J-S16035-18

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* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

IN RE: APRIL THOMAS

APPEAL OF: APRIL THOMAS

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 1915 MDA 2017

Appeal from the Order Entered October 17, 2017

in the Court of Common Pleas of Clinton County 

Criminal Division at No.: CP-18-MD-0000170-2017

BEFORE: BOWES, J., MURRAY, J., and PLATT*, J.

MEMORANDUM BY PLATT, J.: FILED MAY 08, 2018

Appellant, April Thomas (Rinehart), appeals pro se from the order 

denying her motion to intervene, requesting to view sealed wiretap records in 

another individual’s completed criminal case and for recusal of the presiding 

judge. Specifically, Appellant seeks, inter alia, the unsealing of records 

relating to wiretapped conversations which stemmed from an investigation of 

illegal drug activity against her brother, Jeremy Baney (and others). Appellant 

is not a party to Baney’s case, and was not charged with any crime on this 

matter. She fails to prove she is aggrieved by the denial of the relief

requested. Therefore, she lacks standing. Accordingly, we affirm. 

It is undisputed that in 2003, Baney entered a negotiated guilty plea to 

possession with intent to deliver (PWID), corrupt organizations, and other 
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related drug offenses. He received a sentence of not less than twenty nor 

more than thirty-nine years’ incarceration. This Court affirmed. 

Baney filed numerous petitions for relief pursuant to the Post Conviction 

Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541–9546, and other litigation, largely 

unsuccessful. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Baney, No. 744 MDA 2015, 

2015 WL 8805938, (Pa. Super. filed December 15, 2015) (unpublished 

memorandum) (affirming dismissal of Baney’s fourth PCRA petition). Baney 

also filed a similar petition seeking the wiretap documentation at issue here

for himself. The trial court denied his request. 

Appellant’s purportedly “pro se” motion substantially tracks Baney’s own 

prior motion for similar relief, as well as another one by Melissa Kessler, also 

denied (in a published opinion).

1

 See Kessler v. Pub. Documents Pen 

Register & Wire Taps, 180 A.3d 406 (Pa. Super. 2018). 

There were several orders issued in this matter. Appellant claims to 

have filed a timely appeal from the order denying her motion. The docket 

does not support her assertion. Appellant does not specify which order she is 

appealing. However, we give her the benefit of the doubt on her contention

that she timely filed a notice of appeal, which the clerk of courts somehow 

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1

In fact, in numerous instances, the name of Melissa Kessler remains where 

the references in context leave no doubt that the intended name should have 

been that of Appellant, April Thomas. (See Petition to Intervene of April 

Thomas, filed 11/17/17, at ¶¶ 10, 15, 16, 17, 18). 
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failed to record and in the interest of judicial economy, we will review her 

claims. Appellant filed a Rule 1925(b) statement of errors on November 14, 

2017.2 The trial court filed an opinion on November 21, 2017. See Pa.R.A.P. 

1925(a), (b). 

Appellant’s first statement raises a pastiche of a dozen issues, several 

over-lapping.

3 We address the issue of Appellant’s standing first. 

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2 Without leave of court, Appellant also filed a purported amended statement 

of errors on December 8, 2017. For purposes of our review, we ignore 

Appellant’s late-filed amended statement of errors. 

3 Appellant nominally presents twelve questions for appellate review:

1. Did [the trial court] abuse [its] discretion when [it] denied 

Appellant’s motion to intervene a couple days after 

Commonwealth’s answer was filed thereby not giving [A]ppellant 

time to respond to Commonwealth’s Answer?

2. Did [the trial court] abuse [its] discretion when [it] denied 

Appellant’s motion to intervene because she lacks standing, when 

in fact, her phone was tapped, her residence was searched, and 

her place of, business was searched, so clearly she has standing?

3. Are the pen registers and wiretaps that were used in the 

investigation of 15 co-defendants and relied upon by three judges 

to make 125 judicial decisions in those cases considered public 

judicial documents?

4. Did [the trial court] abuse [its] discretion by denying 

[A]ppellant’s motion to intervene to review and copy the pen 

registers and wiretaps?

