Com. v. Howard, M.

J-S56012-20
2022 PA Super 189COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
: PENNSYLVANIA
:
v. :
:
:
MELVIN HOWARD :
:
Appellant : No. 2821 EDA 2019
Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered September 11, 2019
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at
No(s): CP-51-CR-0304271-1988
BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., KUNSELMAN, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*
OPINION BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED NOVEMBER 9, 2022
Appellant, Melvin Howard, appeals from the September 11, 2019 order
dismissing, as untimely, his petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief
Act (“PCRA”), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546. This Court originally affirmed that
order by opinion filed on April 20, 2020, therein agreeing with PCRA court that
Appellant had failed to demonstrate that the contents of a state government
report on capital punishment constituted newly-discovered facts under Section
9545(b)(1)(ii) so as to excuse the untimeliness of his petition. However, our
Supreme Court subsequently vacated our decision and remanded for this
Court to apply its holding in Commonwealth v. Small, 238 A.3d 1267 (Pa.
2020) (disavowing the ‘public record presumption’ as violative of the plain text
of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii)). See Commonwealth v. Howard, 249 A.3d 1229____________________________________________
* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-S56012-20
(Pa. Super. 2021), vacated and remanded, 266 A.3d 1067 (Pa. 2021) (per
curiam order). After careful reconsideration of our prior decision and Small,
and for the reasons set forth herein, we again affirm the order dismissing
Appellant’s PCRA petition as untimely.
The facts underlying Appellant’s conviction are not germane to this
appeal. The PCRA court described the relevant procedural history of this case
as follows:
On September 14, 1989, a jury found [Appellant] guilty of first[-
]degree murder and related charges in connection with the
stabbing death of Clarence Woodlock. During the penalty phase,
the jury returned a verdict of death for the murder. [Appellant]
appealed this judgment of sentence; his sentence was affirmed by
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on August 8, 1994.
Commonwealth v. Howard, 645 A.2d 1300 (Pa. 1994).
On May 11, 1995, [Appellant] filed his first PCRA petition, raising
several claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. This petition
was dismissed by the PCRA court and subsequently affirmed by
the Sup[reme] Court on October 1, 1998. Commonwealth v.
Howard, 719 A.2d 233 (Pa. 1998). On July 17, 1999, he filed his
second PCRA petition, claiming that the prosecutor’s use of
peremptory strikes during jury selection was racially
discriminatory in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79(1986). This petition was dismissed as untimely on February 24,
2000. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal on January 22,
2002. Commonwealth v. Howard, 788 A.2d 351 (Pa. 2002).
On September 16, 2011, by agreement between the parties, the
Honorable Carolyn Temin vacated [Appellant]’s death sentence
and resentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility
of parole.[1]
____________________________________________
1 Appellant adds that:
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
-2-
J-S56012-20
On August 23, 2018, [Appellant] filed his third PCRA petition, the
matter before this [c]ourt. [Appellant] is represented by Ayanna
Williams, Esquire[,] of the Federal Community Defender Office for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In his petition, [Appellant]
alleges a Batson violation based upon the findings of the [2018
Joint State Government Commission Report on Capital
Punishment (“JSGC Report”)]. He claims that the commission’s
findings on jury selection in capital cases is a newly-discovered
fact that allows him to overcome the time bar. On May 3, 2019,
the Commonwealth filed its Motion to Dismiss. On May 21, 2019,
[Appellant] replied to the Commonwealth’s Motion to Dismiss. On
August 6, 2019, this [c]ourt sent [Appellant] a Notice of Intent [to
Dismiss the Petition without a hearing] [p]ursuant to
[Pa.R.Crim.P.] 907. On August 26, 2019, [Appellant] replied to
the [Rule] 907 Notice. On September 11, 2019, this [c]ourt
dismissed [Appellant]’s petition as untimely and without merit.
On October 2, 2019, [Appellant] appealed this dismissal to the
Superior Court.
PCRA Court Opinion (“PCO”), 6/30/20, at 2-3. The PCRA court did not order
Appellant to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement, and Appellant did not file one.
The court issued its Rule 1925(a) opinion on June 30, 2020.
____________________________________________
While the second PCRA petition was pending, [Appellant] filed a
Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The District Court
held the federal proceedings in suspense pending the exhaustion
of [Appellant]’s claim that, in light of Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S.
304 (2001) [(prohibiting the execution of inmates with severe
mental disabilities)], his death sentence was unconstitutional. On
September 16, 2011, … [Judge] Temin…, by agreement of the
parties, vacated Appellant’s death sentence and resentenced
[him] to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Appellant’s Post-Remand Brief at 3. Our review of the January 28, 2011
hearing addressing Appellant’s Atkins claim, and the September 15, 2011
resentencing hearing, indicates that Appellant either met the criteria for relief
under Atkins due to severe mental impairment, or that the Commonwealth
declined to oppose that claim after conducting its own investigation. See N.T.,
1/28/11, at 1-10.
-3-
J-S56012-20
Appellant previously presented the following questions for our review:
I. Did the court below err in concluding that the claims raised in
[Appellant]’s successor PCRA petition were untimely under 42
Pa.C.S. § 9545(b), where the newly[-]discovered evidence
included admissions from the [JSGC Report] regarding racial
disparities in jury selection?
II. Did the court below err in denying a new trial where [Appellant]
pled and proved that racial discrimination during jury selection
violated his rights to a jury of his peers and to be free from cruel
punishments under Article I, Sections 6 and 13 of the
Pennsylvania Constitution?
Appellant’s Pre-Remand Brief at 2.
In our prior Opinion, we did not reach Appellant’s second question,
having concluded that the JSGC Report did not meet the criteria for a newly-
discovered fact under Section 9545(b)(1)(ii), because there was “no
revelation in the JSGC Report of a specific error in Appellant’s case, an
admission of such an error by the prosecutor or the District Attorney’s office,
nor an admission of a systemic error that necessarily impacted Appellant’s
case.” Howard, 249 A.3d at 1239. In its per curiam order vacating our
decision, the Supreme Court did not explain its rationale for remanding in light
of Small. Although this Court did not explicitly rely on the public record
presumption in affirming the PCRA court’s order denying relief, Justice
Dougherty, in a concurring statement joined by Justice Mundy, explained that
there were “stray statements” in our decision, including block-quoted portions
of the PCRA court’s Rule 1925(a) opinion, “that could arguably be interpreted
as conflicting with the holding in Small[,]” and that this Court had expressed
-4-
J-S56012-20
its agreement with those block quotes without qualification. Howard, 266
A.3d at 1069–70 (Dougherty, J., concurring).2
Upon remand, we granted Appellant’s unopposed motion for
supplemental briefing on January 28, 2022. Appellant now presents the
following questions for our review:
I. Is remand to the [PCRA court] appropriate where the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court has directed that this PCRA petition
be analyzed under … Small[], and where the [PCRA court] has
not yet had an opportunity to do so?
II. Did the [PCRA court] err in concluding that the claims raised in
[Appellant]’s … [PCRA] petition were untimely under 42 Pa.C.S. §
9545(b), where the new facts included recent findings from the
[JSGC] regarding racial discrimination in jury selection?
