Com. v. Hubert, J. ( 2022 )


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  • J-S31024-21
    NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA               :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
    :        PENNSYLVANIA
    Appellee                :
    :
    v.                             :
    :
    JAMES HUBERT                               :
    :
    Appellant               :       No. 178 EDA 2021
    Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered December 1, 2020
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
    Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0014205-2012
    BEFORE:      STABILE, J., KING, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*
    MEMORANDUM BY KING, J.:                                 FILED MARCH 4, 2022
    Appellant, James Hubert, appeals from the order entered in the
    Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which denied his “Post Conviction
    Relief Act Petition To Bar The Applicability Of Sex Offender Registration And/Or
    Petition For Writ Of Habeas Corpus.” We affirm.
    The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. On
    February 12, 2013, Appellant entered a negotiated guilty plea to rape by
    forcible compulsion and endangering the welfare of a child (“EWOC”), in
    connection with his sexual attack on a four-year-old victim on April 12, 2012.
    The court sentenced Appellant on June 4, 2013, in accordance with the plea
    deal, and imposed a term of 8 to 16 years’ imprisonment plus four years’
    ____________________________________________
    *   Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
    J-S31024-21
    probation for the rape conviction. The court imposed no further penalty for
    the EWOC conviction. The court did not designate Appellant as a sexually
    violent predator (“SVP”).        Appellant did not seek direct review from his
    judgment of sentence.
    During 2015-2016, Appellant unsuccessfully litigated a first petition
    pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”).1 On September 20, 2017,
    Appellant filed the current pro se prayer for relief.      The court appointed
    counsel, who filed an amended petition on Appellant’s behalf on July 9, 2018.
    In it, Appellant challenged the constitutionality of his registration and
    reporting requirements under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification
    Act (“SORNA”).      On December 1, 2020, the court denied relief.       Appellant
    timely appealed.2 On January 7, 2021, the court ordered Appellant to file a
    ____________________________________________
    1   42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546.
    2 Appellant submitted a pro se notice of appeal dated December 21, 2020, and
    postmarked December 28, 2020. Pursuant to the prisoner mailbox rule,
    Appellant’s filing was timely. See Commonwealth v. DiClaudio, 
    210 A.3d 1070
     (Pa.Super. 2019) (explaining that prisoner mailbox rule provides that
    pro se prisoner’s document is deemed filed on date he delivers it to prison
    authorities for mailing). Although Appellant was still represented when he
    filed the pro se notice of appeal, the rule against hybrid representation does
    not render Appellant’s pro se timely notice of appeal a legal nullity. See
    Commonwealth v. Williams, 
    151 A.3d 621
     (Pa.Super. 2016) (explaining
    that because notice of appeal protects constitutional right, it is distinguishable
    from other filings that require counsel to provide legal knowledge and strategy
    in creating motion, petition, or brief; holding that this Court is required to
    docket pro se notice of appeal despite appellant being represented by
    counsel). Following the filing of Appellant’s pro se notice of appeal, counsel
    filed a petition to withdraw, which the court granted on February 8, 2021. The
    (Footnote Continued Next Page)
    -2-
    J-S31024-21
    concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.
    1925(b). Following the grant of an extension of time, Appellant complied.
    Appellant raises one issue for our review:
    Did the PCRA court err in dismissing Appellant’s PCRA
    petition without a hearing because Appellant’s PCRA petition
    was timely filed and because Appellant’s lifetime reporting
    mandate is illegal and violative of state and federal ex post
    facto Constitutional provisions because lifetime reporting is
    punitive and violative of even the revised SORNA statute
    because Appellant has not been convicted of two or more
    ten-year reporting crimes and because there was no SVP
    determination at sentencing and life reporting violates the
    terms of Appellant’s negotiated plea?
    (Appellant’s Brief at 4).
    Appellant argues that he was not subject to lifetime reporting
    requirements at the time he entered his guilty plea. Consequently, Appellant
    asserts that requiring him to register for life as a sex offender violates ex post
    facto principles. Appellant claims that requiring him to register for life also
    violates due process concerns because it creates an irrebuttable presumption
    of dangerousness.       Appellant further insists that application of the lifetime
    reporting requirements renders his plea non-voluntary. Appellant concludes
    his registration and reporting requirements are unconstitutional, and this
    Court must remand for resentencing or vacate the lifetime reporting provision.
