J-S34010-19
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
WILLIAM H. KEIL, :
:
Appellant : No. 989 WDA 2018
Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered June 27, 2018
In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-02-CR-0004122-1989,
CP-02-CR-0004503-1989, CP-02-CR-0004505-1989,
CP-02-CR-0004507-1989, CP-02-CR-0004509-1989
BEFORE: DUBOW, J., McLAUGHLIN, J., and COLINS, J.*
JUDGMENT ORDER BY DUBOW, J.: FILED SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
Appellant, William H. Keil, appeals from the June 27, 2018 Order entered
in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas dismissing his first Petition
filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-
9546, as untimely. After careful review, we quash this appeal.
The relevant facts and procedural history are, briefly, as follows. On
August 30, 1989, Appellant entered guilty pleas to numerous sexual offenses
at five docket numbers.1 On October 31, 1989, the court sentenced Appellant
to an aggregate term of 20 to 70 years’ incarceration, followed by 45 years of
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1 In particular, over five dockets, Appellant pleaded guilty to three counts of
Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123(5); eight counts
of Indecent Assault, 18 Pa.C.S § 3126(a)(1); four counts of Indecent
Exposure, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3127; one count of Simple Assault, 18 Pa.C.S §
2701(a)(3); one count of Unlawful Restraint, 18 Pa.C.S. § 2902; and nine
counts of Corruption of Minors, 18 Pa.C.S. § 6301.
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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-S34010-19
probation. Appellant’s convictions subjected him to lifetime sex offender
registration requirement under Megan’s Law I and II.
Appellant unsuccessfully sought appellate review of his Judgment of
Sentence. See Commonwealth v. Keil, No. 1845 Pittsburgh 1989 (Pa.
Super. filed April 15, 1991) (unpublished memorandum).2 Appellant did not
file a Petition for Allowance of Appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
On September 13, 2017, Appellant pro se filed a “Motion to Cease and
Desist Retroactive Application of Registration Requirements,” which the lower
court properly treated as first a PCRA Petition. In his Petition, Appellant
alleged that the requirement that he register as a sex offender for his lifetime
is illegal pursuant to Commonwealth v. Muniz, 169 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2017).
The PCRA court appointed counsel who, on April 4, 2018, filed an Amended
PCRA Petition, reiterating and developing his illegal sentence claim.
On May 8, 2018, the Commonwealth filed an Answer to Appellant’s
Amended Petition.3 On June 27, 2018, the PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s
Amended Petition without a hearing.4
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2Appellant did not file a Petition for Allowance of Appeal to the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court. Appellant’s Judgment of Sentence, thus, became final on May
15, 1991. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(3); Pa.R.A.P. 903.
3 Because Appellant has challenged the constitutionality of a statute, the
Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General filed a Motion to Intervene on
June 21, 2018.
4Generally, the PCRA court must provide notice of its intent to dismiss a PCRA
Petition and provide the petitioner with twenty days in which to respond.
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This timely appeal followed. Both Appellant and the PCRA court
complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.
Appellant raises the following two issues on appeal:
1. Whether the trial court erred in ruling that it lacked
jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the Amended
PCRA Petition and/or Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus?
2. Whether the trial court erred by not ruling that Act 10 of
2018 is unconstitutional under the federal and state ex
post facto and double jeopardy clauses?
Appellant’s Brief at 5. For the following reasons, however, we do not address
these claims.
Appellant timely filed identical Notices of Appeal at each of his five trial
court docket numbers, each of which identified all five trial court docket
numbers.5 In Commonwealth v. Walker, 185 A.3d 969 (Pa. 2018), the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that “when a single order resolves issues
arising on more than one lower court docket, separate notices of appeal must
be filed.” Walker, 185 A.3d at 977 (citing the Official Note of Appellate
Procedure 341(a)). This is a bright-line, mandatory instruction. Id. at 976-
77; Commonwealth v. Nichols, 208 A.3d 1087, 1090 (Pa. Super 2019)
(quashing appeal from single order denying PCRA relief where appellant filed
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Pa.R.Crim.P. 907(1). However, Appellant did not object to the PCRA court’s
failure to provide notice of intent to dismiss pursuant to Rule 907, rendering
any argument on this issue waived. Commonwealth v. Boyd, 923 A.2d 513,
514 n.1 (Pa. Super. 2007).
5 The Allegheny Count clerk forwarded a single Notice of Appeal to the
Prothonotary of this Court.
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a notice of appeal containing three trial court docket numbers); C.T.E. v.
D.S.E., __ A.3d __, 2019 WL 3369078 (Pa. Super. filed July 26, 2019)
(reiterating the “bright-line” rule requiring practitioners to file separate notices
of appeal).
Based on Appellant’s filing errors, we conclude that Appellant has not
properly appealed from the trial court’s Order. Consistent with Walker and
Nichols, we are constrained to quash the appeal.
Appeal quashed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 9/12/2019
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