III. Did the [PCRA court] err in considering [Appellant]’s claims on
the merits after determining that it lacked jurisdiction?
IV. Did the [PCRA court] err in denying the PCRA petition on the
merits where [Appellant] showed that racial discrimination during
jury selection violated his rights under Article I, Sections 6 and 13
of the Pennsylvania Constitution?
Appellant’s Post-Remand Brief at 2.
As noted above, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has directed this
Court to reconsider, in light of Small, our decision affirming the denial of
Appellant’s PCRA petition as untimely. In general, we review “an order
dismissing or denying a PCRA petition” as to “whether the findings of the PCRA
____________________________________________
2 Justice Dougherty further opined that he did not believe our decision
“intended to” violate, nor “actually” violated the holding in Small, but he
believed a remand to this Court was appropriate because “it could appear”
that this Court had “endorsed statements by the PCRA court regarding the
now-defunct public record presumption[.]” Id. at 1070 (Dougherty, J.,
concurring).
-5-
J-S56012-20
court are supported by the record and are free from legal error.”
Commonwealth v. Reid, 259 A.3d 395, 405–06 (Pa. 2021). Appellant “has
the burden to persuade this Court that the PCRA court erred and that such
error requires relief.” Commonwealth v. Wholaver, 177 A.3d 136, 144–
45 (Pa. 2018).
As to legal questions, “we apply a de novo standard of review to the
PCRA court’s legal conclusions[,]” Commonwealth v. Roney, 79 A.3d 595,
603 (Pa. 2013), and this Court “may affirm a PCRA court’s order on any legal
basis.” Commonwealth v. Parker, 249 A.3d 590, 595 (Pa. Super. 2021).
As to factual questions, “our scope of review is limited to the findings of the
PCRA court and the evidence of record, viewed in the light most favorable to
the prevailing party” in the lower court. Commonwealth v. Burkett, 5 A.3d
1260, 1267 (Pa. Super. 2010). “Great deference is granted to the findings of
the PCRA court, and these findings will not be disturbed unless they have no
support in the certified record.” Commonwealth v. Daniels, 947 A.2d 795,
798 (Pa. Super. 2008).
Here, the PCRA court denied Appellant’s petition as untimely, and the
PCRA’s time limitations implicate our jurisdiction and may not be altered or
disregarded in order to address the merits of a petition. See Commonwealth
v. Bennett, 930 A.2d 1264, 1267 (Pa. 2007). Under the PCRA, any petition
for post-conviction relief, including a second or subsequent one, must be filed
within one year of the date the judgment of sentence becomes final, unless
-6-
J-S56012-20
one of the following exceptions set forth in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(i)-(iii)
applies:
(b) Time for filing petition.--
(1) Any petition under this subchapter, including a second
or subsequent petition, shall be filed within one year of the
date the judgment becomes final, unless the petition alleges
and the petitioner proves that:
(i) the failure to raise the claim previously was the
result of interference by government officials with the
presentation of the claim in violation of the
Constitution or laws of this Commonwealth or the
Constitution or laws of the United States;
(ii) the facts upon which the claim is predicated were
unknown to the petitioner and could not have been
ascertained by the exercise of due diligence; or
(iii) the right asserted is a constitutional right that was
recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States
or the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after the time
period provided in this section and has been held by
that court to apply retroactively.
42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(i)-(iii). Additionally, Section 9545(b)(2) requires that
any petition attempting to invoke one of these exceptions “be filed within one
year of the date the claim could have been presented.” 42 Pa.C.S. §
9545(b)(2).
In his second issue, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in
dismissing his PCRA petition as untimely, contending that his discovery of the
JSGC Report and its contents constitute new facts that excuse the
untimeliness of his petition under Section 9545(b)(1)(ii). Relatedly, in his first
issue, Appellant advocates that we remand to the PCRA court so that it can
-7-
J-S56012-20
reconsider his petition in light of Small, after holding a hearing to consider
Appellant’s factual averments regarding his knowledge of, and due diligence
in, discovering the new facts alleged. For ease of disposition, we start our
analysis with Appellant’s second claim.
In his pre-remand brief, Appellant described the new facts as follows:
Prompted by troubling reports from the American Bar Association
… and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Committee on Racial and
Gender Bias in the Justice System…, the Pennsylvania Senate
directed the JSGC “to conduct a study on capital punishment in
this Commonwealth,” covering eighteen specific topics and
problems. Pa. Sen. Res. 6 at 2-6 (Dec. 6, 2011). On June 25,
2018, the JSGC issued its report entitled “Capital Punishment in
Pennsylvania: The Report of the Task Force and Advisory
Committee.”[3]
The JSGC Report revealed that racial disparities in jury selection
pervasively and persistently infected the Commonwealth’s capital
prosecution system and that Pennsylvania should adopt structural
and procedural reforms to address such defects. [Appellant]’s
petition for PCRA and habeas relief, which raised constitutional
violations arising from discriminatory jury selection practices in
capital prosecutions, was filed within sixty days of the publication
of the JSGC Report.
Appellant’s Pre-Remand Brief at 4 (footnote omitted). He further argued that:
The discriminatory exercise of peremptory challenges against
black prospective jurors in [Appellant]’s case was consistent with
the systematic racial discrimination in jury selection identified in
the JSGC Report. The prosecutor in [Appellant]’s case struck 1.5
times as many black prospective jurors as white, which is
statistically significant. The intentional and pervasive practice of
race discrimination infringed on [Appellant]’s rights to be tried by
a jury that was representative of the community and subjected
____________________________________________
3As of the date of the filing of this decision, the JSGC Report can be found at
http://jsg.legis.state.pa.us/publications.cfm?JSPU_PUBLN_ID=472.
-8-
J-S56012-20
him to a cruel punishment, in violation of Pennsylvania’s
Constitution.
Id. at 42.
In his post-remand brief, Appellant further maintains that:
Most relevant to [Appellant]’s instant petition, the JSGC Report
found that “the death qualification process systematically
eliminates jurors who belong to certain social and demographic
groups and can also change the way in which case facts are
interpreted and discussed by a jury.” [JSGC Report] at 11
(quotations omitted). Death qualification skews jury composition
“in ways that consistently disadvantage capital defendants.” Id.
at 26. The report recommended a number of structural reforms,
including the “enactment of a Racial Justice Act to statutorily allow
death sentences to be challenged on a statistical basis,” i.e.,
without necessarily establishing purposeful, conscious
discrimination. Id. at 12, 31.
Appellant’s Post-Remand Brief at 10.
Appellant filed the petition under review on August 23, 2018, “within
sixty days of the publication of the JSGC Report[.]” Id. at 11. Appellant avers
that he
did not know, prior to the JSGC Report, that “the death
qualification process systematically eliminates jurors who belong
to certain social and demographic groups,” which in turn,
“change[s] the way in which case facts are interpreted and
discussed by a jury.” JSGC Report [at] 11. Nor did [Appellant]
know that the commission would recommend a new procedure for
granting relief in cases, like his own, that involve racial disparities.
