J-S67019-14
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
RICARDO ALPHONSO PEOPLES
Appellant No. 424 WDA 2014
Appeal from the PCRA Order January 17, 2014
In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0008708-1997
BEFORE: DONOHUE, J., MUNDY, J., and FITZGERALD, J.*
JUDGMENT ORDER BY MUNDY, J.: FILED MARCH 31, 2016
This case returns to this Court following remand from the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court. Specifically, on February 17, 2016, our Supreme Court
granted the petition for allowance of appeal filed by Appellant, Ricardo
Alphonso Peoples, vacated our previous order affirming the dismissal of
Appellant’s second petition for relief filed pursuant to the Post Conviction
Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546, and remanded the case to us
for further proceedings consistent with Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.
Ct. 718 (2016). After careful review, we reverse the PCRA court’s order
dismissing Appellant’s PCRA petition and remand for resentencing.
____________________________________________
*
Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
J-S67019-14
Relevant to this appeal, on February 4, 1999, the trial court imposed a
mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
after a jury found Appellant guilty of one count of first-degree murder and
one count of second-degree murder,1 committed when he was 17 years old.2
Appellant’s pro se amended second PCRA petition, which is the subject of
this appeal, asserts that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in
Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012), should be retroactively
applied.3 On January 17, 2014, the PCRA court dismissed the amended
petition. On December 19, 2014, we affirmed the PCRA court’s order.
Commonwealth v. Peoples, 116 A.3d 694 (Pa. Super. 2014) (unpublished
memorandum), vacated, --- A.3d ---, 2016 WL 634089 (Pa. 2016).
Appellant filed a petition for allowance of appeal with our Supreme Court on
____________________________________________
1
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2502(a) and 2502(b), respectively.
2
This Court affirmed Appellant’s judgment of sentence on July 28, 2000, and
our Supreme Court denied his petition for allowance of appeal on January
18, 2001. Commonwealth v. Peoples, 761 A.2d 1238 (Pa. Super. 2000)
(unpublished memorandum), appeal denied, 766 A.2d 1246 (Pa. 2001).
Thereafter, Appellant filed a timely PCRA petition on December 11, 2001.
The PCRA court dismissed the petition on August 13, 2002, and this Court
affirmed on August 11, 2003. Commonwealth v. Peoples, 833 A.2d 1148
(Pa. Super. 2003) (unpublished memorandum). Appellant did not file a
petition for allowance of appeal with our Supreme Court.
3
Appellant’s amended petition sought relief pursuant to the writ of habeas
corpus. However, because the issue raised therein implicated the legality of
his sentence, it is cognizable under the PCRA. See 42 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 9543(a)(2)(i), (vii) (recognizing constitutional violations concerning the
legality of a sentence are encompassed within the PCRA).
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March 23, 2015. While that petition was pending, on January 25, 2016, the
United States Supreme Court announced its decision in Montgomery,
holding that Miller’s prohibition on mandatory life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole for juvenile offenders was a new substantive rule that,
under the Constitution, must be retroactive in cases on state collateral
review. Montgomery, supra at 732. Accordingly, our Supreme Court
vacated our prior order and remanded this case to us. Moreover, this Court,
in Commonwealth v. Secreti, --- A.3d ---, 2016 WL 513341 (Pa. Super.
2016), has held that Miller and Montgomery afford relief to petitioners
whose PCRA petitions based on Miller were on appeal when Montgomery
was announced. Secreti, supra at *5.
Based on the foregoing, Appellant is entitled to PCRA relief from his
unconstitutional sentence of mandatory life imprisonment without parole.
See Miller, supra at 2464; Montgomery, supra; Secreti, supra.
Accordingly, we reverse the PCRA court’s January 17, 2014 order dismissing
Appellant’s PCRA petition, vacate Appellant’s judgment of sentence, and
remand for resentencing in accordance with Miller and Commonwealth v.
Batts, 66 A.3d 286 (Pa. 2013).
Order reversed. Judgment of sentence vacated. Case remanded for
resentencing. Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judge Donohue did not participate in the consideration or decision of
this case.
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Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 3/31/2016
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