Romansky v. Folino, CIVIL NO. 1:CV-09-01472
Decision Date | 01 March 2017 |
Docket Number | CIVIL NO. 1:CV-09-01472 |
Parties | STEVEN L. ROMANSKY, Petitioner v. LOUIS S. FOLINO, et al., Respondents |
Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
(Judge Rambo)
Presently before the court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, as amended on April 15, 2016, filed by Petitioner Steven Romansky, a state inmate currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Greene, in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. (Doc. 63.) In the petition, Petitioner challenges his 1987 and 2000 convictions and sentences in the Court of Common Pleas in Pike County, Pennsylvania ("trial court" or "Pike County court"). For the reasons that follow, the habeas petition will be denied.
The underlying facts relating to Petitioner's convictions are as follows, as summarized in the Grand Jury Presentment related to his case:
(Doc. 71-14 at 3; 16-18, Ex. N, Grand Jury Presentment.)
The remaining procedural history, referred to as a "procedural quagmire" by the state courts, is collected from the briefs and state court record filed in the case. Following grand jury proceedings, on August 27, 1985, Petitioner was charged in Pike County, Pennsylvania with three (3) counts of receiving stolen property, see 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 3925; three (3) counts of dealing of removal/falsification of identification numbers, see 75 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 7102; three (3) counts of dealing in vehicles with incorrect identification numbers, see 75 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 7103; three (3) counts of dealing in titles/plates for stolen vehicles, see 75 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 7111; two (2) counts of false application for certificate of title/registration, see 75 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 7121; and criminal conspiracy, see 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 903. These charges related to a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am ("1977 Pontiac"), a 1979 Ford Bronco ("1979 Bronco"), and a 1977 GMC truck ("1977 GMC").
On February 15, 1986, Petitioner was charged in Wayne County, Pennsylvania with arson and related offenses pertaining to the 1979 Bronco that had been seized bypolice pursuant to the Pike County investigation. On September 17, 1986, Petitioner was convicted of these charges in Wayne County and sentenced on February 10, 1987 to a term of imprisonment of four (4) to ten (10) years.
On April 3, 1986, Petitioner was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania for arson involving a lumber yard. On November 10, 1986, Petitioner was convicted in Monroe County and sentenced on March 26, 1987 to a term of imprisonment of three (3) to six (6) years.
After being convicted and sentenced in Wayne and Monroe Counties, on May 6, 1987, Petitioner was convicted following a jury trial in Pike County of receiving stolen property, removal/falsification of identification numbers, and dealing in vehicles with incorrect identification numbers for the offenses related to the 1977 Pontiac. Petitioner was also convicted of receiving stolen property, removal/falsification of identification numbers, dealing in vehicles with incorrect identification numbers, dealing in titles/plates for stolen vehicles, and false application for certificate of title/registration for the offenses related to the 1979 Bronco. He was also convicted of conspiracy. He was found not guilty of dealing in titles/plates for stolen vehicles for the 1977 Pontiac and all offenses charged relating to the 1977 GMC.
On December 17, 1987, Petitioner was sentenced in Pike County to a term of imprisonment of nine (9) to eighteen (18) years incarceration. This sentence includeda two (2) to four (4) years term of incarceration on the conspiracy conviction, and the entire sentence was directed to run consecutively to Petitioner's convictions in Wayne and Monroe Counties. It is the Pike County conviction and sentence that is the subject of these habeas corpus proceedings.
Petitioner filed a timely notice of appeal from the Pike County conviction. On July 22, 1988, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction. Commonwealth v. Romansky, 548 A.2d 693 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988). Petitioner did not seek allowance of appeal in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania or a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Thus, Petitioner's judgment of sentence became final on August 22, 1988.1
On December 21, 1990, Petitioner filed an untimely pro se petition for post-conviction relief under Pennsylvania's Post-Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"), 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. §§ 9541 et seq., alleging ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. On July 13 and 31, 1992, Petitioner filed pro se amended petitions. On May 3, 1994, a counseled amended PCRA petition was filed on behalf of Petitioner by James P. Albrecht, Esquire. Thereafter, on June 5, 1994, PCRA relief was denied, but Petitione...
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