Com. v. Thomas, D.
Com. v. Thomas, D. No. 486 MDA 2016
| Pa. Super. Ct. | Mar 17, 2017

Background

  • In January 1998 a jury convicted Demond Thomas of robbery, conspiracy, and related offenses; he received an aggregate sentence of 40 to 80 years on March 2, 1998.
  • This Court affirmed Thomas’s judgment of sentence on March 13, 2000; he did not seek allowance of appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, so his judgment became final on April 12, 2000.
  • Thomas filed a pro se PCRA petition on April 23, 2015. The petition was transferred to Lancaster County, counsel was appointed, and counsel filed a no-merit letter and petition to withdraw.
  • The PCRA court issued a Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 notice of intent to dismiss, Thomas did not respond, and the court dismissed the petition on March 7, 2016. Thomas timely appealed.
  • The central legal question was whether Thomas’s PCRA petition, filed more than 15 years after his judgment became final, could proceed under a statutory timeliness exception based on Alleyne-related sentencing claims.

Issues

Issue Plaintiff's Argument Defendant's Argument Held
Whether the PCRA petition was timely Thomas argued Alleyne creates a newly recognized constitutional rule that invalidates mandatory-minimum or judicial fact-finding that increased his minimum sentence, invoking the §9545(b)(1)(iii) exception Commonwealth argued the petition was facially untimely and Alleyne-based claims do not render the petition timely on collateral review Petition was untimely; Alleyne-derived claim did not overcome the PCRA time bar because Alleyne does not apply retroactively on collateral review

Key Cases Cited

  • Hill v. Commonwealth, 149 A.3d 362 (Pa. Super. 2016) (standard of review for PCRA dismissal)
  • Leggett v. Commonwealth, 16 A.3d 1144 (Pa. Super. 2011) (PCRA timeliness is jurisdictional; one-year filing rule and 60-day exception deadline explained)
  • Newman v. Commonwealth, 99 A.3d 86 (Pa. Super. 2014) (invalidated certain mandatory-minimum sentencing provisions under Alleyne principles)
  • Mosley v. Commonwealth, 114 A.3d 1072 (Pa. Super. 2015) (applied Alleyne to invalidate another mandatory-minimum sentencing statute)
  • Washington v. Commonwealth, 142 A.3d 810 (Pa. 2016) (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held Alleyne does not apply retroactively on collateral review)
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