Commonwealth v. Burton, 9 WAP 2016

Citation158 A.3d 618
Decision Date28 March 2017
Docket NumberNo. 9 WAP 2016,9 WAP 2016
Parties COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellant v. Shawn Lamar BURTON, Appellee
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Michael Wayne Streily, Karen T. Edwards, Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Pittsburgh, PA, for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellant.

Craig Mitchell Cooley, Cooley Law Office, Pittsburgh, PA, Paige Hennessey Forster, Reed Smith, L.L.P., Pittsburgh, PA, for Shawn L. Burton, Appellee.

Michael L. Morgan Banks, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, and The Pennsylvania Prison Society, Appellees Amicus Curiae.

James Michael Evans, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis Llp, Pittsburgh, PA, for The Innocence Network and The Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Appellees Amicus Curiae.

John S. Summers, Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, Philadelphia, PA, for Pennsylvania Exonerees, Appellee Amicus Curiae.

A. Lauren Carpenter, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, and The Pennsylvania Prison Society, Appellees Amicus Curiae

Robert J. Cindrich, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, Pittsburgh, PA, for The Innocence Network and The Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Appellees Amicus Curiae.

Rebecca Jill Hillyer, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, PA. for American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, and The Pennsylvania Prison Society, Appellees Amicus Curiae

Timothy Kimbrue Lewis, Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, Washington, DC, Paul H. Titus, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, Pittsburgh, PA, for The Innocence Network, and The Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Appellees Amicus Curiae

SAYLOR, C.J., BAER, TODD, DONOHUE, DOUGHERTY, WECHT, MUNDY, JJ.

OPINION

JUSTICE TODD

In this discretionary appeal by the Commonwealth, we consider whether the presumption that information of public record cannot be considered "unknown" for purposes of proving the newly-discovered facts exception to the time requirements of the Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541 –9546, applies to pro se petitioners who are incarcerated. For the reasons discussed below, we hold that the presumption does not apply to pro se prisoner petitioners, and so we affirm the Superior Court's order remanding the matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

I. Factual and procedural background

On March 9, 1993, at approximately 12:15 p.m., Officer Gary Fluman, a correctional officer at the Allegheny County Jail, received a report from an inmate that there was a problem on Range 17, in the East Block of the jail. After requesting backup, Officer Fluman approached Cell 17–S. A group of inmates was gathered outside the cell and advised Officer Fluman that someone was under the bed and would not come out. Initially, Officer Fluman could see only the mattress and bedding, but, when he entered the cell and removed the mattress and bedding, he observed that inmate Seth Floyd had a ligature consisting of a shoe lace and a piece of nylon cord tied around his neck; the other end of the ligature was tied to a chain that holds the bed to the wall. Officer Fluman could not detect a pulse, and another officer who had arrived on the scene radioed for a doctor. A third officer cut the ligature, and the doctor unsuccessfully attempted to revive Floyd. Following an autopsy, it was determined that Floyd died as a result of asphyxiation

due to ligature strangulation, and the manner of death was listed as pending due to suspicious circumstances.

During their investigation into Floyd's death, correctional officers interviewed several inmates. One inmate reported that he was walking past Floyd's cell on his way to lunch and observed Appellee Shawn Burton and another individual, Melvin Goodwine, engaged in conversation with Floyd inside his cell. When confronted with this information, Goodwine admitted that he had been in Floyd's cell for a short time. Appellee, however, denied being in the vicinity of Floyd's cell around the time of Floyd's death, and, in fact, denied ever being in Floyd's cell. Appellee later admitted that he was near Floyd's cell at the time he died, but maintained that he had never been inside Floyd's cell.

Two other inmates reported that, a few minutes before Floyd was found dead, they observed Appellee and Goodwine in Floyd's cell, wrestling him onto his bunk and pinning him while he struggled to free himself. One of these two witnesses also stated that, shortly after he observed the physical altercation among Appellee, Goodwine, and Floyd, he saw Appellee and Goodwine run down the stairs, away from the area of Floyd's cell. Another witness reported that, a few days before Floyd's death, he overheard a conversation between Appellee and Goodwine in which Appellee told Goodwine that they needed to "fix that guy from California." Affidavit for Criminal Complaint against Shawn Burton, 3/19/93, at 2. The witness explained that it is common knowledge in prison that the term "fix" means kill. Id. Further, it was confirmed that Floyd originally was from California, having recently moved to the Pittsburgh area. Based on the above evidence, Appellee and Goodwine were charged with Floyd's murder.

Appellee and Goodwine were tried jointly before the Honorable Donna Jo McDaniel. On September 28, 1993, Appellee was convicted of first-degree murder1 and conspiracy,2 and Goodwine was convicted of conspiracy. Appellee was sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment; Goodwine was sentenced to 5 to 10 years imprisonment. Appellee appealed his judgment of sentence, which was affirmed by the Superior Court. Commonwealth v. Burton, 455 Pa.Super. 691, 688 A.2d 1225 (1996) (unpublished memorandum). This Court denied his petition for allowance of appeal on August 15, 1997. Commonwealth v. Burton, 549 Pa. 696, 700 A.2d 437 (1997).