Id. at 12, 31. [Appellant] could neither have learned these facts
through due diligence nor anticipated that the JSGC would have
found such systematic defects in the jury selection process in
Pennsylvania capital cases. [Appellant] therefore meets the
timeliness standard under [Section] 9545(b)(1)(ii).
Appellant’s Post-Remand Brief at 12. As the PCRA court declined to hold a
hearing, it made no factual findings regarding Appellant’s averments that
-9-
J-S56012-20
these ostensible new facts were not previously known to him and that he could
not have ascertained those facts at an earlier time.
As this Court has previously stated:
The timeliness exception set forth in Section 9545(b)(1)(ii)
requires a petitioner to demonstrate he did not know the facts
upon which he based his petition and could not have learned those
facts earlier by the exercise of due diligence. Commonwealth v.
Bennett, 930 A.2d 1264, 1271 (Pa. 2007). Due diligence
demands that the petitioner take reasonable steps to protect his
own interests. Commonwealth v. Carr, 768 A.2d 1164, 1168
(Pa. Super. 2001). A petitioner must explain why he could not
have learned the new fact(s) earlier with the exercise of due
diligence. Commonwealth v. Breakiron, 781 A.2d 94, 98 (Pa.
2001); Commonwealth v. Monaco, 996 A.2d 1076, 1080 (Pa.
Super. 2010)…. This rule is strictly enforced. Id. Additionally,
the focus of this exception “is on the newly[-]discovered facts, not
on a newly[-]discovered or newly[-]willing source for previously
known facts.” Commonwealth v. Marshall, 947 A.2d 714, 720
(Pa. 2008)….
The timeliness exception set forth at Section 9545(b)(1)(ii) has
often mistakenly been referred to as the “after-discovered
evidence” exception. Bennett, supra at … 1270. “This shorthand
reference was a misnomer, since the plain language of subsection
(b)(1)(ii) does not require the petitioner to allege and prove a
claim of ‘after-discovered evidence.’” Id. Rather, as an initial
jurisdictional threshold, Section 9545(b)(1)(ii) requires a
petitioner to allege and prove that there were facts unknown to
him and that he exercised due diligence in discovering those facts.
See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(ii); Bennett, supra. Once
jurisdiction is established, a PCRA petitioner can present a
substantive after-discovered-evidence claim. See 42 Pa.C.S. §
9543(a)(2)(vi) (explaining that to be eligible for relief under PCRA,
petitioner must plead and prove by preponderance of evidence
that conviction or sentence resulted from, inter alia, unavailability
at time of trial of exculpatory evidence that has subsequently
become available and would have changed outcome of trial if it
had been introduced). In other words[:]
[S]ubsection (b)(1)(ii) has two components, which must be
alleged and proved. Namely, the petitioner must establish
- 10 -
J-S56012-20
that: 1) the facts upon which the claim was predicated were
unknown and 2) could not have been ascertained by the
exercise of due diligence. If the petitioner alleges and
proves these two components, then the PCRA court has
jurisdiction over the claim under this subsection.
Bennett, … 930 A.2d at 1272 (internal citations omitted)
(emphasis in original). Thus, the “new facts” exception at Section
9545(b)(1)(ii) does not require any merits analysis of an
underlying after-discovered-evidence claim. Id. at … 1271.
Commonwealth v. Brown, 111 A.3d 171, 176–77 (Pa. Super. 2015) (some
citations reformatted; footnote omitted).
Appellant argues that the PCRA court’s reasoning for deeming his PCRA
petition untimely was undoubtably grounded in the now-defunct public record
presumption. The PCRA court determined that Appellant could not invoke the
newly-discovered evidence exception set forth in Section 9545(b)(1)(ii)
because its
review of the JSGC [R]eport shows that the underlying data used
to perform the statistical analysis was not new and was part of the
public domain before the report’s release. Since the underlying
data was known and available to the public for years prior to the
report’s release, and [Appellant] has been represented by counsel
so the pro se defendant exception does not apply, this report
cannot be considered a newly-discovered fact for purposes of
overcoming the time bar.
PCO at 8. In light of Small, this rationale for deeming Appellant’s petition
untimely without exception is unsustainable.
The public record presumption generally held that information available
in the public record could not be deemed ‘unknown to the petitioner’ for
purposes of the timeliness exception set forth in Section 9545(b)(1)(ii). See
Commonwealth v. Burton, 158 A.3d 618, 624–25 (Pa. 2017) (compiling
- 11 -
J-S56012-20
cases applying the public record presumption). The presumption originated
in Commonwealth v. Lark, 746 A.2d 585, 588 (Pa. 2000), overruled by
Small, with a “two-sentence discussion, relegated to a footnote” that “did not
address the relevant statutory language” of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii). Burton,
158 A.3d at 632. Citing that footnote from Lark, the public record
presumption was later applied by our Supreme Court in cases such as
Commonwealth v. Whitney, 817 A.2d 473, 478 (Pa. 2003) (holding that a
study of the criminal justice system did not constitute newly-discovered
evidence under Section 9545(b)(1)(ii) where the underlying statistics were
part of the public record), overruled by Small, 238 A.3d at 1286 n.12, and
Commonwealth v. Chester, 895 A.2d 520, 523 (Pa. 2006) (holding
evidence of an arrest was not ‘unknown’ to the petitioner because it was a
matter of public record), overruled by Small, 238 A.3d at 1286 n.12.
The resiliency of the public record presumption was first questioned in
Bennett. Bennett had argued that his discovery of the dismissal of his prior
appeal (due to his prior counsel’s failure to file a brief) was a newly-discovered
fact for purposes of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii), even though the dismissal of his
appeal had been a matter of public record for some time. Bennett, 930 A.2d
at 1274. Distinguishing the matter from the circumstances in Chester, the
Bennett Court determined that it was “illogical to believe that a counsel that
abandons his or her client for a requested appeal will inform his client that his
case has been dismissed because of his own failures” and, “in light of the fact
that counsel abandoned” his incarcerated client, there was “no other way in
- 12 -
J-S56012-20
which a prisoner could access” the public record that revealed that the appeal
had been dismissed. Id. at 1275. Thus, in Bennett, the Supreme Court
began to recognize cracks in the logic underlying the public record
presumption, particularly with respect to incarcerated, pro se litigants.
Those cracks widened in Burton, wherein our Supreme Court
categorically rejected the application of the public record presumption to
incarcerated, pro se litigants. Burton, 158 A.3d at 638 (holding that “the
presumption that information which is of public record cannot be deemed
‘unknown’ for purposes of subsection 9545(b)(1)(ii) does not apply to pro se
prisoner petitioners”). In 1993, Burton was convicted of first-degree murder
in a case involving the death of his fellow inmate, Seth Floyd. Id. at 621.
Burton’s co-defendant, Melvin Goodwine, was convicted of conspiracy. Id. In
2009, Goodwine filed an expungement motion in which he admitted to killing
Floyd in self-defense, and further stated that he was advised not to raise that
defense during his 1993 joint trial with Burton. Id. at 622. Burton did not
discover Goodwine’s expungement motion until 2013, when his case was
being reviewed by a staff attorney with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
Id. Citing Bennett, Burton filed a PCRA petition alleging that his 2013
discovery of Goodwine’s 2009 expungement motion met the requirements of
Section 9545(b)(1)(ii). Id. The PCRA court denied his petition as untimely.
