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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37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.
CHARLES PARKER
Appellant No. 2232 EDA 2016
Appeal from the PCRA Order dated June 22, 2016
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0409341-2001
BEFORE: PANELLA, J., SOLANO, J., and FITZGERALD, J.*
MEMORANDUM BY SOLANO, J.: FILED MAY 31, 2017
Appellant, Charles Parker, appeals pro se from the order dismissing as
untimely his second petition for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to the
Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541–46. We affirm.
On December 7, 2001, following a bench trial, Appellant was found
guilty of one count of aggravated assault and one count of possessing an
instrument of crime.1 See Commonwealth v. Parker, 23 A.3d 573 (Pa.
Super. 2010) (unpublished memorandum at 2). On August 12, 2002, the
trial court sentenced Appellant to eight to twenty-two years’ incarceration
for aggravated assault, and a consecutive one to two years’ incarceration for
possessing an instrument of crime. Id. This Court affirmed Appellant’s
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*
Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
1
18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2702 and 907.
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judgment of sentence on direct appeal.2 Id. Appellant petitioned the
Supreme Court for allowance of appeal. The Supreme Court denied the
petition for allowance of appeal on November 30, 2011.
On June 14, 2012, Appellant filed a timely PCRA petition. Thereafter,
Appellant obtained counsel and amended PCRA petitions were filed on April
11, 2013, May 5, 2014 and June 9, 2014. On January 21, 2015, the PCRA
court issued notice of its intent to dismiss the petition pursuant to
Pa.R.Crim.P. 907, and entered an order doing so on April 17, 2015.
Appellant did not file an appeal.
On December 3, 2015, Appellant filed the PCRA petition presently
before us. On May 31, 2016, the PCRA court issued notice of its intent to
dismiss the petition pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 907, and dismissed the petition
on June 22, 2016. This timely appeal followed.
Appellant has not included a statement of questions involved in his
brief as prescribed by Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a)(4). However, Appellant argues that
the PCRA court erred in dismissing his PCRA petition as untimely because he
has “a constitutionally protected right to review.” Appellant’s Brief at 3-4.
Appellant references his unsuccessful first PCRA petition, characterizes its
dismissal as “misconduct” by the PCRA court, and references the PCRA
court’s “impropriety” and “impartiality.” Id. at 7-14. Appellant appears to
imply that since his first PCRA petition was timely, he has circumvented the
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2
Appellant’s direct appeal rights were reinstated nunc pro tunc.
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timeliness requirement of the PCRA. See Appellant’s Brief at 4 (“I will start
from the PA Supreme Court’s denial of my Allowance of Appeal and
subsequent filing of my initial timely PCRA petition and all amendments in
order to show and prove petitioner’s timeliness”).
It is well-settled that the timeliness of a post-conviction petition is
jurisdictional. Commonwealth v. Albrecht, 994 A.2d 1091, 1093 (Pa.
2010) (citation omitted). If a petition is untimely, neither an appellate court
nor the PCRA court has jurisdiction to consider 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. § 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
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presented.” Gamboa–Taylor, 753 A.2d at 783. See also 42 Pa.C.S. §
9545(b)(2).
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Appellant’s petition for
allowance of appeal on November 30, 2011. Appellant did not file a petition
for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court, and as a result,
his judgment of sentence became final 90 days later — on Tuesday,
February 28, 2012. See U.S. Sup. Ct. R. 13; 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(3).
Appellant had to file his PCRA petition within one year of that date — that is,
by February 28, 2013 — for it to be timely. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1).
Because Appellant filed the instant petition on December 3, 2015, his
petition is untimely unless he has satisfied his burden of pleading and
proving that one of the enumerated exceptions applies.
Beyond his generalized argument regarding due process and his
“constitutionally protected right to review,” Appellant assails the PCRA
court’s impropriety and impartiality, seeks a remand and post-conviction
relief, and requests recusal of the PCRA court. However, Appellant fails to
address, discuss, or explain — to plead and to prove — how his PCRA
petition falls within a statutory exception to the PCRA’s time bar. The PCRA
court explained:
The petition was properly dismissed as being untimely.
The second PCRA petition was not filed within one year from the
date the judgment of sentence became final. As a result, one of
the three exceptions to the timeliness rule, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §
9545(b)(1)(i)-(iii) had to apply and did not. [Appellant] has
failed to plead an exception much less meet his burden of proof
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and has failed to prove that the filing period should be extended
as permitted in the case of the Post Conviction Relief Act, 42 Pa.
Cons. Stat. Ann. § 9541 et seq. Since the time restrictions
under the Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.
Cons. Stat. § 9541 et seq., are jurisdictional; this PCRA court
lacked jurisdiction to address the claims raised in the untimely
petition.
PCRA Court Opinion, 9/29/16, at 3.
The record supports the determination of the PCRA court. Accordingly,
because Appellant’s PCRA petition is untimely and he has failed to establish
the applicability of any exception to the statutory time bar, we affirm the
PCRA court’s dismissal of Appellant’s second PCRA petition.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 5/31/2017
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