Com. v. Wood, R., 1929 MDA 2016

On May 12, 2015, Ashley Long alleged Ryheeme Wood struck her while they were driving; she gave a written statement to police and displayed visible lip injuries. Long later recanted at the preliminary hearing and subsequently died in a car accident before trial.
Wood proceeded pro se at trial; the trial court determined at various early proceedings that Wood had forfeited his right to counsel because he missed intake/appointment(s) with the Public Defender and was late to appearances.
At an October 22, 2015 jury trial (Long unavailable to testify), the Commonwealth introduced Long’s preliminary‑hearing testimony and other hearsay evidence; the jury convicted Wood of simple assault but acquitted him of REAP.
The trial court sentenced Wood to 12 to 24 months’ incarceration. Post‑sentence counsel was later appointed and Wood appealed, raising (1) that the court erred in finding he forfeited his right to counsel, and (2) sufficiency/weight claims.
The Superior Court concluded the record did not support a finding of forfeiture (defendant provided reasonable explanations for missing appointments; no inquiry into his financial ability to retain counsel; only five months elapsed between charge and trial; legal issues were complex and the victim’s death heightened the need for counsel).
The Superior Court vacated the judgment of sentence and remanded for further proceedings; it did not reach the sufficiency and weight claims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Wood)	Defendant's Argument (Commonwealth)	Held
Whether Wood forfeited his Sixth Amendment/right to counsel	He did not: he missed PD appointments for reasons (no transportation, victim’s death, custody dispute), was indigent, and did not engage in extreme dilatory conduct	He did: Wood repeatedly missed PD intake appointments, was late to court, rejected counsel and thereby forfeited the right to representation	Court: Trial court erred in finding forfeiture; record insufficient to show "extreme dilatory conduct"; vacated sentence and remanded
Sufficiency and weight of the evidence supporting conviction	Conviction was unsupported/against the weight given victim’s recantation and her unavailability	Evidence (preliminary hearing testimony, written statement, witness testimony) supported conviction	Not decided (court did not reach these claims due to vacatur/remand)

Commonwealth v. Lucarelli, 971 A.2d 1173 (Pa. 2009) (distinguishes waiver from forfeiture; outlines factors supporting forfeiture where defendant had opportunity and means to retain counsel but acted dilatorily)
United States v. Thomas, 357 F.3d 357 (3d Cir. 2004) (forfeiture can result from extremely dilatory or obstructive conduct)
United States v. Goldberg, 67 F.3d 1092 (3d Cir. 1995) (defines waiver vs forfeiture framework adopted by Pennsylvania courts)
Commonwealth v. Travillion, 17 A.3d 1247 (Pa. 2011) (forfeiture where defendant fired retained counsel, refused new counsel, and refused to cooperate with court‑appointed counsel)
Commonwealth v. Kelly, 5 A.3d 370 (Pa. Super. 2010) (forfeiture appropriate where defendant was uncooperative with multiple counsel and repeatedly delayed proceedings)
Commonwealth v. Coleman, 905 A.2d 1003 (Pa. Super. 2006) (forfeiture where defendant repeatedly dismissed/replaced counsel or appeared pro se despite means to retain counsel)
Commonwealth v. Henderson, 938 A.2d 1063 (Pa. Super. 2007) (standard of review for pure legal questions; cited regarding review scope)