Commonwealth v. Plunkett ( 2016 )


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  • J-S74027-16
    
    2016 PA Super 268
    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA                      IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
    PENNSYLVANIA
    Appellee
    v.
    CHRIS PLUNKETT
    Appellant                 No. 2271 EDA 2015
    Appeal from the PCRA Order June 19, 2015
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
    Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0004704-2009
    BEFORE: OTT, J., RANSOM, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*
    OPINION BY OTT, J.:                               FILED DECEMBER 02, 2016
    Chris Plunkett appeals from the order entered June 19, 2015, in the
    Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, denying him relief on his
    petition filed pursuant to the Post-Conviction Relief Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9541 et
    seq. The PCRA court reviewed the substance of Plunkett’s claim and denied
    him relief based on lack of merit.1 However, because he is no longer serving
    ____________________________________________
    *
    Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
    1
    Plunkett had claimed ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to call
    character witnesses. The PCRA judge, who sat as the fact finder at trial,
    denied Plunkett’s claim after finding Plunkett suffered no prejudice. The
    PCRA court reviewed the affidavits of the proposed character witnesses and
    found the proposed testimony would not have overcome the otherwise
    overwhelming evidence of guilt. See Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) Opinion, 3/22/2016,
    at 5-6.
    J-S74027-16
    the sentence associated with this petition, Plunkett has lost his standing to
    seek relief. Accordingly, we affirm, albeit on different grounds.
    Briefly, on September 21, 2010, Plunkett was found guilty of theft by
    deception, a third-degree felony, at a non-jury trial.      On November 30,
    2010, he was sentenced to four years of probation and to pay restitution.
    His direct appeal afforded him no relief. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
    denied allowance of appeal on August 29, 2013.        Plunkett timely filed the
    instant PCRA petition on December 11, 2013.          On November 12, 2014,
    Plunkett’s probation was terminated. However, on December 10, 2014, that
    order was vacated due to a then pending violation of probation. Specifically,
    he had failed to complete restitution payments.        Also on December 10,
    2014, Plunkett received an additional one year of probation. A hearing on
    Plunkett’s PCRA petition was held on March 26, 2015, and the petition was
    denied on June 19, 2015. On July 7, 2015, Plunkett filed his notice of appeal
    regarding the denial of his PCRA petition. On January 21, 2016, having fully
    paid restitution, Plunkett’s probationary sentence was terminated by order of
    Judge Robert P. Coleman.       See Docket.     The certified record was then
    transmitted to our Court on March 22, 2016.
    The statutory requirements for eligibility for post-conviction collateral
    relief are set forth at 42 Pa.C.S. § 9543, which states, in relevant part:
    (a) General rule.--To be eligible for relief under this
    subchapter, the petitioner must plead and prove by a
    preponderance of the evidence all of the following:
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    (1) That the petitioner has been convicted of a crime under
    the laws of this Commonwealth and is at the time relief is
    granted:
    (i) currently serving a sentence of imprisonment,
    probation or parole for the crime;
    42 Pa.C.S. § 9543(a)(1)(i).
    Case law has strictly interpreted the requirement that the petitioner be
    currently serving a sentence for the crime to be eligible for relief.
    Here, the denial of relief for a petitioner who has finished serving
    his sentence is required by the plain language of the statute. To
    be eligible for relief a petitioner must be currently serving a
    sentence of imprisonment, probation or parole. To grant relief at
    a time when appellant is not currently serving such a sentence
    would be to ignore the language of the statute.
