Com. v. Miller

• Decision Date: 27 December 2005
• Citation: 888 A.2d 624
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant v. Joseph Daniel MILLER, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

888 A.2d 624

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant v. Joseph Daniel MILLER, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted August 20, 2003.

Decided December 27, 2005.

James Patrick Barker, Williamsport, Amy Zapp, Harrisburg, for Com.

Robert Brett Dunham, Philadelphia, PA, for Joseph Daniel Miller.

Mark J. Murphy, for PA Protection & Advocacy.

Before CAPPY, C.J., CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER, JJ.

OPINION

Chief Justice CAPPY.

In this case, we are asked to consider the impact of the recent United States Supreme Court case of Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), on our collateral capital jurisprudence. Appellee, Joseph Daniel Miller, filed a petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act (hereinafter "PCRA"), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546, seeking relief under Atkins. Following a review of the trial court record and the record of the first PCRA proceedings, the PCRA court vacated Appellee's sentences of death and imposed consecutive sentences of life in prison. For the reasons stated herein, we vacate the order of the PCRA court and remand this matter for further proceedings consistent with our decision today.

On March 24, 1993, a jury convicted Appellee of first degree murder and kidnapping for the killing and abduction of Selina Franklin and first degree murder for the killing of Stephanie McDuffey. Following a sentencing hearing, the jury found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and imposed a sentence of death.¹ The trial court denied post-sentence motions, and this court affirmed the sentences of death. Commonwealth v. Miller, 541 Pa. 531, 664 A.2d 1310 (1995).

On December 13, 1995, the Governor signed a warrant of execution and thereafter, this court granted a stay of execution. Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court denied Appellee's petition for writ of certiorari. Miller v. Pennsylvania, 516 U.S. 1122, 116 S.Ct. 932, 133 L.Ed.2d 859 (1996). On March 11, 1996, the Governor signed another warrant of execution, which this court stayed. We then appointed counsel to allow Appellee to pursue collateral relief under the PCRA, which the PCRA court denied. This court affirmed the PCRA court's order on appeal. Commonwealth v. Miller, 560 Pa. 500, 746 A.2d 592 (2000).

On June 20, 2002, the United States Supreme Court filed its opinion in Atkins, declaring that executions of mentally retarded criminals violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.² On August 19, 2002, Appellee filed a second petition seeking PCRA relief under Atkins. Following a review of the documentary evidence that was submitted by both parties, the PCRA court granted relief under Atkins. The PCRA court reasoned that a PCRA court may grant relief without a hearing when the petition and answer show that there is no genuine issue concerning any material fact and that the petitioner is entitled to relief as a matter of law. PCRA court opinion at 6 (citing Pa.R.Crim.P. 907(2)). The court first acknowledged that Atkins left it to the individual states to decide on the standards and procedure that a court should use in adjudicating the mental status of a defendant. Thus, it recognized that it needed to develop such standards and procedures in order to resolve Appellee's claim. Consistent with this, the PCRA court held that the burden of proof in such cases was on the petitioner to establish his mental retardation by a preponderance of the evidence and that such evidence must be presented to the court and not a jury.³ It then went on to define "mental retardation" by relying on the definitions of that term as set forth by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.1992) (hereinafter "DSM-IV") and the American Association of Mental Retardation (hereinafter "AAMR") in MENTAL RETARDATION: DEFINITION, CLASSIFICATION, AND SYSTEMS OF SUPPORTS 1 (10th ed.2002) (hereinafter "MENTAL RETARDATION"). Each of these definitions, the court concluded, required the demonstration of "three core components: (1) substantial intellectual impairment; (2) impact of that impairment on the everyday life of the individual (i.e., substantial deficits in adaptive functioning); and (3) appearance of the disability prior to age 18." PCRA court opinion at 15.

