Commonwealth v. Derhammer, J., Aplt.
173 A.3d 723
| Pa. | 2017Background
- In 1995 Derhammer pled guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and became a lifetime registrant under Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law regime.
- In April 2009 he moved and reported his new address five days later (April 6); he was charged under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4915(a)(1) (Megan’s Law III) for failing to timely register (48-hour rule in effect then).
- Megan’s Law III (Act 2004-152) restructured registration penalties into the Crimes Code (18 Pa.C.S. § 4915); a 2006 amendment (Act 2006-178) shortened the reporting period to 48 hours and amended some penalty subsections.
- This Court in Commonwealth v. Neiman invalidated Act 2004-152 in its entirety as violating the single-subject rule, creating questions about which provisions (if any) remained operative; SORNA (2012) later replaced Megan’s Law III, and Act 2014-19 attempted limited remedial clarification but did not re-enact § 4915.
- Derhammer was retried after a Superior Court remand and convicted; he appealed arguing the conviction was void because it rested on an unconstitutional statute (Megan’s Law III § 4915).
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that, because § 4915(a) had no operative text after Neiman and SORNA/Act 2014-19 did not retroactively validate prosecution for the April 2009 conduct, the conviction could not stand and must be dismissed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Commonwealth) | Defendant's Argument (Derhammer) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether an individual can be punished under a Crimes Code provision (§ 4915) created by an act later declared unconstitutional | Act 2006-178 effectively amended the prior valid Megan’s Law (Megan’s Law II) so a valid penalty provision existed; alternatively SORNA/Act 2014-19 fills any gap and § 4915.1 applies | Conviction is void because the crime-charging statute (Megan’s Law III § 4915) was invalidated by Neiman and no valid, operative provision criminalized his April 2009 conduct | Held for Derhammer: conviction void because no operative § 4915(a) existed for the conduct charged; judgment of sentence vacated and charge dismissed |
| Whether Act 2006-178 can be treated as having amended Megan’s Law II so that a 48-hour reporting window applied | Act 2006-178 retrospectively amended Megan’s Law II and therefore supplied a valid statutory basis | Neiman invalidated Megan’s Law III; Act 2006-178 expressly amended Crimes Code § 4915 (which did not exist under Megan’s Law II) and did not reenact § 4915(a), so courts cannot supply missing text by implication | Held for Derhammer: court cannot read into the 2006 amendment words it did not contain; Schnader principle does not help because subsection (a) was not repeated in the amending act |
| Whether SORNA or Act 2014-19 cured the gap and retroactively authorized prosecution under § 4915.1 | Act 2014-19 remedied gaps from Neiman so registrants remained obligated and § 4915.1 supplies a valid offense | Even if registrant duties continued, SORNA’s three-business-day rule applied and Derhammer complied; furthermore § 4915.1 did not exist at the time of conduct and cannot retroactively criminalize it | Held for Derhammer: assuming registrant duty existed, SORNA’s later, more lenient reporting period meant the Commonwealth lacked authority to prosecute the April 2009 timeliness failure |
| Whether a conviction under an unconstitutional statute is void ab initio or may be cured by citation/formal defects rules (Pa.R.Crim.P. 560) | Citation errors are immaterial under Rule 560 and similar/superseding statutes can salvage information | A conviction based on an unconstitutional statute is a nullity (Siebold); Rule 560 cannot validate a charge when no operative criminal text existed at the time of the conduct | Held for Derhammer: conviction is void; Rule 560 does not authorize substitution of a different substantive crime when none existed at the time of the offense |
Key Cases Cited
- Commonwealth v. Neiman, 624 Pa. 53, 84 A.3d 603 (Pa. 2013) (invalidating Act 2004-152 under the Pennsylvania Constitution’s single-subject rule and holding it nonseverable)
- Ex parte Siebold, 100 U.S. 371 (U.S. 1879) (a conviction under an unconstitutional statute is illegal and void)
- In re Dandridge, 462 Pa. 67, 337 A.2d 885 (Pa. 1975) (when legislature repeals or removes criminal condemnation of conduct, pending charges must be dismissed)
- Commonwealth v. Williams, 574 Pa. 487, 832 A.2d 962 (Pa. 2003) (addressing defects in Megan’s Law I and legislative remedies regarding sexual offender classification)
- Commonwealth v. Derhammer, 134 A.3d 1066 (Pa. Super. 2016) (Superior Court panel decision affirming conviction on alternative statutory theories that the Supreme Court reversed)