Com. v. Clarke, J, Com. v. Clarke, J, No. 1455 MDA 2016

Clarke pled guilty in 1997 to five counts of robbery and related offenses and received IP probation, later revoked in 1998 resulting in a prison term 25–75 years plus 40 years’ probation.
Clarke has filed multiple PCRA petitions; this is his fifth petition filed March 14, 2016.
The PCRA court issued a Rule 907 notice and dismissed Clarke’s petition in August 2016.
Clarke appealed the dismissal, filing a concise statement of errors under Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b).
Clarke challenges the legality of his sentence under Alleyne (2013) as applied via Montgomery (2016), arguing retroactive effect of a new constitutional right.
The Superior Court affirmed dismissal, holding the petition untimely and Alleyne/Montgomery not retroactive for relief.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Retroactivity of Alleyne under §9545(b)(1)(iii)	Clarke contends Montgomery makes Alleyne retroactive.	Commonwealth argues Alleyne does not apply retroactively on collateral review.	Alleyne not retroactive; Montgomery does not apply to Clarke's case.
Timeliness of the PCRA petition under §9545(b)	Clarke invokes newly-recognized constitutional right via Montgomery.	Petition untimely; Montgomery does not save it; no valid exception applies.	PCRA petition properly dismissed as untimely.

Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151 (2013) (any fact increasing the mandatory minimum is an element; not retroactive on collateral review)
Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016) (retroactivity of Miller v. Alabama in new substantive rule contexts)
Commonwealth v. Washington, 142 A.3d 810 (Pa. 2016) (Alleyne not retroactive on postconviction review)
Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012) (juvenile LWOP rule; retroactivity framework)
Commonwealth v. Valentine, 101 A.3d 801 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014) (Alleyne affects §9712 but retroactivity in collateral review remains disputed)