Com. v. Rivera, L.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 15, 2023
Docket151 MDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. Rivera, L. (Com. v. Rivera, L.) 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. Rivera, L., (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

J-S24014-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT OP 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : LUIS ALBERT RIVERA : : Appellant : No. 151 MDA 2023

Appeal from the Order Entered December 28, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-38-CR-0000594-1999

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

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Appellant, Luis Albert Rivera, appeals from the trial court’s order

denying his “Petition for Review and Enforcement of Plea Agreement.” After

careful review, we affirm.

The trial court provided a detailed summary of the pertinent history of

Appellant’s case, which we need not reproduce herein. See Trial Court

Opinion (TCO), 12/28/22, at 1-6. Briefly, Appellant pled guilty in 2000 to

sexual assault and indecent assault, in exchange for a negotiated sentence of

36 to 72 months’ incarceration, followed by 4 years’ probation. Neither of

Appellant’s offenses required him to register as a sex offender under the

registration statute in effect at that time, Megan’s Law I. However, when

Appellant was paroled in 2003, he was notified that he was required to register

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. J-S24014-23

with the Pennsylvania State Police under Megan’s Law II, which was then in

effect. Appellant did not challenge this registration requirement, nor raise any

issue concerning his registration requirements over the next 15 years. It was

not until March 8, 2022, after Appellant was notified that he was required to

register under the present version of the Sexual Offenders Registration and

Notification Act (SORNA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9799.51-9799.75, that Appellant filed

a “Petition for Review and Enforcement of Plea Agreement.” Therein,

Appellant averred that his “registration requirement is contrary to the [p]lea

[b]argain upon which he entered his guilty plea.” TCO at 4. After conducting

a hearing on April 27, 2022, the trial court denied Appellant’s petition by order

and opinion filed December 28, 2022.

Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. He also timely complied with

the trial court’s order to file a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) concise statement of errors

complained of on appeal. On February 22, 2023, the trial court filed a

statement indicating that it is relying on the rationale set forth in its December

28, 2022 opinion to address the following two issues that Appellant raises

herein:

[I.] The [trial c]ourt … erred when it failed to follow case precedent to enforce a plea agreement that did not include any Megan’s Law requirement when it injected its own interpretation of the plea terms without having any evidence from said plea hearing that indicated [Appellant] was required to register as a sex offender for a crime that, at the time of said plea, did not carry any registration requirement.

[II.] The [trial c]ourt … erred when it failed to follow case precedent when it failed to honor the plea agreement terms between [Appellant] and the Commonwealth in which those

-2- J-S24014-23

crimes, Rape ([18 Pa.C.S. §] 3121) and Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse-Forcible Compulsion ([18 Pa.C.S. §] 3123), which required Megan’s Law Registration at the time of the plea, were not part of the plea agreement[,] while a plea to the crime of Sexual Assault ([18 Pa.C.S. §] 3124.1), which at the time of the plea did not require Megan’s Law Registration, was within the plea agreement.

Appellant’s Brief at 7 (unnecessary brackets omitted).1

In considering Appellant’s argument on appeal, we have reviewed the

certified record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law. Additionally,

we have examined the well-reasoned opinion of the Honorable John C. Tylwalk

of the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County that was filed on December

28, 2022. We conclude that Judge Tylwalk’s comprehensive opinion

accurately disposes of the issues presented by Appellant. Accordingly, we

adopt Judge Tylwalk’s opinion as our own and affirm the order denying

Appellant’s “Petition for Review and Enforcement of Plea Agreement” for the

reasons set forth therein.

Order affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary

Date: 09/15/2023 ____________________________________________

1 We note that although Appellant sets forth two separate issues in his Statement of Questions Involved, he presents only one, undivided discussion in his Argument section. See Appellant’s Brief at 10-15.

-3- J-S24014-23

-4- Circulated 08/30/2023 12:01 PM

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF LEBANON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA

CRIMINAL DIVISION

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA NO. CP-38-CR-594-1999

V.

LUIS ALBERT RIVERA

APPEARANCES:

MIMI MILLER, ESQUIRE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY

JOSEPH A. RATASIEWICZ, ESQUIRE FOR DEFENDANT CASAMENTO & RATASIEWICZ, PC

OPINION, TYLWALK, P.J., DECEMBER 28, 2022.

On April 23, 1999, Defendant Luis Albert Rivera was charged with one count

of Rape- Forcible Compulsion, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3121 ( F1); one count of Deviate Sexual

Intercourse- Forcible Compulsion, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3123(a)(1) ( F1); one count of

Sexual Assault, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3124.1(F2); one count of Indecent Assault- Lack of

Consent, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3126 ( a)(1)) ( M2); and one count of Indecent Assault-

Forcible Compulsion, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3126(a)(2) ( M2) 1 for acts which occurred on

1 Counts 1through 5, respectively.

1 April 22, 1999. At the bottom of the Information, it is noted that "[t]he above

stated crimes are enumerated as Megan's Law offenses according to 42 Pa.C.S.A.

§9793." ( Information filed August 6, 1999).

On May 31, 2000, Defendant entered aplea of guilty to the charges of

Sexual Assault and Indecent Assault pursuant to anegotiated plea agreement.

The terms of the negotiated plea agreement were set forth in Defendant's written

Guilty Plea Colloquy as: "36 months to 72 months + 4yrs state supervised

probation" ( Exhibit " B" to Commonwealth's Response to Petition for Review and

Enforcement of Plea Agreement, Para. 26(a)-( b)). In Paragraph 26(c) of the

written Guilty Plea Colloquy, Defendant indicated that he understood the terms

of the Plea Agreement. ( Exhibit " B" to Commonwealth's Response to Petition for

Review and Enforcement of Plea Agreement, Para. 26(c)). The Court's Order

accepting the guilty plea notes the plea agreement as "Cts #3and #4 — 36 mos. To

72 mos. Plus 4yrs. State supervised probation." ( Order of Court dated May 31,

2000). Upon the Commonwealth's Motion, the charges of Rape ( Count 1),

Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse ( Count 2), and Indecent Assault- Forcible

Compulsion ( Count 5) were nolle prossed at Sentencing on July 26, 2000.

Megan's Law Iwas in effect at the time of Defendant's guilty plea. Under

that Law, an individual convicted of Rape and/or Involuntary Deviate Sexual

2 Intercourse was required to register with the Pennsylvania State Police (" PSP") for

aperiod of ten years; however, neither of the offenses to which Defendant pled

guilty carried aregistration requirement under that version of the statute.

Megan's Law II became effective July 9, 2000 prior to Defendant's Sentencing on

July 26, 2000.

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