Com. v. Kiehlmeier, D., 1567 WDA 2015

On Sept. 11, 2012, while on parole and intoxicated, Donald Kiehlmeier rammed his car into two occupied vehicles (one a police vehicle), resisted arrest, and fought an officer; he refused breath/blood tests.
On Dec. 20, 2012, Kiehlmeier pled guilty to aggravated assault, resisting arrest, possession of a small amount of marijuana (Docket No. 3208-2012), and DUI (Docket No. 3217-2012).
Sentenced Feb. 13, 2013 to an aggregate 61 to 150 months; no post-sentence motions or direct appeal were filed, so the judgment became final March 15, 2013.
Kiehlmeier filed a pro se PCRA petition Sept. 14, 2014 (treated as PCRA and dismissed as untimely); after appellate remand the court appointed counsel, who filed a Turner/Finley no-merit letter; the court issued Rule 907 notice and dismissed the petition Sept. 17, 2015.
Kiehlmeier argued counsel failed to pursue an alleged 6–9 month plea agreement and produced a urine toxicology showing no alcohol the day after the incident; he sought relief including plea withdrawal and sentence modification.
The PCRA court dismissed as untimely; the Superior Court affirmed, holding Kiehlmeier failed to plead a statutory timeliness exception.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Timeliness of PCRA petition	Kiehlmeier asserted counsel failures and new toxicology evidence justify relief	Commonwealth argued petition was filed more than one year after judgment became final and no timeliness exception applied	Petition was untimely; no jurisdiction to reach merits because Kiehlmeier failed to plead/prove a §9545(b) exception
Counsel’s performance re: plea / request to withdraw plea	Kiehlmeier said trial counsel failed to pursue a 6–9 month plea and failed to consult, warranting plea withdrawal	Commonwealth and PCRA counsel concluded claims lacked arguable merit and did not establish a constitutional exception to timeliness	Court did not address merits due to time-bar; claims not shown to satisfy statutory exceptions, so dismissal affirmed

Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988) (procedures for counsel to withdraw and no‑merit letters in collateral proceedings)
Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988) (en banc) (no‑merit letter framework for PCRA counsel)
Commonwealth v. Harris, 972 A.2d 1196 (Pa. Super. 2009) (timeliness and jurisdictional limits of PCRA petitions)
Commonwealth v. Robinson, 837 A.2d 1157 (Pa. 2003) (court lacks jurisdiction to hear untimely PCRA petitions)
Commonwealth v. Bretz, 830 A.2d 1273 (Pa. Super. 2003) (one‑year filing rule for PCRA petitions)
Commonwealth v. Gamboa‑Taylor, 753 A.2d 780 (Pa. 2000) (requirements and consequences for failing to plead a timeliness exception under §9545(b))