Com. v. White, B.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 17, 2021
Docket756 EDA 2020
StatusUnpublished

This text of Com. v. White, B. (Com. v. White, B.) 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. White, B., (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-S52020-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : BILLY WHITE : : Appellant : No. 756 EDA 2020

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered February 6, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-46-CR-0002429-2012

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : BILLY WHITE : : Appellant : No. 757 EDA 2020

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered February 6, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-46-CR-0002430-2012

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., McCAFFERY, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY McCAFFERY, J.: FILED FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Billy White (Appellant) appeals pro se1 from the judgments of sentence

imposed February 6, 2020, in the Montgomery County Court of Common

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1Appellant was permitted to represent himself following a Grazier hearing in November of 2018. See Commonwealth v. White, 796 EDA 2018 (unpub. J-S52020-20

Pleas, following this Court’s second remand for resentencing on two criminal

dockets, CP-46-CR-0002429-2012 (the Drug Case), and CP-46-CR-0002430-

2012 (the Burglary Case). On appeal,2 Appellant contends the trial court

should recuse itself from further proceedings, and presents the following

challenges to the court’s February 2020 resentence: (1) the trial court

violated his due process rights by imposing two counts to run consecutively,

when they were originally imposed concurrently, and have now expired; (2)

the court imposed a lengthier sentence upon remand when the aggregate

sentence originally imposed was only five to 10 years’ imprisonment; (3) the

court ignored his double jeopardy claim regarding a probation violation

sentence; (4) the court re-imposed an illegal mandatory minimum sentence

under Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. 99 (2013); (5) the court imposed

a probationary term for a sentence that had expired; and (6) the court failed

to reimburse him for costs improperly imposed. We affirm.

The relevant facts and protracted procedural history underlying these

appeals are as follows. The Drug Case originated from the October 2011

search of a vehicle Appellant abandoned at a residence in Lower Providence

memo. at 1 n.3) (Pa. Super. 2019); Commonwealth v. Grazier, 713 A.2d 81 (Pa. 1998). He has proceeded pro se since that time. At the most recent sentencing hearing, Appellant affirmed that he still wished to proceed pro se, and rejected the trial court’s offer to continue the proceedings so that Appellant could apply for a public defender. See N.T., 2/6/20, at 3-4, 15-16.

2This Court consolidated these appeals sua sponte by order entered May 4, 2020.

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Township, Montgomery County. See Commonwealth v. White, 763 EDA

2013 (unpub. memo. at 1-4) (Pa. Super. 2014). Police officers responding to

the call of an abandoned vehicle recovered more than 10 grams of cocaine

hidden inside the CD compartment. Id. at 2. A subsequent investigation led

to Appellant as the operator of the vehicle at the time it was abandoned. Id.

at 1.

The Burglary Case stemmed from a February 26, 2012, incident when

Appellant broke into the home of his then-girlfriend. See Commonwealth

v. White, 766 EDA 2013 (unpub. memo. at 1-5) (Pa. Super. 2014). Appellant

arrived at the home at approximately 2:00 a.m., and insisted his girlfriend

come out to his car. Id. at 2. When she refused and directed him to leave

the property, he entered without permission, pulled a gun on her and

threatened to “pistol whip” her if she did not comply. Id. (citation omitted).

She accompanied him to his car, where Appellant continued to threaten her

and her daughter. Id. at 3. Fortunately, a police officer responded to a 911

call, and arrested Appellant. Id. at 4. A search of that car revealed marijuana

and a firearm. Id.

The Burglary Case was tried first. On November 27, 2012, a jury

convicted Appellant of burglary, criminal trespass, terroristic threats, carrying

a firearm without a license, and possession of drug paraphernalia.3 The Drug

318 Pa.C.S. §§ 3502(a)(1), 3503(a)(1)(i), 2706, 6106(a)(1); 35 P.S. § 780- 113(a)(32).

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Case trial began the next day before the same trial court. On November 29,

2012, a jury convicted Appellant of possession with intent to deliver (PWID)

cocaine, possession of cocaine,4 and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On February 8, 2013, the court sentenced Appellant on both dockets, as

well as two probation violation matters. On the Drug Case, the court imposed

a mandatory minimum sentence of five to 10 years’ imprisonment for PWID,5

a concurrent term of one to three years for possession of cocaine, and a

concurrent term of one year probation for possession of paraphernalia. On

the Burglary case, the court sentenced Appellant to a mandatory minimum

five to 10 years’ imprisonment for burglary,6 a concurrent term of one to seven

years for criminal trespass, a concurrent 3½ to seven years for the firearms

offense, a concurrent one to five years for terroristic threats, and a concurrent

term of one year probation for the paraphernalia charge. The trial court

4 35 P.S. §§ 780-113(a)(16), (30).

5 The court applied the mandatory minimum sentence based upon the weight of the cocaine recovered from the car. See 18 Pa.C.S. § 7508(a)(2)(ii). This statute was later held to be unconstitutional pursuant to Alleyne (fact that increases mandatory minimum sentence “must . . . be submitted to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt”). See Commonwealth v. Cardwell, 105 A.3d 748, 749, 755 (Pa. Super. 2014).

6 The court applied the mandatory minimum based upon Appellant’s visible possession of a firearm during the burglary. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9712(a). This statute, too, was later declared unconstitutional under Alleyne. See Commonwealth v. Valentine, 101 A.3d 801, 812 (Pa. Super. 2014).

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further ordered that the PWID sentence in the Drug Case run consecutive to

the probation revocation sentences, and the burglary sentence in the Burglary

Case run consecutive to the PWID sentence. See N.T., 2/8/13, at 19-20.

Thus, the court imposed an aggregate sentence of 10 to 20 years’

imprisonment for the Drug and Burglary Cases. Appellant’s judgments of

sentence in both cases were affirmed by this Court on direct appeal. See

White, 763 EDA 2013 (Drug Case);7 White, 766 EDA 2013 (Burglary Case).

In September of 2014, Appellant filed timely petitions for post-

conviction collateral review in both cases. The trial court subsequently denied

relief. However, on appeal, this Court remanded both cases for resentencing,

after concluding the mandatory minimum sentences imposed by the trial court

were unconstitutional under Alleyne and its progeny. See Commonwealth

v. White, 3255 EDA 2016 (Pa. Super. Dec. 19, 2017) (Drug Case);

Commonwealth v. White, 3130 EDA 2016 (Pa. Super. Dec. 26, 2017)

(Burglary Case).8

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Related

Alleyne v. United States
133 S. Ct. 2151 (Supreme Court, 2013)
Commonwealth v. Grazier
713 A.2d 81 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Abu-Jamal
720 A.2d 79 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Cardwell
105 A.3d 748 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)
Commonwealth v. Luketic
162 A.3d 1149 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Commonwealth v. Barnes
167 A.3d 110 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)
Com. of Pa. v. Gibbs
181 A.3d 1165 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth, Aplt. v. Walker, T.
185 A.3d 969 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
Commonwealth v. Kiesel
854 A.2d 530 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Valentine
101 A.3d 801 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2014)

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Com. v. White, B., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/com-v-white-b-pasuperct-2021.