On appeal, this Court held that the public record presumption was not
absolute, holding instead that “the presumption of access to information
available in the public domain does not apply where the untimely PCRA
- 13 -
J-S56012-20
petitioner is pro se” and incarcerated. Commonwealth v. Burton, 121 A.3d
1063, 1073 (Pa. Super. 2015) (en banc).
Our Supreme Court affirmed, finding that “the application of the public
record presumption to pro se prisoners is contrary to the plain language of
subsection 9545(b)(1)(ii) and was imposed without any apparent
consideration of a pro se prisoner’s actual access to information of public
record.” Burton, 158 A.3d at 638. The Burton Court further advised that,
in determining whether a petitioner qualifies for the exception to
the PCRA’s time requirements pursuant to subsection
9545(b)(1)(ii), the PCRA court must first determine whether “the
facts upon which the claim is predicated were unknown to the
petitioner.” In some cases, this may require a hearing. After the
PCRA court makes a determination as to the petitioner’s
knowledge, it should then proceed to consider whether, if the facts
were unknown to the petitioner, the facts could have been
ascertained by the exercise of due diligence, including an
assessment of the petitioner’s access to public records.
Id. (footnote omitted).
Thus, Burton effectively created an exception to the public record
presumption, an exception the PCRA court refused to apply in this case
because Appellant had been represented by counsel since his 1989
conviction.4 PCO at 8. However, the Burton exception to the public record
presumption was short-lived, as our Supreme Court ultimately abandoned the
public record presumption entirely in Small.
____________________________________________
4 It is evident that Appellant was represented by counsel during the litigation
of his prior PCRA petitions, although it is not clear if he has been continuously
represented at all times since his conviction.
- 14 -
J-S56012-20
Small and his co-defendant, Larry Bell, were convicted in 1983 of
second-degree murder and related offenses that occurred during the armed
robbery of a marijuana dealer in 1981. Small, 238 A.3d at 1271–72. In
2014, Small filed a facially untimely PCRA petition, his fourth, alleging his
discovery of Bell’s testimony at a 1993 PCRA hearing that differed from his
testimony at trial. Id. at 1272-74. It was undisputed “that the 1993
transcripts were public records.” Id. at 1274. However, Small first discovered
the existence of the transcripts in 2013 in a Superior Court opinion from 1998,
and he filed a PCRA petition thirteen months later. Id. Small subsequently
exercised “exceptional diligence” in his attempts to obtain the 1993 transcript
until, finally, with the assistance of counsel, he obtained a copy in September
of 2017. Id. Small then filed an amended petition within 60 days. Id.5 The
PCRA court determined that Small met the requirements of Section
9545(b)(1)(ii), thereby excusing the facial untimeliness of his petition, and
further determined that he was entitled to a new trial on the merits of his
after-discovered evidence claim. Small, 238 A.3d at 1275.
This Court reversed following the Commonwealth’s appeal, holding,
inter alia, “that Bell’s 1993 transcripts were a matter of public record, and
therefore could not be considered ‘unknown’ to Small[,]” and that the Burton
____________________________________________
5 Prior to December 24, 2018, Section 9545(b)(2) provided only a 60-day
window to file a petition invoking a timeliness exception after the new claim
could have been presented. See Commonwealth v. Tedford, 228 A.3d 891,
902 n.7 (Pa. 2020). Here, because Appellant filed his petition on August 23,
2018, he was subject to the 60-day time limit.
- 15 -
J-S56012-20
exception to the public record presumption did not apply because Small had
been represented by counsel from 2008 to 2013. Id. at 1275-76 (citations to
the Superior Court’s memorandum decision omitted). Our Supreme Court
ultimately affirmed the Superior Court’s order on alterative grounds, holding
that Small had failed to satisfy the terms of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii) because he
had “known the substance of Bell’s version of the events since their joint trial
in 1983, and neither Bell’s later summary nor his omission of minor details
constitute[d] a ‘new story’ of the events.” Id. at 1287. However, the Small
Court rejected the lower court’s application of the public record presumption,
holding that
because the public record presumption stands in tension with the
plain language of the newly discovered fact exception, because we
have recognized its deficiencies already in Burton, and because
the instant appeal presents a direct challenge to its continued
application, it is our prerogative and our duty to steer our
precedent back toward the language of the statute from which we
have strayed. Accordingly, we disavow the public record
presumption. To the extent that earlier decisions, including our
own, relied upon and applied that presumption to reject a
petitioner’s claim, they now are overruled.
Id. at 1285–86 (footnotes omitted).
Instantly, the PCRA court clearly applied the public record presumption
in deeming Appellant’s petition untimely without exception. See PCO at 8
(determining that the JSGC Report could not “be considered a newly-
discovered fact for purposes of overcoming the time bar” because “the
underlying data was known and available to the public for years prior to the
report’s release,” and because “the pro se defendant exception[,]” i.e., the
- 16 -
J-S56012-20
Burton exception to the public record presumption, did not apply due to
Appellant’s prior representation by counsel). Since the PCRA court ruled on
that basis, and without the benefit of an evidentiary hearing, it failed to
evaluate Appellant’s factual averments regarding the two elements necessary
to prove an exception under Section 9545(b)(1)(ii), those averments being
that “the JSGC Report’s conclusions and recommendations, and much of its
underlying data, were unknown” to Appellant before the report’s publication,
Appellant’s PCRA Petition, 8/23/18, at 6 ¶ 17, and that he “could not have
previously discovered the factual predicates for his claims by exercising due
diligence[,]” id. at 7 ¶ 18. Hence, Appellant argues in his first issue that this
Court should remand for the PCRA court to assess these factual averments.
However, the PCRA court provided an alternative legal analysis for
determining that Appellant failed to prove the applicability of the newly-
discovered evidence exception, based on its reading of the JSGC report
juxtaposed against our Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v.
Chmiel, 173 A.3d 617 (Pa. 2017).6 PCO at 8-9. Thus, we now turn to
consider the PCRA court’s alternative analysis, which first requires some
discussion of our Supreme Court’s ruling in Chmiel.
____________________________________________
6 Appellant repeatedly cited Chmiel in his petition. Particularly relevant here,
Appellant cited Chmiel for the proposition that “a governmental agency’s
public admission of widespread, systemic error in criminal prosecutions, like
the JSGC Report…, itself represents a new fact triggering the 60-day time
period to file a successive PCRA claim.” Appellant’s PCRA Petition, 8/23/18,
at 6-7 ¶ 17.
