IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania :

Ex Rel. Simeon Bozic, : No. 2760 C.D. 2015

: Submitted: October 7, 2016

Appellant :

:

v. :

:

Superintendent, Robert Gilmore, :

State Correctional Institution :

Greene, Pennsylvania Department :

of Corrections :

BEFORE: HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, Judge

HONORABLE MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge

HONORABLE ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION 

BY SENIOR JUDGE FRIEDMAN FILED: November 29, 2016

Simeon Bozic appeals from the July 23, 2015, interlocutory order of the 

Court of Common Pleas of Greene County (trial court) that transferred his petition for 

writ of habeas corpus (Petition) to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas 

(Philadelphia court). We quash the appeal.

On March 12, 2015, Bozic filed the Petition against Superintendent,

Robert Gilmore, the State Correctional Institution at Greene (SCI-Greene), and the 

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (together, Respondent) in the trial court. In 

his Petition, Bozic challenged the conditions of his confinement at SCI-Greene, 
2

specifically alleging that the Philadelphia court did not impose a sentence authorizing

his confinement.1 

On July 23, 2015, the trial court issued an order, stating that in 

accordance with Pa. R. Crim. P. 108(A), a petition for writ of habeas corpus 

challenging the legality of a petitioner’s confinement shall be filed in the clerk of 

courts of the judicial district in which the order directing the confinement of the 

petitioner was entered. The trial court ordered the Petition transferred to the 

Philadelphia court. 

On August 3, 2015, Bozic filed a notice of appeal from an interlocutory

appeal as of right pursuant to Pa. R.A.P. 311(c), with this court.

2

 On appeal, Bozic 

argues that the trial court erred in transferring the Petition to the Philadelphia court 

because he is confined at SCI-Greene and, in accordance with Bronson v. Domovich, 

628 A.2d 1177, 1177 (Pa. Super. 1993) and Pa. R. Crim. P. 108(B), “[a] petition for 

writ of habeas corpus challenging the conditions of the petitioner’s confinement in a 

criminal matter shall be filed with the clerk of courts of the judicial district in which 

the petitioner is confined.” Thus, because Bozic is confined at SCI-Greene, Bozic 

maintains that the trial court, not the Philadelphia court, has jurisdiction.

 

1

This is the only challenge raised.

2 Bozic also filed a motion to reopen the habeas corpus proceeding with the trial court, 

which the trial court denied on April 5, 2016.
3

We must first address the appealability of the July 23, 2015, 

interlocutory order. Bozic claims he may appeal the interlocutory order as of right 

pursuant to Pa. R.A.P. 311(c). We disagree.

Pa. R.A.P. 311(c) provides that “[a]n appeal may be taken as of right 

from an order in a civil action or proceeding changing venue, transferring the matter 

to another court of coordinate jurisdiction, or declining to proceed in the matter on 

the basis of forum non conveniens or analogous principles.” Although Pa. R.A.P. 

311(c) permits an appeal as of right from an order “transferring [a] matter to another

court of coordinate jurisdiction,” the Note to Pa. R.A.P. 311(c) explains: 

[T]he paragraph does not relate to a transfer under . . . 42 

Pa. C.S. §5103 [transfer of erroneously filed matter], . . . 

because such a transfer is not to a “court of coordinate 

jurisdiction” within the meaning of this rule; it is intended 

that there shall be no right of appeal from a transfer order 

based on improper subject matter jurisdiction.

Pa. R.A.P. 311, Note. 

Habeas corpus is properly addressed in the court of record from which 

the judgment of sentence originated. Brown v. Department of Corrections, 81 A.3d 

814, 815 (Pa. 2013). Here, the trial court transferred the Petition to the Philadelphia

court, which ordered Bozic’s detention. An appeal as of right may not be taken from 

the trial court’s transfer order.
4

Accordingly, we quash Bozic’s appeal.

___________________________________

ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Senior Judge
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania :

Ex Rel. Simeon Bozic, : No. 2760 C.D. 2015

: 

Appellant :

:

v. :

:

Superintendent, Robert Gilmore, :

State Correctional Institution :

Greene, Pennsylvania Department :

of Corrections :

O R D E R

AND NOW, this 29th day of November, 2016, we hereby quash the 

appeal filed by Simeon Bozic.

___________________________________

ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Senior Judge