    We disagree.
    ____________________________________________
    court appointed new counsel to represent Appellant for this appeal on
    February 22, 2021.
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    J-S31024-21
    Our review of this case implicates the following legal principles:
    When an appellant challenges the constitutionality of a
    statute, the appellant presents this Court with a question of
    law. Our consideration of questions of law is plenary. A
    statute is presumed to be constitutional and will not be
    declared unconstitutional unless it clearly, palpably, and
    plainly violates the constitution. Thus, the party challenging
    the constitutionality of a statute has a heavy burden of
    persuasion.
    Commonwealth v. Howe, 
    842 A.2d 436
    , 441 (Pa.Super. 2004) (internal
    citations omitted).
    In Commonwealth v. Muniz, 
    640 Pa. 699
    , 
    164 A.3d 1189
     (2017)
    (plurality), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 
    138 S.Ct. 925
    , 
    200 L.Ed.2d 213
     (2018),
    our Supreme Court held that the registration provisions of SORNA I were
    punitive, such that application of those provisions to offenders who committed
    their crimes prior to SORNA I’s effective date violated ex post facto principles.
    Following Muniz and Commonwealth v. Butler, 
    173 A.3d 1212
     (Pa.Super.
    2017) (“Butler I”), rev’d, ___ Pa. ___, 
    226 A.3d 972
     (2020) (“Butler II”),3
    ____________________________________________
    3 In Butler I, this Court held that the provision of SORNA I requiring a court
    to designate a defendant a SVP by clear and convincing evidence violates the
    federal and state constitutions because it increases a defendant’s criminal
    penalty without the fact-finder making necessary factual findings beyond a
    reasonable doubt. See Butler I, supra. However, the Pennsylvania Supreme
    Court reversed Butler I. See Butler II, supra (holding SVPs are different
    from non-SVP SORNA registrants at issue in Muniz due to heightened public
    safety concerns based on determination that SVPs have mental abnormality
    or personality disorder that makes individual likely to engage in predatory
    sexually violent offenses; procedure for designating individuals as SVPs is not
    subject to requirements of Apprendi and Alleyne and remains
    constitutionally permissible). See also Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S.
    (Footnote Continued Next Page)
    -4-
    J-S31024-21
    the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted legislation to amend SORNA I.
    See Act of Feb. 21, 2018, P.L. 27, No. 10 (“Act 10”). Act 10 amended several
    provisions of SORNA I and added several new sections found at 42 Pa.C.S.A.
    §§ 9799.42, 9799.51-9799.75.            In addition, the Governor of Pennsylvania
    signed new legislation striking the Act 10 amendments and reenacting several
    SORNA I provisions, effective June 12, 2018. See Act of June 12, 2018, P.L.
    1952, No. 29 (“Act 29”). Through Act 10, as amended in Act 29 (collectively,
    “SORNA II”), the General Assembly split SORNA I’s former Subchapter H into
    a Revised Subchapter H and Subchapter I.
    Subchapter I addresses sexual offenders who committed an offense on
    or after April 22, 1996, but before December 20, 2012; or those who were
    required to register under a former sexual offender registration law of this
    Commonwealth on or after April 22, 1996, but before December 20, 2012,
    whose period of registration has not expired. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.52.
    Subchapter I contains less stringent reporting requirements than Revised
    Subchapter H, which applies to offenders who committed an offense on or
    after December 20, 2012. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9799.10-9799.42.
    ____________________________________________
    466, 
    120 S.Ct. 2348
    , 
    147 L.Ed.2d 435
     (2000) (holding that any facts, other
    than fact of prior conviction, that subject defendant to additional penalty
    beyond statutory maximum must be submitted to jury and proven beyond
    reasonable doubt) and Alleyne v. United States, 
    570 U.S. 99
    , 
    133 S.Ct. 2151
    , 
    186 L.Ed.2d 314
     (2013) (holding that any fact that increases mandatory
    minimum sentence for crime is fact that must be submitted to jury and found
    beyond reasonable doubt).
