Com. v. Goldheath, J.

• Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: June 14, 2021
• Docket: 2287 EDA 2020
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

J-S16042-21

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JAH GOLDHEATH : : Appellant : No. 2287 EDA 2020

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered November 6, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0003977-2018

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JAH GOLDHEATH : : Appellant : No. 2288 EDA 2020

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered November 6, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0003978-2018

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : JAH GOLDHEATH : : Appellant : No. 2289 EDA 2020

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered November 6, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0003979-2018 J-S16042-21

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., McLAUGHLIN, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

JUDGMENT ORDER BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED: JUNE 14, 2021

Appellant Jah Goldhealth appeals the order of the Court of Common

Pleas of Philadelphia County dismissing his petition under the Post-Conviction

Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546. We affirm on a different basis

than the PCRA court.1

The PCRA court summarized the relevant procedural history as follows:

[Appellant] was arrested on February 21, 2018, and charged on docket numbers CP-51-CR-3978-2018 and CP-51-CR-3979- 2018 with two counts of Aggravated Assault (F1) and Conspiracy (F1); Possession of an Instrument of Crime with Intent (M1); Terroristic Threats with Intent to Terrorize Another (M1), Simple Assault (M2), and Recklessly Endangering Another Person (hereinafter “REAP”) (M2). [Appellant] was also charged on docket number CP-51-CR-3977-2018 with an additional count of REAP (M2).

On September 26, 2018, [Appellant] entered a negotiated guilty plea to two counts of REAP on docket numbers CP-51-CR- 3977-2018 and CP-51-CR-3978-2018, and one count of Simple Assault on docket number CP-51-CR 3979-2018. The Commonwealth agreed to nolle pros the higher-graded charges. At the same hearing, [Appellant] received a negotiated sentence of two years of probation on each docket number to be served concurrently, and with the final six months to be non-reporting. Prior to accepting [Appellant’s] guilty plea, [the lower court] conducted a guilty plea colloquy and reviewed [Appellant’s] Written Guilty Plea Colloquy.

[Appellant] did not file a direct appeal.

PCRA court opinion, 1/19/21, at 1-2. ____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. 1 “This Court may affirm a PCRA court's decision on any grounds if the record

supports it.” Commonwealth v. Smith, 194 A.3d 126, 132 (Pa.Super. 2018) (citation omitted).

-2- J-S16042-21

On September 27, 2019, Appellant filed a timely pro se PCRA petition.

The PCRA court appointed counsel, who filed an amended petition on March

27, 2020 on Appellant’s behalf. On July 9, 2020, the Commonwealth filed a

motion to dismiss the PCRA petition.

On September 11, 2020, the PCRA court notified Appellant of its intent

to dismiss his petition without a hearing pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 907. On

November 6, 2020, the PCRA court dismissed Appellant’s petition on its

merits. On December 1, 2020, Appellant filed a separate notice of appeal at

each of the three dockets.

Before we review the merits of Appellant’s arguments on appeal, we

must determine whether he is eligible for collateral relief. Section 9543 of the

PCRA provides that, in order to be eligible for relief, a petitioner must “plead

and prove by a preponderance of the evidence …[t]hat the petitioner has been

convicted of a crime under the laws of this Commonwealth and is at the time

relief is granted[,] currently serving a sentence of imprisonment, probation or

parole for the crime.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9543 (emphasis added). See

Commonwealth v. Ahlborn, 548 Pa. 544, 548, 699 A.2d 718, 720 (1997)

(“the denial of relief for a petitioner who has finished serving his sentence is

required by the plain language of the statute”).

In this case, Appellant was sentenced on September 26, 2018 to two

years’ probation. His probationary sentence expired on September 26, 2020.

As a result, Appellant was not eligible for collateral relief when the PCRA court

dismissed his petition on the merits on November 6, 2020, as he had already

-3- J-S16042-21

completed serving the sentence on the crimes for which he seeks relief. See

Commonwealth v. Hart, 911 A.2d 939, 942 (Pa.Super. 2006) (clarifying

that a petitioner becomes ineligible for PCRA relief “[a]s soon as his sentence

is completed, … regardless of whether he was serving his sentence when he

filed the petition”) (citations omitted); Commonwealth v. Matin, 832 A.2d

1141, 1143 (Pa.Super. 2003) (emphasizing that “[a] petitioner is ineligible for

relief under the PCRA once the sentence for the challenged conviction is

completed”).

Order affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary

Date: 6/14/21

-4-