Robert Haviland knew what he was doing when he admitted committing four crimes arising from two separate incidents in January 2011 in Pottsville, a three-judge state Superior Court panel has ruled.
In an eight-page opinion filed July 16 in Pottsville, the panel refused to allow Haviland, 56, of Pottsville, to withdraw his guilty pleas in the two cases.
“We conclude that (county Judge John E. Domalakes) properly denied Haviland’s petition,” Senior Judge John L. Musmanno wrote in the panel’s opinion.
As a result, Haviland will remain in a state correctional institution, where he is serving 45 months to 10 1/2 years for selling drugs in one case and driving under the influence of drugs in a second.
Haviland pleaded guilty on Feb. 2, 2012, to delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in one case and driving under the influence in a second. Prosecutors withdrew a charge of careless driving in that second case.
On March 26, 2012, Domalakes sentenced Haviland, who did not appear for his sentencing hearing, to serve 33 to 66 months in prison in the first case and one to five years in prison in the second. Citing Haviland’s extensive prior criminal record, Domalakes made the sentences consecutive to each other.
Haviland is serving his prison time at SCI/Houtzdale in Clearfield County.
Pottsville police had charged Haviland with DUI on Jan. 13, 2011, and with selling drugs on Jan. 28, 2011.
In his appeal, Haviland alleged he was mentally incapable of knowingly entering his guilty plea, that his medical records would have supported his claim and that his lawyer was ineffective by not being able to find his treating physician.
Musmanno wrote that Domalakes’ determination that Haviland’s medical records did not support his claim was correct. Those records show Haviland was mentally capable of entering such a plea, according to Musmanno.
“The reports from Haviland’s admissions indicated that his thought process was clear and coherent, he was oriented, awake, alert, non-delusional and that his short and long term memories were intact,” Musmanno wrote.
Therefore, there is no reason to allow Haviland to withdraw his plea, Musmanno wrote.
President Judge John T. Bender and Judge Jack A. Panella, the other panel members, joined in Musmanno’s opinion.
The state Supreme Court, in a separate one-sentence order, declined to allow Haviland to file an appeal with it.
Another Superior Court panel had previously upheld Haviland’s plea and sentence in 2012.