(DOWNLOAD) "Commonwealth v. Mcclellan" by In the Superior Court of Pennsylvania # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Commonwealth v. Mcclellan
- Author : In the Superior Court of Pennsylvania
- Release Date : January 07, 2005
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 67 KB
Description
1 Appellant, Alexandra K. McClellan, asks us to review the order entered in the Clinton County Court of Common Pleas, denying her petition for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA") for failure to raise a cognizable claim. Specifically, Appellant asks us to determine whether her claims of ineffectiveness of counsel are cognizable under the PCRA, where she claims: (1) trial counsel intentionally violated the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, which resulted in the preclusion of expert witness testimony favorable to Appellant; (2) trial counsels strategy to surprise the Commonwealth with the expert witness testimony had no reasonable basis when trial counsel knew or had reason to believe the trial court would preclude the testimony as a sanction for the late disclosure; and (3) Appellant was prejudiced by the preclusion of the testimony, which would have demonstrated that she could not have been at the scene of the crime at the time the victims injuries occurred. We hold Appellants claims are cognizable under the PCRA. Specifically, we hold trial counsels failure to provide, in a timely manner, the identity and opinion of an expert witness who tended to prove the defendants alibi cannot be considered reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. Thus, trial counsels failure to comply with the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure is not an effective trial strategy, nor is it an example of effective assistance of counsel under the prevailing norms of practice as reflected by the American Bar Association. Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Appellants PCRA petition and remand for a new trial.