L. Spann v. PA BPP

CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 9, 2016
Docket728 M.D. 2012
StatusUnpublished

This text of L. Spann v. PA BPP (L. Spann v. PA BPP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
L. Spann v. PA BPP, (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Leroy Spann, : Petitioner : : v. : : Pennsylvania Board of : Probation and Parole and : Pennsylvania State Police, : No. 728 M.D. 2012 Respondents : Submitted: January 22, 2016

BEFORE: HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Judge1 HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, Judge HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE COVEY FILED: June 9, 2016

Before this Court is the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole’s (Board) Suggestion of Mootness as to Leroy Spann’s (Spann) pro se “(Complete) Second Amended Petition for Review” (Petition) seeking mandamus relief,2 the

1 This case was assigned to the opinion writer on or before January 31, 2016, when Judge Leadbetter assumed the status of senior judge. 2 In Taylor v. Pennsylvania State Police, 132 A.3d 590 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016), an en banc decision, this Court overruled the Pennsylvania State Police’s (PSP) preliminary objections premised on PSP’s position that the petition for review sought mandamus relief, and that the allegations therein did not meet the standards for mandamus relief. There, although the petition for review was titled “Petition for Review in the Nature of a Writ of Mandamus[,]” this Court explained:

a review of that document reveals no instances where [the petitioner] actually requests the PSP to undertake a mandatory duty. [The petitioner] requests this court to:

declare that [the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, (]SORNA’s[), Sections 9799.10- 9799.41 of the Sentencing Code, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ Pennsylvania State Police’s (PSP) Preliminary Objections to the Petition, and Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion.3 The issues before the Court are: (1) whether

9799.10-9799.41,] current lifetime registration is unconstitutional and order that he is hereby exempt from registering any further, and ... from registering four (4) times a year under SORNA, or in the alternative, grant Petitioner's request that, as it applies to him, application of SORNA is a direct consequence to Petitioner and an ex post facto application of the law. Id. at 598-99 (quoting petition for review, Wherefore Clause). Unlike Taylor, Spann requests this Court to:

issue an order directing [the Board and PSP] to take appropriate steps to effectuate the process of removing [Spann] from the [Registry]. Furthermore, [Spann] requests that the court order the [Board and PSP] to notify other state agencies and the authority that maintains the Pennsylvania public website to remove [Spann] from the [Registry]. Petition at 5-6. Because Spann’s Petition seeks an order from this Court directing PSP and the Board to act, we conclude that the Petition is in the nature of mandamus, and thus, Spann must satisfy the requirements for mandamus relief. 3 This action has a lengthy and complex procedural history. On December 29, 2012, Spann filed his First Petition with this Court, naming “Brian Donovan, Parole Agent of the [Board]” as Respondent. On April 4, 2013, the Board filed Preliminary Objections to the First Petition. On April 30, 2013, this Court sustained the Board’s Preliminary Objections and directed Spann to file an Amended Petition for Review, naming the Board as Respondent. On May 17, 2013, Spann filed an Amended Petition for Review (Amended Petition). On May 23, 2013, this Court ordered the Board to answer or otherwise plead within 30 days. On June 21, 2013, the Board filed Preliminary Objections which this Court overruled by July 11, 2013 order. On July 30, 2013, the Board filed its Answer and New Matter to the Amended Petition. On March 19, 2014, Spann filed a “Motion for a Disposition on [the Amended Petition],” which this Court denied by March 20, 2014 order. On May 7, 2014, Spann filed a Summary Judgment Motion. On May 20, 2014, the Board filed an Answer to Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion suggesting, inter alia, that PSP was a proper and necessary party. On May 28, 2014, this Court issued an order permitting Spann to add PSP as an additional Respondent. On June 10, 2014, Spann filed a Second Amended Petition for Review. On July 15, 2014, this Court issued an order striking Spann’s Second Amended Petition for Review as unauthorized. The order, however, permitted Spann to file a Complete Second Amended Petition for Review adding PSP as a Respondent and adding any additional factual averments. On August 8, 2014, Spann filed the Petition. On August 11, 2014, this Court ordered the Board and PSP to file an Answer or otherwise plead within 30 days. On September 8, 2014, the Board filed its Suggestion of Mootness to the Petition. On September 9, 2014, PSP filed Preliminary Objections to the Petition. On September 22, 2014, Spann responded to the Board’s Suggestion of Mootness. On October 8, 2 Spann’s claims against the Board are moot; (2) whether the Petition states a claim for mandamus relief; and, (3) whether Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion should be granted. After review, we grant the Board’s Suggestion of Mootness, sustain PSP’s Preliminary Objections, deny Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion and dismiss Spann’s Petition. On March 26, 1990, Spann was convicted of rape pursuant to Section 3121 of the Crimes Code, 18 Pa.C.S. § 3121, and was sentenced to prison for 8½ to 20 years. In 1999, Spann was registered on PSP’s statewide registry (Registry) as a sex offender under the first-enacted version of Megan’s Law (Megan’s Law I) which required Spann to register for ten years.4 Spann’s maximum sentence was to expire

2014, Spann answered PSP’s Preliminary Objections. On December 17, 2014, PSP filed an Application for Relief seeking dismissal of Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion since it was filed before the Petition was filed. By December 18, 2014 order, this Court directed Spann to serve the Summary Judgment Motion on PSP within 14 days. On January 5, 2015, Spann filed his Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law. On February 4, 2015, PSP filed its Memorandum in Response to the Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion. By February 20, 2015 letter, the Board notified this Court that it joined in PSP’s Memorandum. On February 23, 2015, Spann replied to PSP’s Memorandum. Thus, before this Court are the Board’s Suggestion of Mootness, PSP’s Preliminary Objections and Spann’s Summary Judgment Motion. 4 As this Court noted: The Supreme Court has described the history of Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law as follows:

The Act of October 24, 1995, P.L. 1079 (Spec.[ ]Sess. No. 1), now known as Megan’s Law I, was to a significant extent ruled unconstitutional in Commonwealth v. Donald Williams, . . . 733 A.2d 593 ([Pa.] 1999). The General Assembly subsequently enacted Megan’s Law II [Act of May 10, 2000, P.L. 74], whose constitutionality this Court substantially upheld in Commonwealth v. Gomer Williams, . . . 832 A.2d 962 ([Pa.] 2003). In the Act of November 24, 2004, P.L. 1243 (known as Megan’s Law III), the General Assembly addressed several matters, including that portion of Megan’s Law II held to be unconstitutional in Gomer Williams, concerning the penalty provisions that attached to sexually violent 3 on July 4, 2009. However, on March 17, 2004, after being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol while on parole, Spann was recommitted and his maximum sentence release date was recalculated to June 6, 2013. By December 14, 2009 letter, PSP Commander Lieutenant Douglas E. Grimes (Grimes) notified Spann that he had been removed from the Registry. The letter advised:

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L. Spann v. PA BPP, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/l-spann-v-pa-bpp-pacommwct-2016.