Com. v. Gill, W.
3456 EDA 2016
| Pa. Super. Ct. | Dec 12, 2017Background
- Willie C. Gill, Jr. pleaded guilty in 2005–2006 to multiple access-device and vehicle offenses and was ordered to pay restitution and serve county probation/parole terms.
- Over time Gill accumulated nine prior probation/parole violations and repeatedly failed to make any restitution payments required since sentencing.
- In June 2016 Gill was arrested after his ex-girlfriend reported being assaulted; police photographed her injuries and Gill was taken into custody.
- A June 2016 urinalysis administered by his parole officer tested positive for marijuana.
- At a contested Gagnon II revocation hearing on October 11, 2016, the court found by a preponderance of the evidence that Gill had been arrested on the assault report, tested positive for marijuana, and willfully failed to pay restitution.
- The court revoked Gill’s parole and recommitted him to serve the remainder of his original sentences (five months, nineteen days), running consecutively; Gill appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Appellant's Argument | Commonwealth/Trial Court's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether arrest alone (without conviction) can support parole revocation | Gill: New arrest didn’t result in conviction, so insufficient to revoke parole | Court: Arrest and associated facts (victim complaint, photos, officer testimony) support a parole violation by preponderance | Revocation upheld — arrest plus evidence sufficed to show violation |
| Whether urinalysis evidence was sufficient to prove drug use | Gill: Evidence insufficient to establish marijuana use | Court: Parole officer administered and testified to a positive urinalysis; admissible and probative | Revocation upheld — positive test proved drug-use violation |
| Whether failure to pay restitution justified revocation absent willful refusal | Gill: Nonpayment was not willful; inability to pay due to incarceration, sporadic employment, child support | Court: Record showed no payments for over a decade despite obligations; nonpayment supported a parole condition violation | Revocation upheld — failure to pay met preponderance standard |
Key Cases Cited
- Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778 (1973) (Due-process framework requiring preliminary (Gagnon I) and full (Gagnon II) revocation hearings)
- Commonwealth v. Allshouse, 969 A.2d 1236 (Pa. Super. 2009) (explaining Gagnon hearing requirements in Pennsylvania)
- Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 632 A.2d 934 (Pa. Super. 1993) (parole revocation only recommits to original sentence; Commonwealth must prove violation by a preponderance)
- Commonwealth v. Kalichak, 943 A.2d 285 (Pa. Super. 2008) (standards for reviewing parole revocation and trial court discretion)