Com. v. Elliott, G.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 9, 2018
Docket1769 WDA 2017
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Elliott, G. (Com. v. Elliott, G.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Com. v. Elliott, G., (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

J-S25039-18

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : GEORGE G. ELLIOTT : : Appellant : No. 1769 WDA 2017

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence July 12, 2017 In the Court of Common Pleas of Crawford County Criminal Division at No(s): C.R. No. 42-1977

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., PANELLA, J., and OTT, J.

MEMORANDUM BY OTT, J.: FILED AUGUST 09, 2018

George G. Elliott appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed on

July 12, 2017, in the Court of Common Pleas of Crawford County, after he was

resentenced, pursuant to Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) and

Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016). In 1977, Elliott was

convicted by a jury of first degree murder1 and sentenced, in 1978, to life

without parole (LWOP). He was 17 years old at the time he committed the

crime. Following the issuance of the United States Supreme Court decisions

in Miller and Montgomery, the trial court resentenced Elliott on the murder

charge to a term of 50 years’ to life imprisonment.2 Elliott contends (1)

____________________________________________

1See 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502. Elliott was also convicted of arson at a separate docket number.

2Elliott received credit for presentence incarceration of 40 years, 5 months, and 11 days. See Order, 7/12/2017. J-S25039-18

because Pennsylvania sentencing statutes for first and second degree murder

were invalidated by Miller, the only constitutional sentence available is that

of 10-to-20 years’ imprisonment for third degree murder at the time of the

offense, and (2) it is unconstitutional to impose a sentence of 50 years to life,

a de facto sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole

(LWOP), on a juvenile absent a finding that the juvenile is one of the rare and

uncommon juveniles who is permanently incorrigible, irreparably corrupt or

irretrievably depraved. Based upon the following, we affirm.

The background of this case is, as follows:

On June 16, 1977, a jury convicted [Elliott] of first-degree murder and arson for crimes he committed when he was seventeen years of age. On March 6, 1978, the trial court sentenced [Elliott] to life imprisonment for the murder conviction and a five to ten year concurrent sentence for the arson conviction. By per curiam order entered June 20, 1979, this Court affirmed [Elliott’s] judgment of sentence. Commonwealth v. Elliott, 417A.2d 780 (Pa. Super. 1979). On October 4, 1979, our Supreme Court denied [Elliott’s] allocatur petition.

Commonwealth v. Elliott, 34 A.3d 235 (Pa. Super. 2011) (unpublished

memorandum) (affirming the denial of relief sought pursuant to the Post-

Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546). The United States

Supreme Court subsequently decided Miller in 2012, and Montgomery in

2016.

In Miller, supra, the Supreme Court of the United States held that

“mandatory life without parole for those under the age of 18 at the time of

their crimes violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on ‘cruel and unusual

-2- J-S25039-18

punishments.’” Id., 567 U.S. at 465. Under Miller, only where a court finds

that the juvenile homicide defendant is permanently incorrigible, irreparably

corrupt, or irretrievably depraved is the court permitted to impose a LWOP

sentence upon the juvenile. Miller, at 471, 473, 479-480 (citations omitted).

Thereafter, in Montgomery, the United States Supreme Court held that the

Miller decision applies retroactively to cases on collateral review. Id. at 732-

737. Following Miller and Montgomery, our Supreme Court issued

Commonwealth v. Batts, 163 A.3d 410 (Pa. 2017) (Batts II), which

addressed the procedural requirements for sentencing a juvenile homicide

defendant.

On June 28, 2016, based on Montgomery, Elliott obtained PCRA relief

in the form of resentencing. On July 12, 2017, the trial court resentenced

Elliott, as stated above. Elliott filed a timely post-sentence motion, which

was denied, and this appeal followed.3

Initially, we state our standard of review:

A juvenile offender who challenges a LWOP sentence raises issues that involve mixed questions of fact and law. [Commonwealth v. Batts, 163 A.3d] at 434-436. Because Montgomery makes clear that a juvenile homicide offender may receive a LWOP sentence only if he or she is found incapable of rehabilitation, such a finding ipso facto implicates the trial court’s authority to impose such a sentence. Id. at 434-435. This threshold legal inquiry constitutes a pure question of law subject to de novo review. Id. at 435. To the extent, however, the determination is based on ____________________________________________

3Elliott timely complied with the order of the trial court to file a statement of errors complained of on appeal, pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b).

-3- J-S25039-18

factual findings made by the trial court at the sentencing hearing, those findings are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See id. at 435-436.

Commonwealth v. Foust, 180 A.3d 416, 429 (Pa. Super. 2018).4

In his first issue, Elliott contends that because Miller invalidated the

first and second degree murder statutes for juveniles, the only available

constitutional statute was a sentence for third degree murder, which at the

time of the offense carried a penalty of 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment. Elliott,

however, concedes that “this argument, or those very similar, have been

summarily rejected by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Commonwealth

v. Batts, 163 A.3d 410 (Pa. 2017) … and this Honorable Court in

Commonwealth v. Foust, [180 A.3d 416 (Pa. Super. 2018)].” Elliott’s Brief

at 9. As Elliott is correct that our Courts have already addressed a claim such

as the one he presents herein, we need not discuss this issue further.

In his second issue, Elliott maintains “it [is] unconstitutional to impose

a sentence of [50] years to life, a de facto sentence to life imprisonment

without the possibility of parole, on a juvenile absent a finding that the juvenile

is one of the rare and uncommon juveniles who is permanently incorrigible,

irreparably corrupt or irretrievably depraved.” Id.

4 We note that presently, in Foust, a petition for allowance of appeal has been filed and is pending at 126 WAL 2018 (Pa. 2018).

-4- J-S25039-18

Elliott argues that in Foust, supra, this Court held that “a trial court

may not impose a term-of-years sentence, which constitutes a de facto LWOP

sentence, on a juvenile offender convicted of homicide unless it finds, beyond

a reasonable doubt, that he or she is incapable of rehabilitation.” Elliott’s Brief

at 9, citing Foust, 180 A.3d at 431. Elliott further asserts:

Given the age of the defendant and the life expectancy of long term inmates, this sentence was, in effect, a life sentence without a reasonable chance of parole.[5] As such, this 50 years to life sentence was an abuse of discretion, excessive, unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious even in light of Batts II.”[6]

Elliott’s Brief, id.

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Com. v. Elliott, G., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-elliott-g-pasuperct-2018.