by peter e. bortner
A Huntingdon man has lost another appeal of his Schuylkill County conviction for attempted first-degree murder and related crimes stemming from a March 2000 shooting.
In a nine-page opinion filed Wednesday in Pottsville, a three-judge state Superior Court panel dismissed a petition by Howard O. Powell, 36, who is serving a state prison term for trying to kill a gas station attendant.
"He has waived all of his appellate claims," Judge David N. Wecht wrote in the panel's opinion.
As a result, Powell will continue to serve 14 to 28 years in a state correctional institution, the sentence imposed on him by county Judge Jacqueline L. Russell on May 23, 2001. Howard is serving his sentence at State Correctional Institution/Smithfield in Huntingdon County.
A Schuylkill County jury found Powell guilty on March 15, 2001, of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of simple assault and two each of aggravated assault, robbery and conspiracy and not guilty of theft.
State police at Schuylkill Haven charged Powell with shooting the gas station attendant on March 7, 2000.
Wecht wrote in the opinion that Powell did not file with the court a statement of the alleged errors that would justify granting him a new trial, instead sending a copy to the judge. That is not sufficient under the rules of court, Wecht wrote.
"We conclude that Powell has waived all of his issues on appeal," Wecht wrote.
Judge Mary Jane Bowes and Senior Judge William H. Platt, the other panel members, agreed with Wecht's opinion.