Com. v. Allen-Jackson, J. ( 2016 )

J-A23026-16
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
JAKEYA SABRINA ALLEN-JACKSON
Appellant No. 1926 WDA 2015
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence entered September 23, 2015
In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
Criminal Division at No: CP-02-SA-0001514-2015
BEFORE: LAZARUS, STABILE, and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.
JUDGMENT ORDER BY STABILE, J.: FILED AUGUST 19, 2016
Appellant, Jakeya Sabrina Allen-Jackson, appeals from the judgment of
sentence the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County entered on
September 23, 2015, following her retail theft conviction. For the reasons
stated below, we dismiss the appeal.
Appellant filed a pro se brief that does not conform to our Rules of
Appellate Procedure. Appellant’s brief is one page in length and merely
provides – in four sentences - her version of the facts underlying the
criminal prosecution. Appellant provides no legal analysis, and does not set
forth any questions for our review. The brief further provides no citations to
the record or to any legal authority. While we are mindful that Appellant is
____________________________________________
*
Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-A23026-16
proceeding pro se, pro se representation does not relieve Appellant of her
duty to properly raise and develop her claims. In this case, even a liberal
construction of Appellant’s brief cannot remedy these inadequacies. Since
the substantial defects in Appellant’s brief preclude us from conducting
meaningful judicial review, we are constrained to dismiss the instant appeal.
See Pa.R.A.P. Rule 2101 (“[I]f the defects are in the brief . . . of the
appellant and are substantial, the appeal . . . may be
dismissed[.]”); Commonwealth v. Sanford, 445 A.2d 149, 151 (Pa.
Super. 1982) (declining to address merits of appeal because the brief was
“so defective as to preclude effective, appellate review”).
Appeal dismissed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 8/19/2016
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