The PCRA court then examined Petitioner's school records, psychological reports, and expert testimony from the prior proceedings, acknowledging that none of the prior proceedings specifically litigated the question of mental retardation. The court, however, was persuaded that this evidence established Petitioner's mental retardation. Specifically, the evidence relied upon by the PCRA court included the facts that: Appellee was placed in special education classes beginning in first grade for the "educable" mentally retarded; during his early years, his IQ was repeatedly tested and he tested in the 50's and 60's; in his early teens, he twice tested in the high 70s and low-80's⁴; and in 1986, at 21 years of age, he was measured with an IQ of 71 and was described as functioning within the "borderline retarded range of intelligence." PCRA court opinion at 17. In addition to the documentary evidence, all five mental health experts who testified during the penalty phase and at the first PCRA hearing, including the Commonwealth's expert at the PCRA hearing, agreed that Appellee was borderline retarded or mentally retarded. Accordingly, the court concluded that Appellee proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he is mentally retarded.

It is from this decision that the Commonwealth appeals. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9546(d). The Commonwealth requests that this court vacate the PCRA court's order and remand this matter for further proceedings, including an examination of Appellee by Commonwealth experts and an evidentiary hearing. In support of its position, the Commonwealth first argues that the Court's decision in Atkins constituted exceptional circumstances, which justify discovery in this PCRA proceeding. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 902(E)(1). The Commonwealth points out that there has never been an examination of Appellee to determine, for purposes of the Eighth Amendment prohibition, whether he is mentally retarded, and the Commonwealth contends that it is a matter of fundamental fairness to allow it the opportunity to conduct such an examination. The Commonwealth also disputes the PCRA court's reliance on the "practice effect" in the absence of being able to conduct its own examination of Appellee. See supra n. 4. Likewise, the Commonwealth argues that it was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on this issue since the Commonwealth disputed Appellee's claim that he was mentally retarded in its answer to Appellee's petition. Lastly, the Commonwealth faults the PCRA court for failing to define mental retardation, and argues that absent such a definition, it was impossible for the court to make a determination of whether Appellee was mentally retarded.

Appellee responds that the fact of his mental retardation was never challenged at the prior proceedings and principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel should bar the relitigation of this issue. In fact, the Commonwealth's expert accepted the fact that Appellee was mentally retarded in order to defeat the mental health claim that Appellee raised at the first PCRA hearing. Furthermore, he maintains that the prior documentary and testamentary evidence was sufficient to establish his mental retardation and the jury agreed with that evidence, since it found his low intelligence to be a mitigating factor. Thus, Appellee concludes that the Commonwealth should not be allowed to perform further testing on him.

Appellee acknowledges that this case presents an issue of first impression as to how Atkins should be implemented in this Commonwealth and points out that Atkins categorically bans capital sentencing and execution of persons with mental retardation. At a minimum, Appellee contends that the states must adopt the definition provided by the AAMR or the American Psychiatric Association as these were the definitions used in Atkins. But, Appellee argues that states are free to adopt a more inclusive standard, like the definition set forth in Pennsylvania's Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act, 50 P.S. § 4102, and Appellee urges this court to adopt this definition in applying Atkins. Ultimately, however, Appellee contends that this court need not resolve the question of the proper standard for assessing mental retardation since Appellee is mentally retarded under any constitutionally acceptable definition of mental retardation.

The logical starting point for any discussion is a brief review of the Atkins decision. Atkins, in the broadest sense, holds that the Eighth Amendment bars the execution of the mentally retarded. In reaching this conclusion, the Court pointed out that it is a "precept of justice that punishment for a crime should be graduated and proportioned to [the] offense." Atkins, 536 U.S. at 311, 122 S.Ct. 2242. In adjudicating a claim that punishment is excessive (and therefore, not proportional), the Court must consider the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." Id. at 311-12, 122 S.Ct. 2242. In light of the fact that there appeared to be a consistent national consensus opposed to the execution of the mentally retarded, the Court believed that it was time to revisit its prior decision in Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989), which held that the Eighth Amendment did not prohibit the execution of the mentally retarded. Id. at 314-16, 122 S.Ct. 2242.

In addition to the changing national consensus, the Court considered the diminished personal culpability of the mentally retarded offender. Id. at 318, 122 S.Ct. 2242. Although mentally retarded individuals are capable of differentiating between right and wrong, due...