    Commonwealth v. Ahlborn, 
    699 A.2d 718
    , 720 (Pa. 1997) (emphasis in
    original).2
    ____________________________________________
    2
    The procedural facts underlying Ahlborn are as follows:
    On May 4, 1990, the appellant, Clarence A. Ahlborn, pled guilty
    to three counts of driving under the influence (DUI) and one
    count of accident resulting in death or injury. Appellant was
    sentenced to forty-eight hours to twenty-three months on the
    first DUI count, a concurrent term of thirty days to twenty-three
    months on the second DUI count, a consecutive term of four to
    twenty-three months on the third DUI count, and a concurrent
    term of thirty days to twenty-three months on the accident
    resulting in death or injury count. On May 24, 1990, appellant
    filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea. A hearing on
    the motion was scheduled, but, for reasons not apparent on the
    record, the motion was never adjudicated. On December 9,
    1993, appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition. Subsequently,
    counsel was appointed and an amended petition was filed on
    January 25, 1994. The petition alleged that appellant was misled
    (Footnote Continued Next Page)
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    The general proposition that a petitioner must be currently serving the
    sentence for the crime has been applied in numerous PCRA cases.              See
    Commonwealth v. Turner, 
    80 A.3d 754
     (Pa. 2013); Commonwealth v.
    Stultz, 
    114 A.3d 865
     (Pa. Super. 2015); Commonwealth v. Williams, 
    977 A.2d 1174
     (Pa. Super. 2009); Commonwealth v. Pagan, 
    864 A.2d 1231
    (Pa. Super. 2004); and Commonwealth v. Hayes, 
    596 A.2d 195
     (Pa.
    Super. 1991) (en banc). All of these cases differ from the instant case in
    that, similar to Ahlborn, the petitioner had served the sentence prior to any
    PCRA hearing or order disposing of the PCRA petition.            Here, Plunkett
    completed his sentence after the PCRA hearing and order denying him relief,
    as well as after filing his notice of appeal, but prior to the transmittal of the
    certified record to this Court. Our review of case law leads us to conclude
    this difference does not negate the applicability of the statutory language of
    Section 9543(a)(1)(i) to this case.
    _______________________
    (Footnote Continued)
    as to the nature and consequences of his plea. It also alleged
    that he was never afforded a hearing on the motion to withdraw
    his plea.
    A PCRA hearing was scheduled for February 17, 1994. On
    February 14, 1994, however, appellant finished serving his
    sentence. He was unconditionally released from prison. The
    scheduled hearing was then continued, and, on June 8, 1994,
    the PCRA petition was dismissed on the ground that appellant
    was no longer eligible for relief. The court reasoned that relief is
    available only to persons still serving sentences of imprisonment,
    probation, or parole.
    Id. at 719.
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    Additionally, we note that in Ahlborn, our Supreme Court framed the
    question before it as follows: “At issue is whether one who has filed a PCRA
    petition while serving a sentence of imprisonment remains eligible for relief
    in the event that, prior to any final adjudication of the petition, he is
    released from custody.” Id. at 719. The term “final adjudication”, although
    not defined in the opinion, implies the petitioner must be serving the
    relevant sentence throughout the PCRA process, including any appeals. We
    also note that had the Supreme Court intended to limit the scope of the
    question before it, it could have explicitly done so, but it did not. 3   We
    therefore believe there is, at minimum, a strong inference in Ahlborn that
    the section 9543(a)(1)(i) requirement applies throughout the appellate
    process.
    We take additional guidance from Commonwealth v. Turner, supra,
    which provides a detailed analysis of the application of section 9543(a)(1)(i)
    and due process. Ultimately, Turner determined, because the petitioner’s
    liberty interest was no longer affected after his or her sentence was
    completed, there was no due process violation in denying relief when the
    PCRA petition had been filed in a timely manner, but the sentence expired
    ____________________________________________
    3
    For example, the Supreme Court could have framed the question as: “At
    issue is whether one who has filed a PCRA petition while serving a sentence
    of imprisonment remains eligible for relief in the event that, prior to the
    PCRA court’s determination [rather than “final adjudication”], he is released
    from custody.”
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    prior to any adjudication.      The Turner decision begins its analysis
    acknowledging,
    Eligibility for relief under the PCRA is dependent upon the
    petitioner currently serving a sentence of imprisonment,
    probation, or parole for the crime. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9543(a)(1)(i);
    Ahlborn, 699 A.2d at 720 (holding that the plain language of
    this section requires the denial of relief for a petitioner who has
    finished serving his sentence).
    Turner, 80 A.3d at 761-62.
