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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37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.
ROMANUS MILES
Appellant No. 1168 EDA 2015
Appeal from the PCRA Order April 7, 2015
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-1122251-1992;
CP-51-CR-1122253-1992; CP-51-CR-1224861-1992
BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., LAZARUS, J., and PLATT, J.*
JUDGMENT ORDER BY GANTMAN, P.J.: FILED SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
Appellant, Romanus Miles, appeals from the order entered in the
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, dismissing his serial petition
filed under the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-
9546. On July 12, 1993, a jury convicted Appellant of multiple charges of
robbery, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, and carrying firearms in
public in Philadelphia. The court sentenced Appellant on December 14,
1993.1 This Court affirmed the judgment of sentence on March 5, 1996, and
our Supreme Court denied allowance of appeal on October 24, 1996. See
____________________________________________
1
The record is unclear whether Appellant is currently serving an aggregate
sentence of 20 to 40 or 25 to 50 years’ imprisonment.
_________________________
*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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Commonwealth v Miles, 678 A.2d 831 (Pa.Super. 1995), appeal denied,
546 Pa. 664, 685 A.2d 544 (1996).
Appellant timely filed his first PCRA petition pro se on November 27,
1996. The PCRA court permitted Appellant to proceed pro se and denied his
petition on December 5, 2001. This Court affirmed, and our Supreme Court
denied allowance of appeal. See Commonwealth v. Miles, 821 A.2d 134
(Pa.Super. 2003), appeal denied, 577 Pa. 733, 848 A.2d 928 (2004).
Appellant filed the current PCRA petition pro se on July 16, 2014. The
PCRA court issued Rule 907 notice, and Appellant responded pro se. The
PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s petition on April 7, 2015. Appellant timely
filed a notice of appeal on April 16, 2015. The PCRA court did not order
Appellant to file a Rule 1925(b) statement, and Appellant filed none.
The timeliness of a PCRA petition is a jurisdictional requisite.
Commonwealth v. Hackett, 598 Pa. 350, 956 A.2d 978 (2008), cert.
denied, 556 U.S. 1285, 129 S.Ct. 2772, 174 L.Ed.2d 277 (2009). A PCRA
petition must be filed within one year of the date the underlying judgment
becomes final. 42 Pa.C.S.A § 9545(b)(1). A judgment is deemed final at
the conclusion of direct review or at the expiration of time for seeking
review. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(3). The three statutory exceptions to the
timeliness provisions in the PCRA allow for very limited circumstances under
which the late filing of a petition will be excused. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1).
A petitioner asserting a timeliness exception must file a petition within sixty
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days of the date the claim could have been presented. 42 Pa.C.S.A. §
9545(b)(2). When asserting the newly created constitutional right exception
under section 9545(b)(1)(iii), “a petitioner must prove that there is a ‘new’
constitutional right and that the right ‘has been held’ by that court to apply
retroactively.” Commonwealth v. Chambers, 35 A.3d 34, 41 (Pa.Super.
2011), appeal denied, 616 Pa. 625, 46 A.3d 715 (2012).
Instantly, Appellant’s judgment of sentence became final on January
22, 1997. Appellant filed his current petition on July 16, 2014, more than
17 years later; thus, the petition is patently untimely. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §
9545(b)(1). Appellant attempts to invoke Section 9545(b)(1)(iii),
contending his sentence is unconstitutional pursuant to the United States
Supreme Court’s decision in Alleyne v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 133
S.Ct. 2151, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013) (holding any fact increasing mandatory
minimum sentence for crime is considered element of crime to be submitted
to fact-finder and found beyond reasonable doubt). See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §
9545(b)(1)(iii). Nevertheless, this Court has ruled Alleyne is applicable
only to criminal cases still pending on direct review. See Commonwealth
v. Newman, 99 A.3d 86 (Pa.Super. 2014) (en banc). Moreover, Appellant
failed to file his petition within 60 days of the Alleyne decision on June 17,
2013. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(2). Accordingly, the PCRA court properly
dismissed Appellant’s petition.
Order affirmed.
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Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 9/21/2015
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