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    J-S31024-21
    In Commonwealth v. Lacombe, ___ Pa. ___, 
    234 A.3d 602
     (2020),
    our Supreme Court held that Subchapter I of SORNA II is nonpunitive and
    does not violate the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws. See
    
    id.
     at ___, 234 A.3d at 626-27. See also Commonwealth v. Elliott, 
    249 A.3d 1190
    , 1194 (Pa.Super. 2021) (rejecting ex post facto challenge to
    lifetime registration for rape conviction where appellant was subject to
    Subchapter I reporting requirements).
    Instantly, the court explained its rationale for denying Appellant relief
    as follows:
    Appellant’s appeal is meritless. Subchapter I of SORNA
    (referred to as “SORNA II”) applies to individuals “who were
    convicted of a sexually violent offense committed on or after
    April 22, 1996, but before December 20, 2012, whose
    period of registration with the Pennsylvania State Police, as
    described in section 9799.55 (relating to registration), has
    not expired.” See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.52(1). Persons
    convicted of rape are subject to lifetime reporting under
    Subchapter I. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.55(b).
    Appellant raped the 4-year-old victim on April 12, 2012, and
    his registration period as described in section 9799.55 had
    not expired when Subchapter I was enacted. He therefore
    is subject to the lifetime registration/reporting requirements
    under Subchapter I.
    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that Subchapter I “is
    narrowly tailored to its nonpunitive purpose of protecting
    the public.” The registration/reporting requirements are not
    punitive and ex post facto challenges thereto, as brought by
    Appellant, “necessarily fail.” Lacombe[, supra at ___,]
    234 A.3d [at] 626-627.1
    1 The timeliness of Appellant’s Petition is also
    controlled by Lacombe. Although captioned as a
    PCRA, the relief Appellant sought was termination of
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    J-S31024-21
    his registration requirements imposed under SORNA.
    He filed his Petition just 2 months after the Supreme
    Court’s    decision    in   Muniz.       Under    these
    circumstances,       Appellant’s    Petition,     which
    alternatively sought a “Writ of Habeas Corpus”
    compelling      termination    of    his    registration
    requirements, cannot be dismissed as untimely.
    Lacombe[, supra at ___], 234 A.3d [at] 617-618
    (“Our approach in this regard takes into account the
    fact that frequent changes to sexual offender
    registration statutes, along with more onerous
    requirements and retroactive application, complicate
    registrants’ ability to challenge new requirements
    imposed years after their sentences become final…
    Accordingly, we decline to find the PCRA, or any other
    procedural mechanism, is the exclusive method for
    challenging sexual offender registration statutes and
    we thus conclude the trial court had jurisdiction to
    consider Lacombe’s “Petition to Terminate His Sexual
    Offender Registration Requirements.”).
    Lastly, Appellant’s amended Petition stated: “In the
    alternative that the [c]ourt finds that Petitioner may be
    required to register as a Tier III sex offender pursuant to
    SORNA II, the [c]ourt should still order that Petitioner need
    not register as a [SVP].” Appellant’s request was irrelevant.
    Following Appellant’s guilty pleas on February 12, 2013, this
    [c]ourt held a hearing on June 4, 2013, and found Appellant
    was not [a] SVP. Accordingly, Appellant is not subject to
    the registration requirements of [a] SVP, but he is subject
    to the registration requirements of a Tier III sex offender
    under Subchapter I.
    (Trial Court Opinion, filed June 22, 2021, at 3-4) (emphasis in original). We
    agree with the court’s analysis.
    As Appellant committed his sex offenses on April 12, 2012, he is subject
    to registration and reporting requirements under Subchapter I.           See 42
    Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.52. Subchapter I requires Appellant to report for life based
    on his rape conviction.    See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9799.55(b)(2)(i)(A).        Under
    -7-
    J-S31024-21
    Lacombe and its progeny, Appellant’s ex post facto challenge fails.            See
    Lacombe, supra; Elliott, supra.
    Regarding Appellant’s claim of due process violations based on an
    unconstitutional irrebuttable presumption, we initially note that this claim is
    undeveloped on appeal.           In his brief, Appellant merely states that in his
    amended petition he raised due process claims, and then Appellant cites to
    his amended petition at pages 3-5.               (See Appellant’s Brief at 10-11).
    Nevertheless, “‘incorporation by reference’ is an unacceptable manner of
    appellate advocacy for the proper presentation of a claim for relief[.]”