- 17 -
J-S56012-20
In Chmiel, the appellant filed an untimely PCRA petition, “asserting that
his conviction and death sentence rested upon unreliable hair comparison
evidence in violation of the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the
United States Constitution….” Chmiel, 173 A.3d at 621. Chmiel argued that
an FBI press release (and a related Washington Post article) regarding
historically flawed hair analysis constituted new facts that satisfied the
timeliness exception of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii). The press release was
entitled “FBI Testimony on Microscopic Hair Analysis Contained
Errors in at Least 90 Percent of Cases in Ongoing Review.” In the
press release, the FBI publicly disclosed the initial findings of an
ongoing investigation undertaken jointly by the Department of
Justice…, the FBI, the Innocence Project, and the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers…. The investigation
scrutinized the testimony of FBI analysts concerning microscopic
hair comparison analysis prior to 2000, the point at which
mitochondrial DNA testing became routine in the FBI. The review
was prompted by exonerations of three men who had been
convicted, in part, based upon the scientifically flawed testimony
of three FBI hair examiners. The review encompassed cases in
which FBI microscopic hair comparison was used to link a
defendant to a crime in both the federal and state systems. The
FBI concluded that its examiners’ testimony in at least 90% of
cases contained erroneous statements. The FBI’s findings
“confirm[ed] that the FBI microscopic hair analysts committed
widespread, systematic error, grossly exaggerating the
significance of their data under oath with the consequence of
unfairly bolstering the prosecution’s case….”
Id. (citations omitted).
Importantly, the “revelation was the first time the FBI acknowledged
that its microscopic hair analysts committed widespread, systemic error by
grossly exaggerating the significance of their data in criminal trials.” Id. at
625. In denying Chmiel’s petition, the PCRA court had “narrowly construed
- 18 -
J-S56012-20
the newly[-]discovered[-]facts exception in holding that the underlying
information contained in the FBI press release was simply confirmation of
information that was already available in the public domain,” relying on our
Supreme Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Edmiston, 65 A.3d 339 (Pa.
2013), overruled by Small. Id. at 625-26. The Chmiel Court summarized
its prior holding in Edmiston as follows:
Edmiston involved a PCRA petition filed by a capital defendant
who, like Chmiel, was convicted following the introduction of hair
comparison analysis testimony at trial. On February 18, 2009, the
National Academy of Sciences published a report entitled
“Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path
Forward” (hereinafter, “the NAS Report”). The NAS Report was a
review of prior studies and articles, as well as the National
Academy of Sciences’ conclusion that “there was no scientific
support for the use of microscopic hair analysis for
individualization that is not accompanied by mitochondrial DNA
analysis.” Edmiston, 65 A.3d at 351.
On April 17, 2009, Edmiston raised a facially untimely claim for
post-conviction relief premised upon the NAS Report. Edmiston,
65 A.3d at 344. Edmiston relied upon the NAS Report in
attempting to establish the newly[-]discovered[-]fact exception to
the one-year time bar. Edmiston, 65 A.3d at 350–51; 42 Pa.C.S.
§ 9545(b)(1)(ii). Edmiston asserted that the NAS Report was a
newly[-]discovered fact that supported his claim of actual
innocence, because it demonstrated that the Commonwealth’s
hair analysis evidence was “false, misleading, and unreliable.”
Edmiston, 65 A.3d at 351.
On appeal from the PCRA court’s dismissal of Edmiston’s petition
as untimely, this Court addressed the applicability of the newly[-
]discovered[-]facts exception to the PCRA’s jurisdictional time
restrictions. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(ii). We observed that,
“to constitute facts which were unknown to a petitioner and could
not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence, the
information must not be of public record and must not be facts
that were previously known but are now presented through a
newly discovered source.” Edmiston, 65 A.3d at 352.6
- 19 -
J-S56012-20
Evaluating Edmiston’s reliance upon the NAS Report as a newly
discovered fact, this Court explained that “the ‘fact’ [that
Edmiston] relies upon as newly discovered is not the publication
of the NAS Report, but the analysis of the scientific principles
supporting hair comparison analysis.” Id. This Court held that
the “fact” contained within the NAS Report was not new, as
questions about the reliability of hair comparison analysis had
existed in various sources prior to publication of the NAS Report:
“Specifically, the NAS Report refers to various studies and reports
published in the public domain as early as 1974 and as recently
as 2007. As such, the information relied upon by [Edmiston] in
the Report constitutes facts that were in the public domain and
could have been discovered by [Edmiston] through the exercise
of due diligence prior to the filing of his … Petition.” Edmiston,
65 A.3d at 352. This analysis led the Court to conclude that the
NAS Report failed to satisfy the timeliness exception for newly
discovered facts.
6 We recently held that “the presumption that information
which is of public record cannot be deemed ‘unknown’ for
purposes of subsection 9545(b)(1)(ii) does not apply to pro
se prisoner petitioners.” … Burton, … 158 A.3d [at] 637-
38….
Chmiel, 173 A.3d at 623–24.
The Chmiel Court ultimately rejected the PCRA court’s reliance on
Edmiston, distinguishing Chmiel’s claim as follows:
There are two newly discovered facts upon which
Chmiel’s underlying claim is predicated, both of which were
made public for the first time in the Washington Post article
and the FBI press release. First, the FBI publicly
admitted that the testimony and statements provided
by its analysts about microscopic hair comparison
analysis were erroneous in the vast majority of cases.
The FBI’s revelation reverberated throughout the country,
marking a “watershed in one of the country’s largest
forensic scandals,” precisely because it constituted a public
admission by the government agency that had propounded
the widespread use of such scientifically flawed testimony.
The revelation was the first time the FBI acknowledged that
its microscopic hair analysts committed widespread,
systemic error by grossly exaggerating the significance of
- 20 -
J-S56012-20
their data in criminal trials. The Washington Post article
acknowledged the novelty of the FBI’s disclosures: “While
unnamed federal officials previously acknowledged
widespread problems, the FBI until now has withheld
comment because findings might not be representative.”
Second, the FBI press release included the revelation that
the FBI had trained many state and local analysts to
provide the same scientifically flawed opinions in
state criminal trials.
With these newly discovered, material facts, the FBI press
release indicates that Surma’s[7] trial testimony may have
exceeded the limits of science and overstated to the jury the
significance of the microscopic hair analysis. Surma used
microscopic hair analysis in an attempt to link Chmiel to the
crime. The FBI now has publicly repudiated the use of
microscopic hair analysis to “link a criminal defendant to a
crime.” The FBI’s repudiation and disclosure about its role
in training state and local forensic examiners satisfies
Section 9545(b)(1)(ii), and entitles Chmiel to a merits
determination of his underlying claim.
Chmiel, 173 A.3d at 625–26 (emphasis added; citations to the record
omitted).
Here, in its alternative analysis, the PCRA court found that
the JSGC [R]eport is substantially different than the press release
in Chmiel. The press release in Chmiel contained an admission
of improper scientific analysis from the prosecutorial agency that
had been convicting defendants using this analysis. The JSGC
[R]eport, on the other hand, was released by an independent and
bipartisan governmental agency and does not include any
language that could be considered an admission of error by
prosecutors or the judiciary with respect to the imposition of the
death penalty. [Appellant] claims that the report contains “the
admission of widespread, systemic error in criminal prosecutions,”
however, this [c]ourt’s review of the text of the report did not
uncover such an admission. While the report does note areas of
concern and suggests recommendations, it does not go so far as
____________________________________________
7 Surma testified at Chmiel’s trial as the Commonwealth’s hair analysis expert.
- 21 -
J-S56012-20
to admit widespread, systemic error in criminal prosecutions. It
should also be noted that the task force members behind the
report are Pennsylvania state senators, unlike the press release in
Chmiel which was released by the FBI, a federal law enforcement
agency. Since the holding in Chmiel is inapplicable, this [c]ourt
properly dismissed [Appellant]’s petition as untimely since the
JSGC [R]eport was not a newly-discovered fact capable of
overcoming the PCRA’s time bar.
