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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered Blair County to appoint an attorney for a former Altoona man who is serving a lengthy prison term related to drug offenses that occurred in 2011.
Derrick Dewight Dawson, 40, was sentenced in 2012 by Blair County Judge Elizabeth Doyle to 33 to 66 years in prison.
The judge explained that despite Dawson's young age of 26 at the time, he was a serial drug offender dating from his teenage years in Philadelphia and extending to multiple arrests as an adult in Blair County.
Doyle imposed his lengthy sentence after he re-offended following a prior, but much shorter, prison term for drug-related offenses.
Dawson presently is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution Pine Grove in Indiana County.
Over a period of six years, he has appealed his case by filing at least four post-conviction petitions.
More recently, he has charged that the judges hearing his appeals and the district attorney have not been impartial in their handling of his case,
He has repeatedly pointed out that the DA and judges in his cases have often served on the steering committee of Operation Our Town, a private group that was founded 20 years ago to address the increasing amount of crime in the community, Operation Our Town over the years had helped fund drug prosecutions.
He also contended his sentence was the result of the imposition of Pennsylvania's mandatory sentencing statute that was found to be unconstitutional.
Doyle has clarified his sentence was not based on mandatory sentences.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has rejected Dawson's arguments, and in January 2024, his latest petition was rejected as untimely by Blair County Judge David B. Consiglio.
Dawson appealed Consiglio's ruling to the Superior Court.
A post-conviction petition must be filed within a year of his case being closed.
However, there are exceptions to the one-year timeliness period, but, in September 2025, the Superior Court rejected his exception (discovery of new evidence), concerning the petition he filed.
He has now taken his case to the Supreme Court, and he has been granted permission to file an Allowance for Appeal petition with the state's highest court.
The Supreme Court last Friday concluded that Blair County Public Defender Julia E. Burke, who has been representing Dawson, "failed to file a petition for Allowance of Appeal on behalf of (Dawson), abandoning her client."
The Supreme Court order stated that Burke "was obligated to represent Petitioner in these proceedings until she is permitted to withdraw by leave of court... the appointment continues through all avenues of appeal."
"Attorney Burke sought permission to withdraw, which the (Blair County) Court of Common Pleas expressly denied via an April 7, 2026, order," according to the Supreme Court order.
The Supreme Court in its order stated, "On remand, the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County is 'DIRECTED' to determine whether to appoint new counsel for (Dawson) or allow (Dawson) to proceed pro se."
The order gives Blair County 90 days to "promptly notify (the Supreme Court)" of its determination.
Blair County President Judge Wade A. Kagarise on Monday indicated that he and the Blair County court are aware of the Supreme Court order.
"I don't want to comment on the order," he responded.
But Kagarise stated the court will schedule a meeting and come up with an answer that will be consistent with the order.
Burke, who was in an all-day court session, could not be reached for comment.