Commonwealth v. Glacken, 32 A.3d 750

Glacken pled guilty May 11, 2009 to simple assault, harassment, and bad checks; while out on bail, charged with a new simple assault and pled guilty.
Trial court sentenced on Dec 1, 2009 to aggregate 24–48 months’ incarceration and 72 months’ probation across four convictions.
Glacken timely appealed; the appellate court affirmed in an unpublished memorandum on Sept 13, 2010.
Glacken filed a PCRA petition Oct 5, 2010; counsel appointed Oct 18, 2010; no amended petition was filed.
PCRA hearing Dec 20, 2010 had no live testimony; counsel stated no meritorious issues but did not file a Turner/Finley no-merit letter; the court denied relief on Dec 29, 2010.
On appeal, the court quashed because Glacken proceeded pro se while represented by counsel; it noted potential procedures under Rule 904 for future petitions and Turner/Finley.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Glacken’s pro se brief is reviewable while represented by counsel	Glacken	Commonwealth	Quashed for lack of counseled brief

Commonwealth v. Nischan, 928 A.2d 349 (Pa. Super. 2007) (pro se filings by counselled appellant are not reviewed)
Commonwealth v. Ellis, 534 Pa. 176, 626 A.2d 1137 (Pa. 1993) (pro se filings while represented barred)
Commonwealth v. Grazier, 552 Pa. 9, 713 A.2d 81 (Pa. 1998) (waiver of counsel at PCRA/appellate stages requires knowing, intelligent waiver)
Commonwealth v. Jette, 23 A.3d 1032 (Pa. 2011) (appellate courts cannot consider counsel’s ineffectiveness while still represented)
Commonwealth v. Turner, 518 Pa. 491, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988) (no-merit letter and withdrawal procedures)
Commonwealth v. Finley, 379 Pa. Super. 390, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988) (Turner/FInley no-merit letter procedure)