Com. v. Guzman, E., 267 WDA 2016

In December 2009 Guzman shot a victim, causing serious injuries including paralysis; he pled guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault in July 2010.
On August 24, 2010 the court sentenced Guzman to 10 to 20 years for attempted murder; aggravated assault merged for sentencing.
This Court affirmed the judgment on June 1, 2011, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied review on November 1, 2011.
Guzman filed a pro se petition on September 14, 2015 which the trial court treated as a first PCRA petition; counsel was appointed and filed a supplement.
The PCRA court issued a Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 notice and dismissed the petition as untimely on January 6, 2016; Guzman then filed a pro se notice of appeal while still represented by PCRA counsel.
The Superior Court remanded because the record lacked an on-the-record Grazier inquiry to ensure Guzman knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to counsel before proceeding pro se on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the PCRA petition was properly dismissed as untimely	Commonwealth argued petition was untimely and dismissible under the PCRA	Guzman sought relief (styled as correction of illegal sentence) and pursued appeal pro se	Superior Court did not decide timeliness on merits; remanded for counsel-waiver inquiry first
Whether Guzman validly waived PCRA counsel by filing pro se appeal/brief	Commonwealth relied on procedural posture that counsel remained appointed	Guzman’s pro se filings implied he wished to proceed without counsel	Court held waiver unclear because counsel had not been permitted to withdraw; Grazier hearing required
Whether a Grazier hearing is required when an appellant seeks self-representation in a PCRA appeal	Commonwealth cited rules requiring counsel for first PCRA petitions through appellate process	Guzman implicitly sought self-representation by filing pro se notice/brief	Court held Grazier and Robinson require on-the-record waiver inquiry before allowing self-representation
Remedy and next steps	Commonwealth requested dismissal order stand	Guzman sought appellate review; no clear waiver recorded	Court remanded to PCRA court to conduct Grazier hearing within 60 days and proceed accordingly

Commonwealth v. Guzman, 31 A.3d 732 (Pa. Super. 2011) (appeal affirming Guzman’s conviction)
Commonwealth v. Robinson, 970 A.2d 455 (Pa. Super. 2009) (right to counsel for first PCRA petition through appellate process)
Commonwealth v. Grazier, 713 A.2d 81 (Pa. 1998) (requirement that waiver of counsel be knowing, intelligent, and voluntary)