In a collateral attack proceeding, the Commonwealth agreed with the defendant that he should be resentenced based on Alleyne. At the hearing, the lower court stated that the defendant’s “original sentence is hereby vacated” and then imposed a new sentence. On appeal, the defendant claimed that counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the imposition of a new sentence without the court first issuing a stand-alone order vacating the original sentence. The Pennsylvania Superior Court disagreed and held that the lower court proceeded properly. And the Court ruled that the lower court had the authority to sentence the defendant on counts that the court had initially imposed no further penalty on.
