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Commonwealth v. Payne

Sentence vacated and case remanded for previous sentence to be reinstated; original sentence of life on homicide conviction followed by two to four years on robbery conviction was not illegal because there is no requirement that order of sentences be based upon dates charges were brought, dates of convictions, or dates on which criminal conduct occurred.

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OPINION

� 1 In this appeal we must decide whether Appellee’s sentence is illegal under Commonwealth v. Holz, 483 Pa. 405, 397 A.2d 407 (1979), where the sentencing court imposed a life sentence on a homicide conviction followed by a two-to-four year sentence on a robbery plea, although Appellee had been charged with the robbery before he was charged with the homicide. We hold the sentencing court lacked jurisdiction to modify its sentence of life followed by two-to-four years, because that sentence as it stood was not illegal. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order and remand the case to that court with instructions to reinstate Appellee’s prior sentence.

� 2 The relevant facts and procedural history of this appeal are as follows. In 1981, Appellee and some confederates burgled the home of an elderly woman. The woman was murdered during the course of the burglary. In 1983, Appellee and two other men broke into the residence of Robert Bear in York, Pennsylvania. The three men bound Mr. Bear to a chair and took various items from his residence.

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