Com. v. Zillhart, D., Com. v. Zillhart, D. No. 1905 MDA 2016

David Zillhart pled guilty (Jan 20, 2015) to multiple sexual offenses involving two granddaughters spanning 1999–2012; sentence negotiated at 10–40 years after SVP finding.
He did not move to withdraw the plea, file post-sentence motions, or appeal directly after sentencing.
Timely PCRA petition filed pro se (Jan 28, 2016) alleging ineffective assistance of plea counsel; counsel was appointed and amended the petition.
At the October 25, 2016 PCRA hearing Zillhart raised claims that plea counsel failed to investigate an alibi and failed to file a suppression motion to challenge his statement.
The PCRA court denied relief, crediting plea counsel’s testimony that Zillhart admitted guilt, never raised a full alibi, and that an alibi or suppression motion was unlikely to change outcomes; Zillhart’s guilty-plea colloquy was found knowing and voluntary.

Issue	Appellant's Argument	Commonwealth/Trial Court Argument	Held
Whether plea counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present an alibi	Zillhart: counsel did not investigate alibi periods (1999–2002 and 2009–2011), so plea was uninformed and involuntary	Counsel: Zillhart admitted guilt, never asserted a full alibi; counsel had no reasonable basis to expect alibi would succeed or improve plea	Denied — appellant failed Strickland/Pierce prongs; court credited counsel and found no prejudice to plea decision
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to file a suppression motion challenging Zillhart’s statement	Zillhart: counsel’s failure to move to suppress coerced an unlawful guilty plea; would have gone to trial but for counsel’s omission	Commonwealth/Court: claim was undeveloped, lacked specificity or legal basis; plea colloquy and record show voluntariness	Denied — claim waived/undeveloped; plea colloquy established knowing, voluntary plea; no prejudice shown

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-pronged ineffective assistance test)
Rathfon v. Commonwealth, 899 A.2d 365 (Pa. Super. 2006) (right to effective counsel during plea process)
Hickman v. Commonwealth, 799 A.2d 136 (Pa. Super. 2002) (ineffective-assistance relief only if plea was involuntary due to counsel)
Pierce v. Commonwealth, 786 A.2d 203 (Pa. 2001) (Strickland framework adopted; three-prong test)
Carter v. Commonwealth, 21 A.3d 680 (Pa. Super. 2011) (standard of review for PCRA denials)
Bennett v. Commonwealth, 57 A.3d 1185 (Pa. 2012) (presumption counsel effective; burden on appellant)
McCauley v. Commonwealth, 797 A.2d 920 (Pa. Super. 2001) (guilty plea voluntariness tested by colloquy factors)
Muhammad v. Commonwealth, 794 A.2d 378 (Pa. Super. 2002) (statements during plea colloquy bind defendant)