PCO at 8-9.
Thus, rather than relying on the Burton exception to the public record
presumption in determining that Appellant failed to satisfy the requirements
of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii), the PCRA court’s alternative analysis instead
focused on deficiencies regarding the nature and the source of the ostensible
new evidence. The court indicated that, unlike the FBI’s admission in Chmiel,
which had a direct link to expert evidence admitted in Chmiel’s trial to prove
his guilt, the JSGC Report contains no analogous admissions of misconduct or
faulty science regarding the selection of Appellant’s jury by either the
investigating agency involved in Appellant’s case or by the District Attorney’s
Office that prosecuted him. Thus, the PCRA court was unconvinced by
Appellant’s reliance on Chmiel as to whether he satisfied the requirements of
Section 9545(b)(1)(ii).
The Commonwealth agrees with the PCRA court that there is no
“analogous link” between the content of the JSGC Report in this case and the
FBI’s admissions in Chmiel. Commonwealth’s Post-Remand Brief at 19
(stating that Chmiel’s petition asserted that “the forensic examiner who
testified in [Chmiel’s] case was trained by the FBI and provided that same
- 22 -
J-S56012-20
scientifically unsupportable testimony[,]” which “demonstrated a link between
the newly discovered fact and [Chmiel’s] conviction, requiring a remand for
further factfinding”). By contrast, nothing in the JSGC Report speaks directly
to the manner or circumstances in which Appellant’s jury was selected beyond
generalities about the potential of death-qualified juries being biased against
capital defendants.
The Commonwealth concedes that, “in certain places, the [JSGC] Report
does, in fact, contain new facts” that might satisfy the requirements of Section
9545(b)(1)(ii), but that Appellant has failed to cite those facts or tie them to
a claim he could potentially raise if he overcomes the PCRA’s time bar. Id. at
5. The Commonwealth acknowledges that
no litigant could reasonably be expected to independently acquire
statistical data from the Department of Corrections regarding the
number of capitally sentenced individuals with IQs of 75 or lower.
JSGC Report[] at 7-8, 120-[]21. Nor would such a litigant have
access [to] statistics regarding the number of capitally sentenced
individuals receiving mental health services. [Id.] at 9-10, 124-
[]25.
Particularly after Small, supra, the Commonwealth also agrees
that statistics regarding the number of death sentences imposed
on defendants represented by court-appointed counsel were not
available before the [JSGC] Report. JSGC Report[] at 17, 75, 89.
Similarly, prior to the [JSGC] Report, statistics regarding the
percentage of death sentences overturned statewide due to
ineffective assistance of counsel could not realistically have been
developed independently by individual litigants. [Id.] at 183-
[]84. The Commonwealth agrees that statistical data such as this,
which took the preparers of the [JSGC] Report some six years to
gather and evaluate, constitute new evidence that a PCRA
petitioner could not have discovered sooner through the exercise
of due diligence. Small, 238 A.3d at 1286.
- 23 -
J-S56012-20
Commonwealth’s Post-Remand Brief at 7-8.
However, the Commonwealth notes that the JSGC Report separately
refers to conclusions drawn by other outside researchers and
entities—conclusions not based on any statistical data
independently developed or verified by the actual preparers of the
[JSGC] Report. Often these conclusions appear in quotation
marks. Although it states that an outside researcher reached
these conclusions, the [JSGC] Report does not explicitly vouch for
those conclusions as its own.
Such instances specifically include the passages cited in
[Appellant]’s brief. See[,] e.g.[,] JSGC Report[] at 11, 146[,]
cited in [Appellant’s Post-Remand Brief] at 10. There, in a context
distinct from any discussion of intentional discrimination by
prosecutors in the selection of capital juries, the [JSGC] Report
separately discusses the “death qualification” process. In
addressing the possible impact of that process on the composition
of capital juries, the [JSGC] Report quotes an article written by
Logan A. Yelderman, et. al., which appeared in a book entitled
Advances in Psychology and Law. JSGC Report[] at 11 n.73.
According to the Yelderman article:
Research examining the effects of death qualification on jury
composition suggests that death qualification often results
in juries that are biased in ways that consistently
disadvantage capital defendants.
[Id.] at 11, 146 (emphasis added).3 Importantly, although it
notes certain conclusions drawn by the Yelderman article, the
[JSGC] Report does not explain or examine the “research”
underlying those conclusions. Nor does the [JSGC] Report
explicitly endorse the validity of Professor Yelderman’s
conclusions, which “suggest” that death qualification can
inadvertently operate to exclude members of certain groups,
where disapproval of the death penalty is more pervasive.
Significantly, the [JSGC] Report does not explain how Yelderman
reached his conclusions and does not discuss any statistical
studies that support his conclusions. [Id.] at 146.
3 Although the [JSGC] Report does not explain who the
author is, an internet search discloses that Yelderman is “an
assistant professor of psychology in the Prairie View A&M
University College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology. He
- 24 -
J-S56012-20
has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of
Nevada, Reno. His research lies at the intersection of
religion, social psychology, and law. His primary interests
involve topics associated with religious fundamentalist
beliefs, insanity defense and death penalty decision-making,
emotion, and parole. Additional research interests involve
problem-solving courts, particularly juvenile drug treatment
courts.” http://www.pvamu.edu › cojjp.
Similarly, the Report quotes that portion of the Yelderman article
that states that “the death qualification process potentially results
in biased juries.” [Id.] at 145 (emphasis added). The Report
quotes the same article to the effect that “[t]he process likely
excludes those who strongly oppose the death penalty at a higher
rate than those who strongly support the death penalty.” [Id.] at
146 (emphasis added). Once again, the Report does not evaluate
or explain the basis for Yelderman’s conclusions regarding the
“potential” or “likely” impact of the death qualification process.
The [JSGC] Report notes, however, that in Wainwright v. Witt,
469 U.S. 412 (1985), the United States Supreme Court upheld the
process whereby participation in capital juries is limited to
venirepersons who are willing to consider imposing the death
penalty.
Notably, although [Appellant] claims that the Commonwealth
purposely employed discriminatory jury selection practices here,
his brief does not cite any section of the Report that specifically
addresses that issue.
Commonwealth’s Post-Remand Brief at 8-11.
