PA Superior Court: Trial Court Cannot Stack Three Maximum Sentences for Technical Probation Violations at a Single Hearing Under Act 44

Mar 23

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Goodwin, 2026 PA Super 54 (Pa. Super. March 19, 2026), holding that a trial court erred in imposing a one-to-two-year term of imprisonment for three technical probation violations that were all presented at the same hearing. Although the Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s finding that the defendant had committed flagrant technical violations, it vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing consistent with the graduated sentencing scheme in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9771(c)(2). This case is one of the first to address the sentencing limits imposed by Act 44, Pennsylvania’s 2024 probation reform law, in the context of multiple technical violations addressed at a single hearing.

The Facts of Goodwin

In August 2022, the defendant was charged with multiple counts of burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property in Monroe County, PA. The charges arose from a series of burglaries at auto shops. At the time of his arrest, he was already on bail for crimes committed in 2021. He was sentenced in the earlier case to one month to one year of incarceration followed by two years of probation. He was paroled in October 2022.

In August 2023, the defendant pleaded guilty in the Monroe County case to burglary, theft by unlawful taking, and criminal mischief. In November 2023, he was sentenced to five years of restrictive probation, a consecutive two-year period of probation, and a fine. The restrictive condition of his five-year probation was the successful completion of the two-week Outmate Program at the Monroe County Correctional Facility when directed by the Monroe County Probation Office.

After sentencing, the defendant met with his probation officer and was provided with the rules of probation. His probation was subsequently transferred to Allegheny County. However, the defendant then left Allegheny County and traveled to North Carolina without seeking or receiving permission from the Commonwealth and without advising his probation officer of the move. His probation officer did not learn of this until three weeks later, when the defendant’s mother revealed his location.

Rather than immediately filing a violation petition, the probation officer attempted to transfer the defendant’s case to North Carolina. North Carolina declined to accept the transfer because the defendant’s mother, whose residence was the proposed home plan, said the defendant could not reside with her. The probation officer then directed the defendant to return to Pennsylvania to work out a solution, but the defendant did not return voluntarily.

In April 2024, the Commonwealth filed a violation of probation petition alleging four violations: failure to report to the Probation Department, failure to comply with criminal laws (based on a simple assault charge in Allegheny County), leaving the Commonwealth without permission and failing to return, and failure to complete the Outmate Program.

The defendant failed to appear for his violation hearing, and the court issued a bench warrant. He was eventually arrested in North Carolina, initially declined extradition, but then reversed course and waived extradition on June 11, 2024, the same day the Act 44 probation reform amendments became effective. At the violation hearing, the Commonwealth withdrew the violation based on the new arrest, and the defendant made a voluntary, knowing, and counseled admission to the three remaining technical violations. The court revoked probation and sentenced the defendant to one to two years of incarceration in a state correctional facility.

The Superior Court's Analysis

The Superior Court addressed three issues on appeal. First, it considered whether the evidence was sufficient to support the revocation of probation. Second and third, it addressed whether the trial court had the statutory authority to impose total confinement and whether the sentence was illegal under the graduated sentencing provisions of Act 44.

Revocation Was Supported by the Evidence

The Superior Court affirmed the trial court's finding that the defendant committed flagrant technical violations. The VOP court specifically found the defendant did not establish that he was homeless to the extent that he could not comply with the terms of his probation. The court noted the defendant’s inconsistent statements about his living situation, his deliberate choice not to return to Pennsylvania to participate in the Outmate Program despite his probation officer’s fair offer to not violate him if he returned, and his initial refusal to waive extradition. The Superior Court concluded that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in finding the violations and determining that the defendant’s conduct was not merely a consequence of homelessness.

Total Confinement Was Authorized

The Superior Court also upheld the trial court’s authority to impose a sentence of total confinement. Applying the newly effective Section 9771(c), the court found the defendant had absconded and could not be safely diverted from total confinement through less restrictive means. The record supported this finding. The defendant left the Commonwealth without permission, failed to contact his probation officer, refused to return when directed, and initially refused extradition.

The Sentence Was Illegal Under Act 44’s Graduated Scheme

However, the Superior Court concluded that the trial court erred as a matter of law in imposing a one-to-two-year prison sentence. This is the critical holding of the case.

Under the amended Section 9771(c)(2), when a court imposes total confinement for technical probation violations, it must follow a graduated sentencing scheme: a maximum of 14 days for a first technical violation, a maximum of 30 days for a second, and for a third or subsequent violation, the court may impose any sentencing alternative available at initial sentencing. The purpose of this scheme is to embody a recidivist philosophy: to give a probationer the opportunity to reform his or her conduct before receiving a more severe sentence for repeated violations.

The trial court treated the defendant’s three technical violations as three separate violations and imposed a sentence for a “third or subsequent” violation. The Superior Court, agreeing with both the defendant and the Commonwealth, held that this was error. Because all three violations were presented to the court at the same first hearing, the recidivist philosophy required that they be treated as a first technical violation. To allow the court to stack three maximum sentences at a single hearing would be absurd and contrary to the legislature's intent in passing Act 44.

The Superior Court noted that the en banc decision in Commonwealth v. Seals, 2026 PA Super 29, had held that a claim that a court failed to follow the limitations in Section 9771(c) raises a challenge to the legality of the sentence. Accordingly, it vacated the defendant’s sentence and remanded for resentencing consistent with Section 9771(c)(2), which limits a first technical violation to a maximum of 14 days.

Interestingly, the court observed in a footnote that this new statutory framework may not achieve its intended goal of reducing incarceration for technical violations. The court suggested the graduated scheme may actually create a disincentive for probation officers to exercise discretion and handle minor violations informally, instead pressuring them to initiate court proceedings for every technical violation in order to build a record for enhanced sentencing later.

The Takeaway

Goodwin is an important decision for anyone on probation in Pennsylvania. The case makes clear that under Act 44, a trial court cannot circumvent the graduated sentencing limits by treating multiple technical violations from a single hearing as separate violations for sentencing purposes. If this is a defendant’s first violation hearing, the maximum sentence for technical violations is 14 days, regardless of how many individual technical violations are found at that hearing.

This case also reinforces that Act 44 challenges are legality-of-sentence claims that cannot be waived and may be raised at any time. If you or someone you know has received a sentence for technical probation violations that exceeds the Act 44 limits, the sentence may be illegal and subject to challenge on appeal.

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Zak Goldstein https://goldsteinmehta.com