J-A21039-22 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : MARC VINCENT : No. 1647 EDA 2020 Appeal from the Order Entered August 17, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0006690-2018 BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., MURRAY, J., and McCAFFERY, J. MEMORANDUM BY McCAFFERY, J.: FILED SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 The Commonwealth appeals from the order entered on August 17, 2020, in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, granting Marc Vincent (Appellee) relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA),1 and allowing him to withdraw his guilty plea. On appeal, the Commonwealth argues the PCRA court erred in allowing Appellee to withdraw his guilty plea where: (1) Appellee did not preserve the claim before the court; (2) the standard guilty plea colloquy provided to Appellee was not defective nor did it violate due process; and (3) plea counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the standard colloquy given to Appellee. For the reasons below, we reverse the order granting PCRA relief. ____________________________________________ 1 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546. J-A21039-22 Briefly, we glean the underlying facts of this case from the PCRA court opinion: On February 26, 2019, [Appellee] pled guilty to rape [and unlawful contact with a minor2] as [felonies] of the first degree for raping his adopted daughter “KV” [(Victim)] beginning in 2015 while she was 14 [years old]. This occurred on numerous occasions and by the time [Victim] was 15 [years old,] she was pregnant and had an abortion at the women’s center in Bucks County[, Pennsylvania]. It was reported and prosecution ensued. During this time, [Appellee] had pending an application for US citizenship. [Appellee] was granted US citizenship on February 9, 2018. [The] granting of his citizenship was prior to his guilty plea but . . . was pending during the time when the illegal sexual conduct was ongoing. On the form for citizenship there [was] a question asking if [Appellee was] engaged in any ongoing criminal activity which [Appellee] denied. PCRA Ct. Op., 10/7/21, at 1 (unpaginated). Appellee’s written guilty plea colloquy included the following provision: Risk Of Deportation (If an Alien) I know that if I am not a United States citizen, it is possible I may be deported if I plead guilty to the crime(s) charged against me. Appellee’s Written Guilty Plea Colloquy, 2/26/19, at 3 (unpaginated) (some capitalization omitted). At the guilty plea hearing, the trial court confirmed Appellee read, understood, and freely signed the written colloquy. See N.T. Guilty Plea, 2/26/19, at 5-6. The court then stated: I do not know your status as a U.S. citizen, because I’m not allowed to ask. But if you are not this will lead to deportation. . . . Id. at 8. ____________________________________________ 2 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3121(a)(1), 6318(a)(1). -2- J-A21039-22 Pursuant to the plea agreement, the court sentenced Appellee to an aggregate term of two and one half to …
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