Commonwealth v. Blakeney, 108 A.3d 739

Background

Herbert Blakeney (aka Shabazz Muhammad) was sentenced to death for the February 2, 2000 murder of a baby during a residence incident; direct appeal affirmed and now PCRA petition denied without a hearing.
Appellant was initially confined, evaluated at Mayview State Hospital (MSH), and deemed competent to stand trial; diagnoses included adjustment disorder, alcohol dependency, and personality disorder.
Appellant waived counsel and proceeded pro se at trial after a lengthy colloquy; standby counsel remained appointed for consultation only.
During trial, Appellant pursued an innocence defense and sought to introduce forensic and DNA evidence; DNA testing showed material from someone other than Appellant in the stairwell.
The PCRA court dismissed the amended petition without a hearing, adopting findings that there were no genuine issues of material fact entitling relief; this Court applies de novo review to legal conclusions.
Appellant raises numerous claims on collateral review, including competency, waiver adequacy, standby counsel, Batson, funding for experts, and record reconstruction; many claims are waived, previously litigated, or meritless, leading to affirmance of the PCRA court.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Competency claims on collateral review	Appellant argues pre-trial incompetency and post-waiver deterioration.	Court found competency based on MSH report and trial conduct; no substantial post-waiver change necessitating hearing.	No material fact requiring an evidentiary hearing; competency claims not entitling relief.
Adequacy of waiver colloquy and cancellation of waiver	Waiver colloquy insufficient given mental health history.	Colloquy was probing and sufficient; waiver knowing, intelligent, voluntary.	Waiver deemed knowing, intelligent, and voluntary; no hearing required.
Standby counsel and hybrid representation	Standby counsel interfered; defendant sought co-counsel due to alleged incompetence.	No right to co-counsel; standby counsel limited role; defendant chose pro se representation.	No cognizable Sixth Amendment claim; standby/co-counsel arrangement valid.
Batson claim (discrimination in jury selection)	Commonwealth used peremptory strikes discriminatorily; includes arguments on race and gender.	No contemporaneous Batson objection; collateral standard requires actual discrimination proof; claims meritless on record.	Batson claim waived or, alternatively, insufficient proof of purposeful discrimination; no relief.
Funding for mental health expert and Brady issues	Denial of funding for mental health expert; alleged Brady violations regarding undisclosed reports.	Appellant did not show that denial affected guilt/penalty; no Brady breach shown; claims inadequately developed.	Derivative claims lacking merit; no relief.

Key Cases Cited

Commonwealth v. Blakeney, 946 A.2d 645 (Pa. 2008) (direct appeal upheld trial-judge colloquy and denial of certain funds)
Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (U.S. 1975) (right to self-representation; consequences of pro se defense)
Commonwealth v. Brown, 872 A.2d 1139 (Pa. 2005) (non-waiver of competency to stand trial; basis for Brown exception)
Commonwealth v. Spotz, 47 A.3d 63 (Pa. 2012) (limits of waiver and appellate counsel effectiveness in capital cases)
Commonwealth v. Fletcher, 896 A.2d 508 (Pa. 2006) (waiver of counsel and appellate claims; self-representation consequences)
Commonwealth v. Puksar, 951 A.2d 267 (Pa. 2008) (competency to waive mitigation and waiver colloquy standards)
Commonwealth v. Rega, 933 A.2d 997 (Pa. 2007) (waiver of mitigating evidence; colloquy sufficiency)
Commonwealth v. Uderra, 862 A.2d 74 (Pa. 2004) (Batson preservation and collateral standards)
Commonwealth v. Sepulveda, 55 A.3d 1108 (Pa. 2012) (record incompleteness and need for reviewing claims)
Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164 (U.S. 2008) (noting limits on self-representation for mentally ill defendants)
Commonwealth v. Starr, 664 A.2d 1326 (Pa. 1995) (probing colloquy standard for waiver of counsel)
Brown v. Santiago, 855 A.2d 682 (Pa. 2004) (competency-related waivers and direct appeal)