Com. v. Java, T., Com. v. Java, T. No. 1967 EDA 2016

Appellant Thomas Java was convicted after a 2010 bench trial of multiple counts of rape, sexual assault, indecent assault of a child, and corruption of minors based on Victim’s allegations of repeated abuse from ages ~6–15. Sentence: 10–20 years incarceration plus 8 years probation.
Appellant filed a timely pro se PCRA petition in December 2012; counsel was appointed, then allowed to withdraw after a Grazier hearing, and Appellant proceeded pro se.
The PCRA court held hearings, conducted an in camera review of certain files, allowed supplementation, and ultimately denied relief on May 26, 2016.
Appellant appealed and was ordered to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement; he filed a statement but did not show service on the trial judge, so the Commonwealth argued waiver.
The Superior Court declined to find waiver based on timing irregularities but found Appellant waived issues for failure to serve the 1925(b) statement on the judge; alternatively, the Court affirmed on the merits, adopting the PCRA court’s reasoning that Appellant’s ineffective-assistance claims were largely bald, unsupported, or cumulative and thus failed to establish prejudice.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for abandoning counsel’s trial strategy	Java contended counsel changed strategy, failed to investigate medical records, failed to call OB-GYN expert, and failed to call impeachment witnesses	Commonwealth (via PCRA court) argued claims were unpreserved, speculative, unsupported by record, and cumulative; no prejudice shown	Court held claims waived for failure to serve Rule 1925(b); alternatively, denied PCRA relief on merits—claims lacked record support and prejudice

Commonwealth v. Grazier, 713 A.2d 81 (Pa. 1998) (standards for waiver and proceeding pro se)
Commonwealth v. Hooks, 921 A.2d 1199 (Pa. Super. 2007) (procedural steps required before deeming Rule 1925(b) untimely a waiver)
Commonwealth v. Schofield, 888 A.2d 771 (Pa. 2005) (Rule 1925(b) statement must be filed with prothonotary and served on judge or issues waived)
Commonwealth v. Butler, 812 A.2d 631 (Pa. 2002) (failure to comply with Rule 1925(b) results in waiver)