On August 4, 1998, Appellee filed his first pro se PCRA petition, asserting various claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. After a series of procedural irregularities not relevant herein, Appellee filed an amended PCRA petition on October 5, 2005. The PCRA court dismissed Appellee's amended PCRA petition on December 12, 2005, and the Superior Court ultimately affirmed the PCRA court's dismissal on February 21, 2007. Commonwealth v. Burton , 924 A.2d 688 (Pa. Super. filed Feb. 21, 2007) (unpublished memorandum),3 appeal denied , 594 Pa. 702, 936 A.2d 39 (2007).

On May 30, 2013, Appellee received a letter from Charlotte Whitmore, a staff attorney with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The letter, dated May 23, 2013, included a copy of a pro se "Motion for Partial Expunction of Adult Criminal Record" (hereinafter "Motion to Expunge") filed by Goodwine on July 29, 2009. In the Motion to Expunge, Goodwine asserted that he murdered Floyd "in self defense," but was "advised not to use this defense at trial." Motion to Expunge, at 2 ¶ 4. Goodwine further averred in the motion that "an innocent man went to jail for a crime that [Goodwine] committed." Id. ¶ 5. According to Attorney Whitmore, she received copies of the Motion to Expunge and the trial court's subsequent opinion denying the motion from Twyla Bivins, who claimed to have received the documents from Goodwine's ex-girlfriend. In her letter to Appellee, Attorney Whitmore explained that the Innocence Project had not yet determined whether it would become involved in Appellee's case, but advised him that, if he was not previously aware of the averments made by Goodwine in his Motion to Expunge, Appellee had 60 days to file a PCRA petition based on this "new evidence." Letter to Shawn Burton from Charlotte Whitmore, 5/23/13, at 1.

On July 11, 2013, Appellee filed pro se a second PCRA petition asserting, inter alia , that Goodwine's Motion to Expunge and the statements contained therein constituted newly-discovered exculpatory evidence that was unavailable at the time of his trial and which would have changed the outcome of his trial if the evidence had been introduced, citing, inter alia , this Court's decision in Commonwealth v. Bennett , 593 Pa. 382, 930 A.2d 1264 (2007), and referencing the exception to the PCRA's time limitations set forth at 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(ii). On August 6, 2013, the PCRA court issued notice of its intention to dismiss Appellee's petition without a hearing pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 on the grounds that it was untimely; that Appellee failed to aver any exceptions to the PCRA's time requirements; that the petition was patently frivolous and without support on the record; that there were no genuine issues concerning any material fact; and that no purpose would be served by an evidentiary hearing.4 On August 21, 2013, Appellee filed a response to the PCRA court's Rule 907 notice,5 and six days later, the PCRA court dismissed Appellee's PCRA petition as "patently frivolous and without support on the record." PCRA Court Order, 8/27/2013.

Appellee filed a timely appeal to the Superior Court, and complied with the PCRA court's instruction to file a statement of matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). In his 1925(b) statement, Appellee claimed, inter alia , that he qualified for an exception to the PCRA's time limitations pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(ii), which provides that, where "the facts upon which the claim is predicated were unknown to the petitioner and could not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence," a petition may be filed within 60 days of the date the claim could have been presented. 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(ii). In its Rule 1925(a) opinion in support of its dismissal of Appellee's petition, the PCRA court held that, "because [Appellee's] Petition was untimely filed and ... he failed to properly...

To continue reading

Request your trial
161 cases
  • Commonwealth v. Fears
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • 18 Mayo 2021
    ...to satisfy the newly-discovered facts exception.16 Although we narrowed the presumption's applicability in Commonwealth v. Burton , 638 Pa. 687, 158 A.3d 618 (2017), by holding that it did not apply to "pro se prisoner petitioners," id. at 690-91, 158 A.3d 618, that decision would have affo......
  • Commonwealth v. Robinson, 720 CAP
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • 14 Diciembre 2018
    ...petition was not filed within sixty days of the date the claim could have been raised. Id. at 7; cf. Commonwealth v. Burton , 638 Pa. 687, 158 A.3d 618, 638 (2017) (holding that "the public record presumption ... cannot reasonably be applied to pro se PCRA petitioners who are incarcerated")......
  • Bracey v. Superintendent Rockview SCI
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • 20 Enero 2021
    ......Sec'y , 834 F.3d 263 (3d Cir. 2016), which rejected the notion that a defendant has a duty to search public ...The Commonwealth's case relied heavily on the testimony of two cooperators: Thomas Plummer, ...Sec'y , 793 F.3d 1261, 1265–66 (11th Cir. 2015) (per curiam). 9 The upshot is that because Morris remains good law, Bracey requires a ...2020) ; see also Commonwealth v. Burton , 638 Pa. 687, 158 A.3d 618, 638 (Pa. 2017) (holding that the public ......
  • Commonwealth v. Robinson
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • 14 Diciembre 2018
    ...petition was not filed within sixty days of the date the claim could have been raised. Id. at 7; cf. Commonwealth v. Burton, 638 Pa. 687, 158 A.3d 618, 638 (2017) (holding that "the public record presumption ... cannot reasonably be applied to pro se PCRA petitioners who are incarcerated") ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT