J-S12044-15
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
:
v. :
:
DAVID M. FREEMAN :
:
Appellant : No. 1852 EDA 2014
Appeal from the PCRA Order May 23, 2014
In the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County
Criminal Division No(s).: CP-39-CR-0001078-1995
BEFORE: BOWES, SHOGAN, and FITZGERALD,* JJ.
JUDGMENT ORDER BY FITZGERALD, J.: FILED APRIL 18, 2016
Appellant, David M. Freeman, appeals from the order entered in the
Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas dismissing his first Post Conviction
Relief Act1 (“PCRA”) petition as untimely. This case returns to us after the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted Appellant’s petition for allowance of
appeal, vacated our prior decision affirming the dismissal of his first PCRA
petition, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with
Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 719 (2016). We reverse the PCRA
court’s order dismissing Appellant’s first PCRA petition, vacate the judgment
of sentence, and remand for resentencing.
*
Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
1
42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546.
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As our prior memorandum noted, Appellant was sixteen years old at
the time of the underlying murder, and on December 15, 1995, he pleaded
guilty to murder in the first degree. The trial court imposed a then-
mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole. On July 7, 2010,
Appellant filed the instant pro se PCRA petition. He alleged that Miller v.
Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012), held that a mandatory life without parole
sentence for a juvenile violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel
and unusual punishment, and thus his sentence should be vacated. After a
lengthy procedural history, the PCRA court dismissed his petition, and this
Court affirmed on February 25, 2015.
On March 16, 2015, Appellant filed a petition for allowance of appeal
with our Supreme Court. On January 25, 2016, the United States Supreme
Court held that Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012), “announced a
substantive rule that is retroactive in cases on collateral review.”
Montgomery, 136 S. Ct. at 732. Thus, on March 8, 2016, our Supreme
Court granted Appellant’s petition for allowance of appeal, vacated this
Court’s February 25, 2015 decision, and remanded for further proceedings
consistent with Montgomery. Order, 3/8/16. Accordingly, we reverse the
PCRA court’s order dismissing Appellant’s petition, vacate Appellant’s
judgment of sentence, and remand for resentencing in accordance with
Miller and Commonwealth v. Batts, 66 A.3d 286, 297 (Pa. 2013).
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Order reversed. Judgment of sentence vacated. Case remanded for
resentencing. Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 4/18/2016
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