Commonwealth v. Brown
Decision Date | 15 December 2021 |
Docket Number | 840 EDA 2021 |
Citation | 270 A.3d 1143 (Table) |
Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. James BROWN, Appellant |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
James Brown appeals from the March 22, 2021 order dismissing as untimely his pro se petition for relief pursuant to the Post-Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"). We affirm.
This Court provided an apt summary of the factual and procedural history of the above-captioned case, as follows:
Commonwealth v. Brown , 200 A.3d 986, 989 (Pa.Super. 2018). On December 11, 2018, this Court affirmed Appellant's judgment of sentence. Id . at 995. He did not seek allowance of appeal in our Supreme Court.
Appellant filed a timely pro se PCRA petition and counsel was appointed to represent him. Ultimately, counsel filed a petition to withdraw his representation pursuant to Commonwealth v. Turner , 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988) and Commonwealth v. Finley , 550 A.2d 213 (Pa.Super. 1988) (en banc ). After the PCRA court submitted notice of its intent to dismiss the petition without a hearing pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 907, Appellant responded with several pro se filings that did not identify any potentially meritorious issues not addressed in counsel's Turner /Finley filings. On September 14, 2020, the PCRA court dismissed the petition. Appellant did not appeal.
On January 14, 2021, Appellant filed the instant pro se PCRA petition. In pertinent part, he averred that his petition was subject to the PCRA timeliness exception concerning "newly discovered" evidence set forth at 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(ii). The PCRA court issued Rule 907 notice and, thereafter, dismissed Appellant's petition as untimely. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court. The PCRA court did not direct Appellant to file a concise statement of errors pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). Nonetheless, the PCRA court filed a statement pursuant to Rule 1925(a) referring to the reasoning set forth in its March 22, 2021 memorandum opinion.
Appellant has raised two issues for our consideration:
Appellant's brief at 4. Before engaging with the merits of Appellant's claims for relief, we must ascertain whether the underlying PCRA petition was timely filed. See Commonwealth v. Cobbs , 256 A.3d 1192, 1207 (Pa. 2021) (). Furthermore, "[a]lthough legality of sentence is always subject to review within the PCRA, claims must still satisfy the PCRA's time limits or one of the exceptions thereto." Commonwealth v. Fahy , 737 A.2d 214, 223 (Pa. 1999).
Any PCRA petition, including a second or subsequent petition, must be filed within one year of the date that the judgment becomes final. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1). A judgment becomes "final" for the purposes of the PCRA "at the conclusion of direct review, including discretionary review in the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme...
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