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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
DONALD WASHINGTON,
Appellant No. 1221 MDA 2014
Appeal from the PCRA Order entered June 25, 2014,
in the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County,
Criminal Division, at No(s): CP-22-CR-0003071-1992
BEFORE: BOWES, ALLEN, and STRASSBURGER*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY ALLEN, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 02, 2015
Donald Washington (“Appellant”) appeals pro se from the order
denying his sixth petition for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to the Post
Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-46. We affirm.
The pertinent facts and procedural history have been summarized as
follows:
On April 16, 1993, a jury convicted Appellant of Murder
in the First Degree and related charges on evidence that
he fired three shots at a group of prospective drug buyers
who attempted to abscond with cocaine he and a cohort
were selling, killing one man in the process. On [July 18,
1994], this Court affirmed the judgment of sentence of life
imprisonment without possibility of parole, and the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Appellant’s petition for
allocatur [on April 18, 1995].
*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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Over the ensuing [] years, Appellant filed four PCRA
petitions, all of which were denied. He filed a pro se
petition, his fifth, on May 5, 2010, alleging that he had
recently discovered in his file a notation presumably made
by his attorney on the back side of a document suggesting
that the prosecution had offered a sentence of 15 to 30
years imprisonment in exchange for Appellant’s guilty plea.
Appellant contends that his counsel denied him his Sixth
Amendment right to effective counsel by never conveying
the offer to him.
After appointing counsel, who filed an amended PCRA
petition in the case sub judice, the PCRA court gave notice
on December 15, 2010 of its intention to dismiss the
petition without a hearing in 21 days. The next docket
entry is a petition dated January 25, 2011, in which
counsel sought reinstatement of Appellant’s appeal rights
nunc pro tunc. On July 5, 2011, however, the court
deemed the petition for reinstatement moot and dismissed
the PCRA petition without a hearing. This timely appeal
followed.
Commonwealth v. Washington, 50 A.3d 243 (Pa. Super. 2012),
unpublished memorandum at 1-3 (footnote omitted).
On May 16, 2012, we affirmed the PCRA court’s order dismissing
Appellant’s fifth petition. See id. Appellant filed a petition for allowance of
appeal to our Supreme Court. While this petition was pending, on August 8,
2012, Appellant filed the PCRA petition at issue, his sixth. Our Supreme
Court denied Appellant’s petition for allowance of appeal on October 12,
2012. Commonwealth v. Washington, 55 A.3d 524 (Pa. 2012). On May
21, 2014, the PCRA court issued Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 notice of its intent to
dismiss Appellant’s sixth PCRA petition without a hearing. By order entered
June 25, 2014, the PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s latest petition. This
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timely appeal followed. The PCRA court did not require Pa.R.A.P. 1925
compliance.
Appellant raises the following issue on appeal:
I. Whether Appellant’s sentence is illegal for violating the
Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment in light of the United States Supreme Court’s
decision in Miller v. Alabama, 132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012)?
Appellant’s Brief at 4 (excess capitalization and emphasis omitted).
The PCRA court correctly notes that it lacked jurisdiction to rule on
Appellant’s sixth PCRA petition while he appealed to our Supreme Court.
Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 Notice Memorandum and Order, 5/21/14, at 1 (citing
Commonwealth v. Lark, 746 A.2d 585, 588 (Pa. 2000)). However,
because the PCRA court did not dismiss the prematurely filed PCRA petition,
see generally, Commonwealth v. Leslie, 757 A.2d 984 (Pa. Super.
2000), it properly considered its merits once our Supreme Court denied
relief. Before reviewing the PCRA court’s decision, however, we must first
determine whether Appellant timely filed his latest petition.
Our standard of review regarding an order dismissing a petition under
the PCRA is whether the determination of the PCRA court is supported by the
evidence of record and is free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Halley,
870 A.2d 795, 799 n.2 (Pa. 2005). The PCRA court’s findings will not be
disturbed unless there is no support for the findings in the certified record.
Commonwealth v. Carr, 768 A.2d 1164, 1166 (Pa. Super. 2001).
Moreover, a PCRA court may decline to hold a hearing on the petition if the
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PCRA court determines that the petitioner’s claim is patently frivolous and is
without a trace of support in either the record or from other evidence.
Commonwealth v. Jordan, 772 A.2d 1011 (Pa. Super. 2001).
The timeliness of a post-conviction petition is jurisdictional.