    The Turner Court further reasoned,
    In the collateral review context, the United States Supreme
    Court has held that although “states have no constitutional
    obligation to provide a means for collaterally attacking
    convictions,” Commonwealth v. Haag, 
    570 Pa. 289
    , 
    809 A.2d 271
    , 283 (2002) (citing [Pennsylvania v.] Finley, 481 U.S.
    [551] at 557, 
    107 S.Ct. 1990
     [
    95 L.Ed.2d 539
     (1990)]), if they
    do, “then such procedures must comport with the fundamental
    fairness mandated by the Due Process Clause.” Id.; Finley, 481
    U.S. at 557, 
    107 S.Ct. 1990
    . In this regard, states have
    “substantial discretion to develop and implement programs to
    aid prisoners seeking to secure postconviction review.” Finley,
    
    481 U.S. at 559
    , 
    1078 S.Ct. 1990
    . When a state choses to offer
    help to those seeking relief from convictions and custody, due
    process does not “dictat[e] the exact form such assistance must
    assume.” [Dist. Attorney’s Office for the Third Judicial Dist.
    v.] Osborne, 557 U.S. [52] at 69, 
    129 S.Ct. 2308
     [
    174 L.Ed.2d 28
     (1009)] (citing Finley, 
    481 U.S. at 559
    , 
    107 S.Ct. 1990
    ).
    Moreover, states need not provide post-conviction petitioners
    with “the full panoply of procedural protections that the
    Constitution requires be given to defendants who are in a
    fundamentally different position-at trial and on first appeal as of
    right.” Finley, 
    481 U.S. at 552
    , 
    107 S.Ct. 1990
    . Indeed, the
    United States Supreme Court has stated that post-conviction
    petitioners “have only a limited interest in post-conviction relief.”
    Osborne, 
    557 U.S. at 69
    , 
    129 S.Ct. 2308
    . To deny due process,
    the complained-of aspect of the state post-conviction procedures
    must be “fundamentally inadequate to vindicate” the defendant's
    liberty interest, and must offend “some principle of justice so
    rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be
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    ranked as fundamental” or transgress “any recognized principle
    of fundamental fairness in operation.” Osborne, 
    557 U.S. at 69
    ,
    
    129 S.Ct. 2308
     (internal citations omitted).
    Turner, 80 A.3d at 764.
    Accordingly, the denial of relief to a petitioner who was no longer
    serving a sentence, even when the PCRA process had begun in a timely
    manner, was not constitutionally infirm. Turner stated:
    We agree with the Commonwealth that due process does not
    require the legislature to continue to provide collateral review
    when the offender is no longer serving a sentence. Analogously,
    because the common law and statutory writ of habeas corpus in
    federal court challenges the basis of criminal conviction and
    custody, it requires that a petitioner be in custody before habeas
    jurisdiction can attach. Preiser v. Rodriguez, 
    411 U.S. 475
    ,
    484, 
    93 S.Ct. 1827
    , 
    36 L.Ed.2d 439
     (1973) (providing that the
    essence of the common law writ of habeas corpus is an attack by
    a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, and that
    the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from
    illegal custody); U.S. ex rel. Dessus v. Com. of Pa., 
    452 F.2d 557
    , 559-60 (3d Cir. 1971) (“the sine qua non of federal habeas
    corpus jurisdiction is that petitioner be ‘in custody’ ...” even as
    to claims of constitutional dimension: “Thus, custody is the
    passport to federal habeas corpus jurisdiction. Without custody,
    there is no detention. Without detention, or the possibility
    thereof, there is no federal habeas jurisdiction.” (emphasis
    added)). See also 
    28 U.S.C. § 2255
    (a) (extending the right to
    seek habeas corpus relief to “[a] prisoner in custody under
    sentence” of a federal court); 
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
    (b) (extending
    the right to “a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a
    State court”). Accordingly, because Petitioner's liberty is no
    longer burdened by a state sentence, she has no due process
    right to collateral review of that sentence.
