Com. v. Payne, R., Com. v. Payne, R. No. 1132 WDA 2016

Robert Payne was convicted of multiple sexual offenses against an 11‑year‑old and sentenced on October 26, 2006 to an aggregate term of 21–50 years.
Payne’s direct appeal was discontinued in May 2007; his first timely PCRA petition was dismissed in July 2009 and that dismissal was affirmed on appeal in September 2010.
Payne filed a subsequent PCRA petition on August 19, 2015 asserting illegality of sentence and ineffective assistance claims based on Alleyne (and relying on Montgomery for retroactivity); the PCRA court dismissed the petition as untimely on July 13, 2016.
Payne appealed pro se to the Superior Court, which reviewed whether the petition was timely and whether Alleyne and Montgomery compelled a retroactive application.
The Superior Court held Payne’s petition untimely because Alleyne does not apply retroactively on collateral review and Montgomery does not make Alleyne retroactive; therefore the court lacked jurisdiction to reach the merits.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the 2015 PCRA petition is timely	Payne: Alleyne applies (in light of Montgomery), so his sentence is illegal and the petition is timely	Commonwealth: Alleyne does not apply retroactively to collateral cases like Payne’s; Montgomery does not make Alleyne retroactive	Petition untimely; court lacks jurisdiction to reach merits
Whether Alleyne renders Payne’s sentence illegal	Payne: Alleyne requires jury finding of any fact increasing mandatory minimum, so sentence is illegal	Commonwealth: Alleyne issued after Payne’s judgment became final and does not apply retroactively	Alleyne does not apply; sentence not illegal on that basis

Spotz v. Commonwealth, 84 A.3d 294 (Pa. 2014) (standard of review for PCRA court’s findings and conclusions)
Chester v. Commonwealth, 895 A.2d 520 (Pa. 2006) (PCRA time limits are jurisdictional; untimely petitions cannot be adjudicated)
Fahy v. Commonwealth, 737 A.2d 214 (Pa. 1999) (timeliness required even for legality-of-sentence claims)
Holmes v. Commonwealth, 933 A.2d 57 (Pa. 2007) (legality-of-sentence review within PCRA constrained by timeliness)
Commonwealth v. Washington, 142 A.3d 810 (Pa. 2016) (Alleyne does not apply retroactively on collateral review)
Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151 (2013) (jury must find beyond reasonable doubt any fact that increases a mandatory minimum)
Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016) (Miller established a substantive rule that is retroactive on state collateral review)
Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012) (mandatory life without parole for juveniles violates the Eighth Amendment)