The Commonwealth consequently maintains that Appellant cannot
benefit from the holding in Small, “because those sections of the JSGC Report
cited in both [Appellant’s] PCRA petition and his Brief do not contain the type
of new facts that can be found elsewhere in the Report--i.e.[,] factual
determinations based on statistics compiled and evaluated by the preparers
of the [JSGC] Report themselves.” Id. at 15. The Commonwealth argues
that “the portions relied upon by” Appellant are instead “conclusions drawn by
- 25 -
J-S56012-20
outside researcher Logan A. Yelderman regarding the impact of the death
qualification process on the composition of capital juries.” Id. at 16. The
Commonwealth notes that Yelderman “was not a member of the Advisory
Committee that prepared the [JSGC] Report[,]” the JSGC Report never
“explain[ed] the basis for Yelderman’s conclusions[,]” and that “the preparers
of the Report themselves [did not] independently verif[y] Yelderman’s
conclusions, either on the basis of Yelderman’s research or on the basis of
their own evaluation of statistical data from Pennsylvania.” Id. The
Commonwealth observes that “the quotations from the Yelderman article
seemingly address possibilities and likelihoods, rather than statistically
verifiable facts.” Id.
The Commonwealth contrasts these references to Yelderman’s
conclusions with portions of the JSGC Report that constitute statements “of
fact based on statistical data compiled by the preparers” of the JSGC Report.
Id. at 17. Furthermore, the Commonwealth argues that, “even if the [JSGC]
Report contained a new fact about the death qualification process, that new
fact would not support [Appellant]’s claim of purposeful prosecutorial
discrimination against African American venirepersons during his own trial”
because Appellant’s “brief does not cite to any facts in the Report that
specifically address issues relating to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79(1986).” Id. at 18. The Commonwealth concludes that since Appellant’s “new
fact[s are] not based on statistics compiled and evaluated by the preparers of
the JSGC Report and” where such facts would “not support [his] claim of
- 26 -
J-S56012-20
purposeful discrimination, this Court should affirm the PCRA court’s decision.”
Id. at 20.
Appellant responds that the Commonwealth misconstrues the nature of
the “new facts” he cites from the JSGC Report. He maintains that,
“[c]onsistent with his PCRA [P]etition, in both his pre- and post-remand
briefing to this Court, [Appellant] argued that the JSGC’s admissions and
recommendation related to race discrimination in jury selection are the new
facts on which he bases his PCRA petition.” Appellant’s Post-Remand Reply
Brief at 4. Specifically, Appellant first argues that:
The PCRA Petition relies on the JSGC’s admission, following an
internal investigation, that juries selected in Pennsylvania capital
cases like [Appellant]’s were shaped by a discriminatory jury
selection process that eliminated certain demographic groups.
See PCRA Petition [at] ¶¶ 11, 15, 17, 33. The JSGC based this
conclusion, in part, on a survey of existing social science
literature. However, contrary to the Commonwealth’s assertion,
[Appellant] does not contend that the discussion of the social
science literature itself is a “new fact” but rather that it is the
JSGC’s admission that gives rise to the PCRA court’s jurisdiction.
Appellant’s Post-Remand Reply Brief at 2-3.
Second, Appellant relies on “the recommendation endorsed by the JSGC
to remedy the systemic errors in capital jury selection….” Appellant’s Post-
Remand Reply Brief at 3 (emphasis in original). He avers that
[t]he JSGC [Report] recommended the “enactment of a Racial
Justice Act to statutorily allow death sentences to be challenged
on a statistical basis,” i.e., without necessarily establishing
purposeful, conscious discrimination. See, e.g., PCRA Petition
[at] ¶ 11. It would have been nonsensical for the JSGC to make
such a recommendation without first recognizing that the problem
- 27 -
J-S56012-20
of racial discrimination infected capital prosecutions in the
Commonwealth.
Appellant’s Post-Remand Reply Brief at 3-4.
In contrast with the petitioner’s successful invocation of Section
9545(b)(1)(ii) based upon the FBI’s admissions in Chmiel, we agree with the
Commonwealth that, here, the alleged admissions in the JSGC Report does
not constitute new facts upon which Appellant might eventually obtain relief.
Appellant has failed to cite evidence from the JSGC Report of the sort of
widespread, systemic error akin to the new facts addressed in Chmiel. In
Chmiel, the FBI admitted that its hair analysis was flawed in the vast majority
of cases, and that its own experts, and the experts trained by the FBI, had
given fatally flawed scientific opinion testimony concerning the strength of
that evidence in virtually every case in which hair analysis was presented.8
That provided a distinct and concrete link to the flawed evidence and related
scientific opinion testimony presented at Chmiel’s trial, where the
Commonwealth had called a witness, Surma, who had made the problematic
scientific claims on behalf of the prosecution. Thus, on their face, the new
facts in Chmiel held the potential to afford Chmiel a new trial based on after-
discovered evidence that directly refuted some of the evidence that had been
used to convict him.
____________________________________________
8 “[T]he FBI publicly admitted that the testimony and statements provided by
its analysts about microscopic hair comparison analysis were erroneous in the
vast majority of cases.” Chmiel, 173 A.3d at 625 (emphasis added).
- 28 -
J-S56012-20
There is no analogous admission in the instant case regarding the
prosecutor’s ostensible, discriminatory exclusion of jurors at Appellant’s
capital trial based on race, nor for any other issue regarding juror bias due to
the death qualification process. There has been no revelation in the JSGC
Report of a specific error in Appellant’s case, an admission of such an error by
the prosecutor or the District Attorney’s office, nor an admission of a systemic
error that necessarily impacted or was likely to have affected Appellant’s
conviction. To the contrary, we agree with the Commonwealth’s assessment
that the alleged admission in the JSGC Report is merely a quotation of a
conclusion from an outside scholar, Yelderman, who, based on research and
statistics neither discussed nor revealed in the report, surmised that “that the
death qualification process potentially results in biased juries.” JSGC Report
at 10-11 (quoting Logan A. Yelderman et al., Capital-izing Jurors: How Death
Qualification Relates to Jury Composition, Jurors’ Perceptions, & Trial
Outcomes, in Advances in Psychology & Law: Vol. 2, 27, 32 (B.H. Bornstein &
M.K. Miller eds. 2016) (emphasis added).9 Even if the JSGC Report can be
said to have endorsed these statements from the Yelderman Article, the
statements only speak to a potential of biased or unfairly excluded jurors due
to the death qualification process. It did not state or imply that potential
jurors from Appellant’s trial had been unfairly excluded by race, intentionally
or unintentionally, nor did it state that any of the jurors had actually been
____________________________________________
9 Hereinafter “Yelderman Article.”
- 29 -
J-S56012-20
biased in favor of finding him guilty. The JSGC Report also did not state that
there was a significant probability that either of these types of errors occurred.
