Com. v. Whitaker, T., 369 EDA 2016

Tracey Whitaker was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder for the 1994 beating death of a nine‑month‑old and received a mandatory life sentence (death penalty not sought).
Whitaker’s direct appeal and Pennsylvania Supreme Court review concluded in 1996; his judgment became final April 25, 1996.
The October 16, 2014 PCRA petition at issue is Whitaker’s eighth under the Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA); prior petitions were denied as untimely.
Whitaker sought retroactive application of Alleyne v. United States to challenge his sentence and cited Montgomery v. Louisiana as requiring retroactivity.
The PCRA court dismissed the petition as untimely and the Superior Court affirmed, finding no valid basis for statutory timeliness exceptions or for Alleyne’s application to Whitaker’s non‑capital life sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Whitaker's PCRA petition is timely or fits a timeliness exception based on Alleyne/Montgomery	Alleyne (and Montgomery’s retroactivity holding) creates a newly recognized constitutional right that applies retroactively, so his petition (filed Oct 16, 2014) is timely under §9545(b)(1)(iii)	Petition is untimely: PCRA requires filing within one year of final judgment; Alleyne (decided 2013) was not invoked within the 60‑day filing window of §9545(b)(2) and Whitaker’s judgment was final long before Alleyne	Petition is untimely; Whitaker did not meet §9545 exceptions and court lacked jurisdiction to reach merits
Whether Alleyne applies to mandatory life sentences for adult first‑degree murder or requires jury findings of aggravators/other facts for such sentences	Trial court failed to submit aggravating/mitigating factors to jury; Alleyne requires jury findings for facts that increase penalty	Alleyne concerns facts that increase statutory penalty; under Pennsylvania law the verdict of first‑degree murder itself triggers mandatory life under §1102(a)(1), so Alleyne does not alter sentencing for non‑capital adult first‑degree murder; moreover Alleyne—if applicable—applies only to cases pending on direct review	Alleyne does not apply to Whitaker’s mandatory life sentence; his claim fails on substantive grounds even if timely

Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. 99 (2013) (facts that increase statutory punishment are elements requiring jury finding)
Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016) (Supreme Court held certain new substantive rules must be applied retroactively)
Commonwealth v. Jones, 54 A.3d 14 (Pa. 2012) (PCRA timeliness rule: petition filed within one year of final judgment)
Commonwealth v. Pitts, 981 A.2d 875 (Pa. 2009) (standard of review for PCRA appeals)
Commonwealth v. Newman, 99 A.3d 86 (Pa. Super. 2014) (Alleyne applies only to cases pending on direct review)
Commonwealth v. Washington, 142 A.3d 810 (Pa. 2016) (concluding Alleyne is not a new substantive or watershed procedural rule requiring retroactive application on collateral review)
Commonwealth v. Charleston, 94 A.3d 1012 (Pa. Super. 2014) (undeveloped or incoherent appellate arguments are waived)