Com. v. Moore, W., 1738 WDA 2015

William Moore was charged in 2008 with multiple sexual offenses against a minor; in 2010 he entered a nolo contendere plea to unlawful contact, statutory sexual assault, and aggravated indecent assault and was sentenced to 3½ to 7 years’ imprisonment plus five years’ probation.
No post-sentence motions or direct appeal were filed; Moore later filed a pro se PCRA petition that was initially dismissed as untimely but the Superior Court vacated that dismissal and permitted a timely PCRA filing.
Counsel was appointed for the PCRA proceeding, then filed a Turner/Finley no‑merit letter and sought permission to withdraw; Moore filed a pro se response that raised only an objection about counsel’s apology for a misstatement.
Moore’s PCRA claims alleged ineffective assistance of plea counsel: (1) counsel failed to explain that because Moore pled nolo contendere (not guilty) he would not be released unless he admitted guilt, and (2) counsel promised Moore he would be released at his minimum sentence if he pled nolo contendere.
The PCRA court held an evidentiary hearing, credited plea counsel’s testimony denying any promise of parole at minimum, found no evidence that failure to admit guilt caused denial of parole, and denied relief; the Superior Court affirmed and granted counsel leave to withdraw.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether plea counsel was ineffective for promising Moore he would be released at his minimum if he pled nolo contendere	Moore: counsel promised parole at minimum if he pled nolo contendere	Commonwealth/PCRA court: plea counsel denied making any promise; Moore offered no credible evidence	Court held claim meritless; credited counsel’s testimony and found no ineffectiveness
Whether plea counsel was ineffective for failing to explain that pled nolo contendere would prevent parole absent admission of guilt	Moore: he was not paroled because he failed to admit guilt after nolo contendere plea	Commonwealth/PCRA court: no evidence Parole Board denied release solely due to lack of admission; DOC records show Moore verbalized responsibility	Court held claim meritless for lack of prejudice and evidence linking admission to parole denial

Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988) (procedural requirements for counsel withdrawal in collateral appeals)
Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988) (no‑merit procedure companion to Turner)
Commonwealth v. Daniels, 947 A.2d 795 (Pa. Super. 2008) (requirements for PCRA counsel seeking to withdraw)
Commonwealth v. Dennis, 17 A.3d 297 (Pa. 2011) (deference to PCRA court credibility findings)
Commonwealth v. Stewart, 84 A.3d 701 (Pa. Super. 2013) (ineffective assistance three‑part test)
Commonwealth v. Montalvo, 114 A.3d 401 (Pa. 2015) (presumption counsel effective)
Commonwealth v. V.G., 9 A.3d 222 (Pa. Super. 2010) (treatment of nolo contendere pleas as functionally guilty for sentencing)
Commonwealth v. Hickman, 799 A.2d 136 (Pa. Super. 2002) (ineffective assistance affecting plea voluntariness)