Rather, the portions of the Yelderman Article discussed in the JSGC Report
that were cited by Appellant as newly-discovered facts in his PCRA petition
speak only of hypothesized potential of such errors due to the manner in which
jurors are qualified to try a capital case. Indeed, the manner in which the
JSGC Report discusses Yelderman’s research strongly suggests that further
inquiries are required to demonstrate the magnitude of the death qualification
process’s potential to affect juror demographics and biases.10, 11
____________________________________________
10 In describing Yelderman’s research, the JSGC Report indicates that that his
research “suggests that ‘the death qualification process facilitates
convictions[,]’” and that the “contention is that systematically excluding”
jurors based their unwillingness to issue a death sentence “leads to ‘increased
receptivity to guilt confirming evidence and aggravating factors while
simultaneously rejecting innocence confirming evidence and mitigating
factors.’” JSGC Report at 147 (quoting Yelderman Article at 47, 42) (emphasis
added). This language indicates that the JSGC Report is describing troubling-
yet-reasonable hypotheses that jurors are systemically selected for a pro-
conviction bias and/or disproportionated excluded by race via the death
qualification process, rather than a statement of fact about empirical research
demonstrating a final or definitive conclusion that jurors are, in fact, biased
or excluded on racial grounds by that process. Indeed, the JSGC Report then
admits that “[t]his research has not yet been judicially accepted[,]” citing
Yelderman’s own recommendations for further inquiry, such as using “actual
trials, trial videos, or reenactments … to increase the realism related to
participating in a capital trial[,]” suggesting that no such empirical research
to prove or verify Yelderman’s hypotheses has yet occurred. JSGC Report at
147 (quoting Yelderman Article at 48).
11Appellant appears to suggest that his failure to prove a link between the
JSGC Report and a specific and/or likely error in his own case constitutes
analysis on the merits of his underlying claim. See Appellant’s Post-Remand
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
- 30 -
J-S56012-20
____________________________________________
Brief at 6 (arguing that the Commonwealth’s assertion that he failed to
demonstrate a sufficiently close link between the newly-discovered facts and
his conviction “conflates the jurisdictional inquiry under [Section]
9545(b)(1)(ii) with the separate merits inquiry into whether a new fact is
sufficiently related to a petitioner’s claims”). We disagree. We assume for
purposes of our analysis under the newly-discovered-facts exception that the
portions of the JSGC Report cited by Appellant are credible, and that that they
are fairly construed as admissions by the state. Nevertheless, we conclude
that the nature of the admission—that potential risks exist of demographic
groups being excluded from juries and/or jurors being selected for a pro-
conviction bias due to death qualification—cannot alone demonstrate that
Appellant’s jurors were compromised in that manner. Stated another way,
even if Appellant could prove, on the merits of his underlying claims, that such
a potential existed when his jury was empaneled, that would fall far short of
proving any significant likelihood that the specific jurors in Appellant’s case
were compromised by the death qualification process.
As this Court explained while discussing Chmiel in Commonwealth v.
Robinson, 185 A.3d 1055, 1062 (Pa. Super. 2018): “[A] recognition of ‘the
underlying claim’ was relevant to Chmiel’s invocation of [Section]
9545(b)(1)(ii)…, even if that analysis did not assess the strength of those
newly-discovered facts as it bore on the likelihood of ultimately achieving
relief.” The Robinson Court noted that Section 9545(b)(1)(ii) provides a
“gatekeeping function” that requires at least some minimal assessment of how
a newly-discovered fact might ultimately affect a claim upon which relief might
ultimately be granted. See id. at 1061-62. Here, in rejecting Appellant’s
invocation of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii), we do not reject the credibility or weight
of Appellant’s ostensibly newly-discovered facts. We accept for purposes of
our analysis under the newly-discovered-fact exception that the JSGC Report
constitutes a government admission that the death qualification process has
the potential to exclude racial or other demographic groups
disproportionately, and/or to select for a pro-conviction bias. However, we
conclude that, even viewing these factual averments in a light most favorable
to him, those new facts would still not be of a nature or quality that could
ultimately provide him with relief on his underlying claim(s), because they
speak only to a potential of systemic error in all death penalty trials, rather
than a quantifiable likelihood that such a systemic error necessarily or
probably impacted Appellant’s case specifically.
- 31 -
J-S56012-20
Thus, Appellant fails to convince us that the ‘admissions’ cited from the
JSGC Report are of a nature or quality on par with, or even approaching, the
revelations that satisfied the timeliness exception of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii) in
Chmiel. The FBI’s admission in Chmiel was that the hair analysis actually
used to demonstrate Chmiel’s guilt was fundamentally flawed, directly
undermining confidence in the fairness of his conviction. Here, by contrast,
the ‘admissions’ cited by Appellant from the JSGC Report speak only to a
supposition that the death qualification process potentially biased jurors in
favor of guilt and/or excluded certain racial groups from the pool of eligible
jurors. In our view, such ‘admissions’ do not add any new facts of a higher
grade or quality regarding Appellant’s previously-litigated Batson claims, or
for any other claim premised on juror bias, because the new facts only speak
to a generalized potential that the death qualification process undermined the
fairness of the composition of Appellant’s jury.
We also conclude that the recommendations contained in the JSGC
Report cannot satisfy the requirements of Section 9545(b)(1)(ii). The JSGC
Report recommended as follows: “One remedy supported by the
subcommittee on procedure would be enactment of a Racial Justice Act to
statutorily allow death sentences to be challenged on a statistical basis, in
addition to purposeful discrimination.” JSGC Report at 149.
First, this recommendation does not satisfy the newly-discovered-fact
exception because it speaks exclusively to a potential legislative remedy for
death row inmates. As noted above, Appellant’s sentence has already been
- 32 -
J-S56012-20
commuted to life imprisonment and, therefore, he does not fall within the
scope of the proposed remedy. By its express terms, the subcommittee’s
recommendation does not address persons in Appellant’s situation, those
being individuals who were tried by a death-qualified jury, but who were not
sentenced to death or who are no longer subject to the prospect of capital
punishment.
Second, the recommendation is for a potential legislative remedy, one
that has not yet come into being. A proposed legislative remedy is a policy
aspiration, not a newly-discovered fact that is pertinent to an existing set of
legal claims. This recommendation adds nothing to Appellant’s ability to seek
relief under the current legal framework of his underlying claims, under
Batson or otherwise. To the contrary, the proposed relief is a tacit
acknowledgment that a legal remedy for statistical-based claims challenging
the death qualification process’s effect on jury composition and bias does not
yet exist.
Appellant argues that it “would have been nonsensical for the JSGC to
make such a recommendation without first recognizing that the problem of
racial discrimination infected capital prosecutions in the Commonwealth.”
Appellant’s Post-Remand Reply Brief at 3-4. While this may be true,
recognition of a potential systemic problem is not the same thing as an
admission of error, or even an admission of a likely error, in the empaneling
of every death-qualified jury. Rather, it is a proposal for how such issues
might be further examined and addressed in the future. Appellant’s argument
- 33 -
J-S56012-20
that such a remedy must exist now under the PCRA due to the JSGC’s
recommendation is mere bootstrapping. Accordingly, we conclude that the
JSGC’s recommendation also does not satisfy the requirements of Section
9545(b)(1)(ii). Thus, Appellant’s second claim lacks merit.
Because we conclude that Appellant cannot possibly satisfy Section
9545(b)(1)(ii) based on the admissions and recommendations he cited from
the JSGC Report, we ascertain no need to remand for an evidentiary hearing.
Furthermore, due to Appellant’s failure to successfully invoke an exception to
the PCRA’s timeliness requirements, we do not reach his third and fourth
claims addressing the merits of his underlying claim(s).12
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 11/09/2022
____________________________________________
12 Consequently, we do not address the PCRA court’s alterative analysis on
the merits of Appellant’s underlying Batson claim.
- 34 -