Commonwealth v. Albrecht, 994 A.2d 1091, 1093 (Pa. 2010) (citation
omitted). Thus, if a PCRA petition is untimely, neither an appellate court nor
the PCRA court has jurisdiction over the petition. Id. “Without jurisdiction,
we simply do not have the legal authority to address the substantive claims”
raised in an untimely petition. Id.
Generally, a petition for relief under the PCRA, including a second or
subsequent petition, must be filed within one year of the date the judgment
becomes final unless the petition alleges, and the petitioner proves, an
exception to the time for filing the petition. Commonwealth v. Gamboa-
Taylor, 753 A.2d 780, 783 (Pa. 2000); 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1). Under
these exceptions, the petitioner must plead and prove that: “(1) there has
been interference by government officials in the presentation of the claim; or
(2) there exists after-discovered facts or evidence; or (3) a new
constitutional right has been recognized.” Commonwealth v. Fowler, 930
A.2d 586, 591 (Pa. Super. 2007) (citations omitted). A PCRA petition
invoking one of these statutory exceptions must “be filed within sixty days of
the date the claim first could have been presented.” Gamboa-Taylor, 753
A.2d at 783. See also 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(2). Moreover, exceptions to
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the time restrictions of the PCRA must be pled in the petition, and may not
be raised for the first time on appeal. Commonwealth v. Burton, 936
A.2d 521, 525 (Pa. Super. 2007); see also Pa.R.A.P. 302(a) (“Issues not
raised before the lower court are waived and cannot be raised for the first
time on appeal.”).
Appellant’s judgment of sentence became final on July 17, 1995, when
the ninety-day period for filing a writ of certiorari with the United States
Supreme Court expired. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(3); U.S.Sup.Ct.R. 13.
See Commonwealth v. Washington, 867 A.2d 651 (Pa. Super. 2004),
unpublished memorandum at 2 n.1. Appellant filed the instant PCRA petition
over seventeen years later. As a result, his PCRA petition is patently
untimely unless he has satisfied his burden of pleading and proving that one
of the enumerated exceptions applies. See Commonwealth v. Beasley,
741 A.2d 1258, 1261 (Pa. 1999).
Appellant has failed to prove the applicability of any of the exceptions
to the PCRA’s time restrictions. Appellant contends that his PCRA falls under
the exception of subsection 9545(b)(1)(iii) because the United States
Supreme Court recognized a new constitutional right in Miller v. Alabama,
132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012). In Miller, the high court held that mandatory
sentences of life without parole “for those under the age of 18 at the time of
their crimes violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against ‘cruel and
unusual punishment.’” Miller, 132 S.Ct. at 2460. Appellant asserts that the
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Miller decision should be applied retroactively to his life sentence.
Appellant’s claim fails for two reasons.
First, the Miller holding is inapposite because Appellant was not a
juvenile when he robbed and killed the victim. The PCRA court reasoned:
[Appellant] argues, to no avail, that he is entitled to relief
based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller v. Alabama,
132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012), which bars automatic life sentences for
juvenile offenders. The Miller decision, however, does not apply
to [Appellant], who was twenty years old at the time he
committed the murder. [Appellant] was born on March[] 10,
1972, and the murder took place on September 6, 1992. The
Supreme Court held that mandatory life without parole for those
under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes violates the
Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual
punishments.” Miller v. Alabama, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 2460
(2012). The United States Supreme Court acknowledged in
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 574, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (2005),
that “[t]he qualities that distinguish juveniles from adults does
not disappear when an individual turns 18”, but Miller’s holding
is limited to sentences for those who were “under the age of 18
at the time of their crimes.” Miller at 2460. Accordingly,
[Appellant’s] case does not fall within Miller’s scope.
Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 Memorandum and Order, 5/21/14, at 2.
Second, even had Appellant been a juvenile at the time of the victim’s
murder, our Supreme Court has determined that the Miller decision should
not be applied retroactively. See generally, Commonwealth v.
Cunningham, 81 A.3d 1 (Pa. 2013). Thus, Appellant cannot avoid the
PCRA’s time bar pursuant to Section 9545(b)(iii).
In sum, Appellant’s PCRA petition is facially untimely, and he has failed
to meet his burden of proof with regard to any exception to the timeliness
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requirements of the PCRA. We therefore affirm the PCRA court’s denial of
Appellant’s sixth petition for post-conviction relief.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 2/2/2015
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