Convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante is taken into custody by Pennsylvania State Police on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in South Coventry Township, where he was apprehended after two weeks on the run. (Pennsylvania State Police photo)
The convicted murderer who escaped from the Chester County Prison late last summer, throwing a suburban Philadelphia community into turmoil in the ensuing manhunt, squandered his right to appeal by fleeing justice, a Pennsylvania court has ruled.
Danilo Cavalcante was being held after receiving a life sentence for murdering his ex-girlfriend in front of her children in April 2021. He escaped Aug. 31, 2023, by shimmying between two walls in the exercise yard to gain access to the prison roof and jumping to the ground.
The day after Cavalcante escaped, his lawyer filed a post-trial motion in Chester County Court that would have extended his window to appeal 10 days beyond the 30 days from sentencing allowed by law. But because Cavalcante was at large, that filing was “legally ineffectual,” Superior Court Judge Timika Lane wrote in a decision Tuesday.
“A defendant who voluntarily escapes from confinement, and deliberately chooses to become a fugitive from justice, may forfeit the right to appellate review,” Lane’s opinion says, citing a 1984 state Supreme Court decision.
In that case, the Supreme Court held that the right to appeal depends on a defendant’s compliance with court rules. “A defendant who deliberately chooses to bypass the orderly procedures afforded to one convicted of a crime for challenging his conviction is bound by the consequences of his decision,” the court said.
Because Cavalcante had escaped the day before his lawyer filed the motion, the Chester County Court dismissed it and it did not extend the time for Cavalcante to appeal.
And although the original 30-day window following Cavalcante’s Aug. 22, 2023, sentencing was still open when he was captured Sept. 13, 2023, his lawyer did not file the appeal until Sept. 29, 2023, which was eight days past the deadline, the Superior Court found.
“As a result, we are without jurisdiction to address this appeal, and we must quash it,” Lane concluded.
Cavalcante, who was also a suspect in a murder in his native Brazil, was at large for two weeks.
Schools in the area of the prison were closed during the search, as were the grounds of Longwood Gardens, a former estate of 19th century industrialist Pierre S. du Pont open to the public as a botanical garden.
The search for Cavalcante, which made national headlines, covered a mix of farm fields and wooded subdivisions about 30 miles west of Philadelphia. Authorities scoured woods and backyard outbuildings on the ground and used helicopters to search for Cavalcante from the air.
They also played a message over loudspeakers recorded by his mother urging him in Portuguese to surrender peacefully, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
He was captured by state police and federal agents about 20 miles from the prison when an aircraft spotted him in a wooded area. State police Special Emergency Response Team members kept him penned overnight within a wooded area in South Coventry Township amid lightning and heavy rain before arresting him the following morning, officials said.