    Commonwealth v. Briggs, 
    608 Pa. 430
    , 515, 
    12 A.3d 291
    , 342 (2011), cert.
    denied, 
    565 U.S. 889
    , 
    132 S.Ct. 267
    , 
    181 L.Ed.2d 157
     (2011).              Appellant
    offers no additional discussion to support his due process argument in his
    appellate brief.     (See Appellant’s Brief at 10-11).        Appellant’s failure to
    properly develop his due process challenge on appeal renders this claim
    waived. See Elliott, supra (holding appellant waived due process claim for
    lack of development where he offered no meaningful discussion of how SORNA
    II’s presumption that he poses high risk of recidivism violates his
    constitutional right to reputation, such that we should afford him relief he
    requests of vacating his lifetime registration requirement).4
    ____________________________________________
    4 Moreover, this Court has recently rejected a similar argument. See
    Commonwealth v. Spears, No. 2424 & 2439 EDA 2019 (Pa.Super. Apr. 14,
    2021) (unpublished memorandum) (explaining that Subchapter I does not
    (Footnote Continued Next Page)
    -8-
    J-S31024-21
    Further, regarding Appellant’s claim that application of the reporting
    requirements somehow renders his guilty plea non-voluntary, this claim is
    similarly waived for lack of development on appeal. (See Appellant’s Brief at
    11). See also Commonwealth v. Hardy, 
    918 A.2d 766
     (Pa.Super. 2007),
    appeal denied, 
    596 Pa. 703
    , 
    940 A.2d 362
     (2008) (explaining it is appellant’s
    duty to present arguments that are sufficiently developed for our review; brief
    must support claims with pertinent discussion, with references to record and
    with citations to legal authorities; this Court will not act as counsel and will
    not develop arguments on behalf of appellant; when defects in brief impede
    our ability to conduct meaningful review, we may dismiss appeal entirely or
    deem certain issues waived).5          Based upon the foregoing, Appellant is not
    ____________________________________________
    signal dangerousness of any particular offender; it merely provides that adult
    sex offenders, as group, have high risk of recidivism; hearing on adult
    offender’s individual dangerousness or likelihood to reoffend is irrelevant to
    universal truth of group as whole; therefore, irrebuttable presumption
    doctrine does not apply). See also Pa.R.A.P. 126(b) (explaining that this
    Court can rely on unpublished decisions of Superior Court filed after May 1,
    2019 for persuasive value).
    5 Moreover, the record makes clear there was no agreement that Appellant
    would be free from reporting requirements as part of his plea deal. To the
    contrary, the record indicates that Appellant entered a negotiated guilty plea
    to rape and EWOC, in exchange for the Commonwealth dropping additional
    charges, and for a negotiated sentence of 8 to 16 years’ imprisonment, plus
    four years’ probation. The court imposed the negotiated sentence. As well,
    the written plea agreement expressly states that Appellant would be subject
    to sex offender probation and a Megan’s Law assessment. In the absence of
    a specific condition of his plea agreement providing for an exception to
    registration requirements, Appellant did not have a right to evade registration
    requirements under his plea deal. See Commonwealth v. Hainesworth,
    (Footnote Continued Next Page)
    -9-
    J-S31024-21
    entitled to relief. Accordingly, we affirm.
    Order affirmed.
    Judgment Entered.
    Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
    Prothonotary
    Date: 3/4/2022
    ____________________________________________
    
    82 A.3d 444
    , 448 (Pa.Super. 2013), appeal denied, 
    626 Pa. 683
    , 
    95 A.3d 276
    (2014) (holding that dispositive question in plea enforcement cases
    concerning sex offender registration requirements is whether non-registration
    was term of defendant’s plea agreement). See also Commonwealth v.
    Moose, 
    245 A.3d 1121
    , 1133 (Pa.Super. 2021) (en banc), appeal denied, No.
    53 MAL 2021 (Pa. Dec. 7, 2021) (stating: “[W]hen a registration scheme is
    not punitive, it constitutes a collateral consequence of a guilty plea. Further,
    because non-punitive registration requirements are not criminal punishment,
    they would not materially alter a negotiated term establishing a petitioner’s
    criminal sentence”) (emphasis in original; internal citation omitted).
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