115 MDA 2017

Appellant Rudy Frazier was charged with indirect criminal contempt for violating a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order by allegedly calling the protected party on May 25, 2017 and saying, “Get ready. I’m taking your fat ass to court.”
Victim testified she received a restricted-number call at 7:34 a.m., recognized Frazier’s voice, and that the PFA prohibited phone contact; she immediately contacted police and later showed an officer her phone with the restricted call entry.
Officer Mazzeo corroborated the victim’s visit to the police department and the restricted-call record; the trial court took judicial notice of the underlying PFA order.
Frazier testified he did not make the call and denied recent contact with the victim.
The trial court found Frazier guilty of indirect criminal contempt and sentenced him on June 15, 2017; appointed counsel filed a motion to withdraw under Anders/McClendon and an accompanying brief asserting the appeal is frivolous.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether evidence was sufficient to prove indirect criminal contempt for violating a PFA	Commonwealth: victim’s testimony, phone record, judicial notice of PFA, and corroboration established volitional, wrongful violation	Frazier: denied making the call; argued Commonwealth failed to prove he committed the act	Court affirmed: evidence was sufficient; appeal frivolous

Commonwealth v. Baker, 766 A.2d 328 (Pa. 2001) (sets four-element test for indirect criminal contempt)
McClendon v. Commonwealth, 434 A.2d 1185 (Pa. 1981) (Anders-style procedures for appointed counsel seeking to withdraw)
Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967) (procedural protections when appointed counsel seeks to withdraw for frivolous appeal)
Commonwealth v. Santiago, 978 A.2d 349 (Pa. 2009) (outlines required content of counsel’s brief and procedural steps for Anders withdrawals)