5. Did [the trial court] unseal the pen registers and wiretaps 

when [it] opened the sealed envelop[e] and allowed Pa. Attorney 

General’s Office to leave the courthouse with a copy of the pen 
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An individual is aggrieved where he has a direct, immediate and 

substantial interest in the matter sought to be litigated. Common 

law standing is not accorded those who merely share in the 

common interest of all citizens in ensuring obedience to our laws. 

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registers and wiretaps and not return sad [sic] copy as required 

by law[?]

6. Did the Attorney General’s Office meet its burden for why 

the pen registers and wiretaps should not be given to Appellant 

for review and copying?

7. If the pen registers and wiretaps are still sealed then did 

Appellant meet her burden of showing good cause for why the 

records should be unsealed for review and copying?

8. Did [the trial court judge] error [sic] and abuse his

discretion when he denied Appellants [sic] motion to recuse him 

from this action when he showed a personal bias concerning a 

party, he has personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts 

concerning these proceedings[?]

9. Does a illegally [sic] started pen register or wiretap still 

receive the protection of the Wiretap Act in regards to being sealed 

or does the illegally started pen register or wiretap acquired in 

violation of the Wiretap -Act not receive its protections and the 

pen register or wiretap has never been sealed?

10. Did [the trial court] abuse [its] discretion when [it]

denied Thomas and Baney’s Motion to Disclose Pen Registers and 

Wiretaps pursuant to 18 Pa. C.S.A. 5715?

11. Did [the trial court] abuse [its] discretion when [it]

denied Thomas and Baney’s Motion to inspect Pen Registers and 

Wiretaps pursuant to 18 Pa. C.S.A. 5716(c), when both parties 

were participants in the recordings and communications that were

monitored?

12. Did [the trial court] abuse [its] discretion when it denied 

Appellant’s motion to unseal pen registers and wiretaps?

(Appellant’s Brief, at unnumbered pages 7-8). 
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On appeal, our standard of review on the issue of standing is 

whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed an error 

of law. 

In re Hickson, 765 A.2d 372, 376 (Pa. Super. 2000), affirmed, 821 A.2d 

1238 (Pa. 2003) (citations and quotation marks omitted). 

In this case, Appellant has failed to meet her burden of proving that she 

has a substantial, direct and immediate interest in the outcome of the 

litigation, which surpasses the common interest of all citizens in procuring 

obedience to the law. Accordingly, she lacks standing to petition the trial court 

for the requested relief, or to challenge the trial court’s decision on appeal. 

Because Appellant lacks standing to pursue any of her claims, we need 

not review the merits of her various purported issues, and we decline to do 

so. If we were to review Appellant’s claims on the merits, we would affirm 

the trial court’s disposition on the basis of this Court’s opinion in Kessler,

supra at 408-11.

4

 

We also take note that Appellant’s pro se brief, running to hundreds of 

irregularly paginated and frequently unnumbered pages, without prior request 

for an extension of our page limits, is in flagrant, even if inadvertent, violation 

of our rules of appellate procedure. See Pa.R.A.P. 2135. 

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4 Moreover, on independent review, if we were to review Appellant’s claims, 

we would find all of her issues waived for failure to present an orderly, 

comprehensive statement of the case, or to develop an argument, supported 

by pertinent authority, with respect to each of her assorted claims. See

Pa.R.A.P. 2101; Pa.R.A.P. 2117; Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a), (b). 
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After the fact, Appellant has petitioned this Court for permission to file 

yet another brief expressly exceeding the prescribed page limit. (See Petition 

for Permission to File Brief Exceeding Page Limit, 3/09/18). Appellant’s 

petition is denied as moot. 

The Commonwealth has applied to submit a post-submission pleading, 

calling our attention to the recently published decision in Kessler, supra. As 

previously noted, we recognize Kessler as controlling authority. Because we 

have already done so, we deny the Commonwealth’s application, albeit solely 

on the ground that it is moot. The Commonwealth is not required to file 

another post-submission pleading. 

Order affirmed. All of Appellant’s motions denied. Appellant’s petition 

denied as moot. Commonwealth’s application denied as moot. 

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 5/8/2018