    Because individuals who are not serving a state sentence have
    no liberty interest in and therefore no due process right to
    collateral review of that sentence, the statutory limitation of
    collateral review to individuals serving a sentence of
    imprisonment, probation, or parole is consistent with the due
    process prerequisite of a protected liberty interest. 42 Pa.C.S. §
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    9543(a)(1)(i). Of course, the legislature was free to extend a
    statutory right of collateral review to individuals like Petitioner
    who had completed their sentence and, had they done so, they
    would be constitutionally obligated to ensure that those rights
    were impacted only in accord with due process. See Evitts v.
    Lucey, 
    469 U.S. 387
    , 401, 
    105 S.Ct. 830
    , 
    83 L.Ed.2d 821
    (1985) (“when a State opts to act in a field where its action has
    significant discretionary elements, it must nonetheless act in
    accord with the dictates of the Constitution—and, in particular, in
    accord with the Due Process Clause”)[.]
    Turner, 80 A.3d at 765-66.
    Turner determined that a PCRA petitioner is not entitled to even a
    hearing on the PCRA petition once the petitioner’s sentence has terminated.
    Logically, if due process does not require a petitioner be given a hearing or
    to have the petition ruled on once the sentence expires, then there would be
    no due process violation in the instant circumstance.
    Further, in Commonwealth v. Stultz, 
    114 A.3d 865
     (Pa. Super.
    2015), Stultz, on July 27, 2011, was given a 48 hour to six month sentence
    for DUI, concurrent with a one to five year sentence of incarceration for
    fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.        On January 28, 2013,
    approximately one year after the expiration of his DUI sentence, Stultz filed
    his PCRA petition. In reviewing the matter, our Court stated:
    We begin by noting that Appellant is no longer eligible for relief
    with respect to his DUI convictions, having completed serving his
    sentence for the DUI count for which he was incarcerated. 42
    Pa.C.S. § 9543(a)(1)(i); Commonwealth v. Turner, 
    622 Pa. 318
    , 
    80 A.3d 754
     (2013); Commonwealth v. Ahlborn, 
    548 Pa. 544
    , 
    699 A.2d 718
     (1997); Commonwealth v. Williams, 
    977 A.2d 1174
     (Pa. Super. 2009); Commonwealth v. Pagan, 
    864 A.2d 1231
     (Pa. Super. 2004); Commonwealth v. Hayes, 
    408 Pa.Super. 68
    , 
    596 A.2d 195
     (1981) (en banc). Thus, to the
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    extent his claims relate solely to the DUI charges, he is not
    entitled to relief.
    Stultz, 114 A.3d at 872.
    Even though Stultz was still serving the sentence associated with the
    petition, he was no longer eligible for relief for the convictions associated
    with the expired portion of the total sentence.
    Finally, our Court’s recent decision in Commonwealth v. Volk, 
    138 A.3d 659
     (Pa. Super. 2016), is of particular note.     In Volk, there was an
    unexplained 21-month delay in the PCRA court that allowed Volk’s sentence
    to expire prior to the PCRA court addressing the substance of the petition.
    Even though the delay was not attributable to Volk, pursuant to the strict
    application of section 9534(a)(1)(i), he was not entitled to relief. Instantly,
    Plunkett’s sentence expired before the certified record was transmitted to
    our Court. Our review of the certified record finds no improper procedural
    delay in the transmittal of the record to our Court. Nonetheless, we could
    not have reviewed this case prior to the expiration of Plunkett’s sentence.
    In light of reasoning found in Ahlborn, Turner, Stultz, and Volk, we
    find the statutory requirement that a PCRA petitioner be currently serving
    the sentence is applicable to the instant circumstance where the PCRA
    court’s order was issued while petitioner was still serving the required
    sentence, but that sentence terminated prior to the resolution of his appeal.
    Because Plunkett’s sentence has expired, he is no longer entitled to
    PCRA relief. Accordingly, we affirm the PCRA court’s order of June 19, 2015.
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    Order affirmed.
    Judgment Entered.
    Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
    Prothonotary
    Date: 12/2/2016
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