Com. v. Beard, C.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided December 30, 2020·No. 3306 EDA 2019·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

CHRIS BEARD :

:

Appellant : No. 3306 EDA 2019

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered October 15, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-46-CR-0001613-2016

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., NICHOLS, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E. MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: Filed: December 30, 2020 Appellant Chris Beard appeals from the order denying his petition seeking relief from the enforcement of the current version of Subchapter H of the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Notification and Registration Act (SORNA).1 Appellant contends that the current version of Subchapter H is punitive and violates the constitutional prohibitions against ex post facto laws. Additionally, Appellant claims that the current version of Subchapter H violates numerous other protections in the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions. Because Appellant failed to establish which subchapter of the current version of SORNA applies to his convictions, we affirm the dismissal of his petition.

1 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.10-9799.42 (eff. Feb. 21, 2018).

On January 26, 2016, Detective James Reape of the Montgomery County Detective Bureau filed a criminal complaint based on the minor complainant’s report that Appellant had molested her. On June 22, 2016, the Commonwealth filed a twenty-eight-count bill of information against Appellant. The prefatory paragraph of the information stated that the offenses occurred “between the 1st day of November, 2007 and the 20th day of November, 2015.” Information, 1/26/16. The recitation of the counts did not further specify the dates of the offenses or contain other information to determine whether the offenses occurred before, or on or after, December 20, 2012.

On March 16, 2017, Appellant, who was represented by counsel, appeared at a guilty plea hearing to enter a negotiated plea to one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI) with a child under thirteen years of age and two counts of aggravated indecent assault (AIA) of a child under thirteen years of age.2 The Commonwealth read the following factual basis for the plea into the record:

[The Commonwealth]. Sir, by pleading guilty today, you’re admitting that on multiple occasions between November of 2007

2 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3123(b) and 3125(b). Appellant’s plea agreement also called for an aggregate sentence of nine to twenty years’ imprisonment, which the trial court imposed the same day it accepted Appellant’s plea. The Commonwealth apprised Appellant of a lifetime registration requirement under “Megan’s Law.” Although the parties agreed to defer a sexually violent predator (SVP) assessment and hearing until after sentencing, the trial court did not hold an SVP hearing. PCRA Ct. Op., 1/14/20, at 1.

to October of 2015, you had sexual contact with [the complainant], date of birth [in 2003]; is that correct?

[Appellant]. I didn’t have sex with her.

[The Commonwealth]. You had sexual contact with her. That’s what you’re -- those are the facts that you’re admitting today?

[Appellant]. Yes.

[The Commonwealth]. Specifically, you’re admitting that on at least two occasions, you penetrated her genitals with your finger;

is that correct?

[Appellant]. No.

[The Commonwealth]. You understand that in order to plead guilty, you have to admit that a certain set of facts are true.

Do you understand that?

[Appellant]. Yes.

[The Commonwealth]. Okay. So by pleading guilty today to aggravated indecent assault of a child less than 13 years old, you are admitting today that you penetrated [the complainant’s]

genitals with your finger on at least two occasions; is that correct?

[Appellant]. Yes.

[The Commonwealth]. You’re also admitting that on at least one other occasion, you performed oral sex on her; is that correct?

[Appellant]. Yes.

[The Commonwealth]. And you did that -- those acts without her consent; is that correct?

[Appellant]. Yes.

N.T. Guilty Plea Hr’g, 3/16/17, at 8-9. The Commonwealth recited no additional facts regarding when the three incidents allegedly occurred. That same day, the trial court sentenced Appellant to the agreed-upon sentence of nine to twenty five years’ imprisonment. The trial court also advised Appellant

of the requirement to register as a sexual offender for life based on his conviction. Appellant did not file post-sentence motions or take a direct appeal from the imposition of sentence.

Approximately four months after the guilty plea hearing, our Supreme Court decided Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa. 2017) (plurality). The Muniz Court held that former Subchapter H, also known as SORNA I, was “punitive in effect . . . .” Muniz, 164 A.3d at 1218. The High Court also concluded that SORNA I violated ex post facto principles when applied to individuals who committed a sexual offense before December 20, 2012, the effective date of the former version of SORNA. See id. at 1223; see also Commonwealth v. Lippincott, 208 A.3d 143, 150 (Pa. Super. 2019) (en banc).

In response to Muniz, the General Assembly amended SORNA I to include Acts 10 and 29 of 2018 (SORNA II). See 2018, Feb. 21, P.L. 27, No. 10 (Act 10); see also 2018, June 12, P.L. 140, No. 29, (Act 29). SORNA II divides sex offender registrants into two distinct subchapters—current Subchapter H, which includes individuals who were convicted of a sexually violent offense that occurred on or after December 20, 2012, and Subchapter I, which includes individuals who were convicted of a sexually violent offense that occurred “on or after April 22, 1996, but before December 20, 2012,” or who were required to register under a former sexual offender registration law on or after April 22, 1996, but before December 20, 2012, and whose

registration requirements had not yet expired. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.11(c) and 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.52, respectively.

Meanwhile, on December 18, 2017, Appellant filed a timely pro se Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546, petition seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. The PCRA court appointed present counsel to represent Appellant.

On May 18, 2018, present counsel filed an amended petition challenging Appellant’s registration requirements under SORNA I based on Muniz. On December 7, 2018, Appellant filed a second amended petition,3 with leave of the court, challenging his registration requirements under “Act 10.” Appellant claimed that with the “offense date spanning eight (8) years[,]” both current Subchapter H and Subchapter I “could be viewed as applicable.” Second Am. Pet., 12/7/18, at ¶ 13. Nonetheless, Appellant asserted that “SORNA [II] in its entirety cannot be applied to him based upon the same reasoning set forth in Muniz.” Id. Appellant continued that “he is serving a lifetime registration requirements sentence pursuant to SORNA [II] that violates the Federal and State Constitution[s]” because it:

3 Appellant filed his second amended petition under the PCRA. However, we note that our Supreme Court recently held that the PCRA is not the exclusive means for challenging the constitutionality of a registration requirement statute. See Commonwealth v. Lacombe, 234 A.3d 602, 618 (Pa. 2020). Nevertheless, we will continue to refer to the PCRA for the sake of consistency with the record, the PCRA court’s opinion, and the parties’ briefs.

a) . . . is punitive under the reasoning of Muniz, which is an unlawful sentence in that it violates the Ex Post Facto clauses of the federal and state constitutions;

b) . . . denies [Appellant] due process under Articles I and XI of the Pennsylvania Constitution because it creates an irrebuttable presumption that those convicted of enumerated offenses “pose a higher risk of committing additional sexual offenses,” depriving those individuals of their fundamental right to reputation;

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