Jeffrey Hill appeals the order of Specially Presiding Senior Judge G. Thomas Gates dismissing his petition for Post Conviction Relief without a hearing or the appointment of counsel. At this point we would ordinarily describe the procedural history of Hill’s case, but the maze of Hill’s voluminous pro se filings makes this undertaking nearly impossible. Since Hill offers us no statement of the facts or procedural history of his case, we are guided by Judge Gates’ lengthy description in the opinion accompanying the above order. See appellee’s brief, appendix 1.
This case stems from a fight in which Hill responded to non-deadly force by striking his assailant with either a razor or car keys. In 1986 Hill was charged with aggravated and simple assault, plus various other related charges. Throughout the judicial process Hill went through numerous counsel, and it appears that he has filed malpractice suits against all of them. (Hill has also sued various district attorneys, court-appointed physicians, judges, and his fellow combatant in the underlying assault charge.) Hill was convicted of aggravated assault, which we affirmed on appeal.
Commonwealth v. Hill,
We are mindful that
pro se
appellants should be given wide latitude in conforming their briefs to the Rules of Appellate Procedure. Hill’s handwritten appellate brief, however, contains little substantive argument; it is mostly pure invective. Hill rants over “the crooked Lycoming County kangaroo court,” where “PATHOLOGICAL LIAR OSOKOW, THE PERJURER” (referring to District Attorney Kenneth Osokow) and “SENILE, BIGOTTED, INCOMPETENT, CORRUPT GATES THE HYPOCRITICAL ASSHOLE” (referring to Judge Gates) “railroaded” and “screwed” him with “deliberate and malicious perjuries.”
See
appellant’s brief, section mysteriously titled “Judicial Notice” (capitalization in
Hill is evidently a tad upset over his encounter with the judicial process. We might be willing to take Hill’s anger and invective in stride, if only he would address some legal issues in his brief. Unfortunately, in venting his spleen, Hill has covered his substantive arguments with bile. We sense that Hill -wishes to raise some issue about pursuing allocatur after losing his Superior Court appeal, and has another argument about after-discovered exculpatory evidence. But we cannot distill enough lucid discourse out of Hill’s raging tirade to understand his allegations of error.
Hill’s brief sets a new standard for scandalous and impertinent material. Setting aside the insults and abuse, Hill’s brief is still so defective as to preclude any kind of appellate review. If our Supreme Court had granted allocatur, on what basis could they have given Hill relief? Why should the affidavit which Hill describes as after-discovered exculpatory evidence entitle him to a new trial? We cannot search a record which is not before us for possible abuses of discretion; it is incumbent upon Hill to bring these matters to our attention, explain them and document them. Even with the most generous allowances for
pro se
drafting, we should not hesitate to simply quash his appeal.
See Commonwealth v. Jones,
But one event in Hill’s tortured journey through our justice system gives us pause. It appears that in an earlier, unrelat
Also, we sense that Hill’s anger at the judicial system might be due in part to a mistaken presumption that this Court is familiar with the details of his case, but callously ignores what he perceives as injustice. Alas, we have no such knowledge. Hill, as appellant, is responsible for providing us with a statement of his case, an intelligible argument, and a record of the previous proceedings sufficient to support his argument. See Rules of Appellate Procedure 2111 (governing appellate briefs generally), 2117 (statement of the case), and 2151 (by leave of court appellant need not reproduce the entire record, but must provide us “with such copies of the record, or relevant parts thereof, as the court may require”). Because Hill has provided us with none of these necessities, we have only the opinion of Judge Gates and the brief of District Attorney Osokow to inform us — parties which Hill alleges to be corrupt and biased against him. To address Hill’s appeal on its merits, we must understand his side of the story. We invite Hill to reason with us, rather than bludgeon us with epithets.
We therefore use the discretion granted us under Rule 2101 to craft a magnanimous and judicious response to Hill’s rancorous appeal. We strike Hill’s appellate brief for its incredibly gross failure to conform to the Rules of Appellate Procedure, and we give Hill thirty days to file a new, conforming brief. We caution Hill to observe the Rules of Appellate Procedure,
Brief stricken, and appellant ordered to file a conforming brief within thirty days, or face quashal. Jurisdiction retained by panel.
POPOVICH, J., concurs in the result.
Notes
. We presume it is unrelated to the present case because Hill gives us no explanation of either case.