J-S58023-14

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF 

PENNSYLVANIA 

 Appellee 

v.

GARY SMITH, 

 Appellant No. 203 WDA 2014 

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered January 29, 2014

In the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County 

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-26-CR-0001477-1998 

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., BENDER, P.J.E., and PLATT, J.* 

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 

 Appellant, Gary Smith, appeals pro se from the trial court’s January 

29, 2014 order denying his petition for relief filed pursuant to the Post 

Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546. We affirm. 

 In March of 1999, Appellant pled guilty to attempted rape, simple 

assault, and unlawful restraint and was sentenced to 102 to 240 months’ 

incarceration. This Court affirmed his judgment of sentence on August 2, 

2000. Commonwealth v. Smith, No. 291 WDA 2000, unpublished 

memorandum (Pa. Super. filed August 2, 2000). Appellant did not petition 

for allowance of appeal with our Supreme Court and, thus, his judgment of 

sentence became final on September 2, 2000. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(3) 

____________________________________________ 

*

 Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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(stating that a judgment of sentence becomes final at the conclusion of 

direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking the review); Pa.R.A.P. 

1113(a) (directing that “a petition for allowance of appeal shall be filed with 

the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court within 30 days of the entry of the 

order of the Superior Court sought to be reviewed”).

 Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition on November 14, 2013. Out of 

“an abundance of caution,” the court appointed PCRA counsel to review 

whether Appellant’s petition satisfied any exception to the PCRA’s one-year 

timeliness requirement. PCRA Court Opinion, 1/29/14, at 1 (unnumbered 

pages). On December 12, 2013, counsel filed a petition to withdraw in 

accordance with Commonwealth v. Turner, 544 A.2d 927 (Pa. 1998), and 

Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa. Super. 1988). On January 2, 

2014, the PCRA court granted counsel’s petition to withdraw and issued a 

Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 notice of its intent to dismiss Appellant’s petition. 

Appellant did not respond, and on January 29, 2014, the court issued an 

order dismissing his petition as untimely. Appellant filed a timely pro se 

notice of appeal. 

Appellant’s handwritten brief does not contain a “Statement of 

Questions Involved” section, as required by Pa.R.A.P. 2116. From what we 

can ascertain, however, Appellant argues that his appointed counsel failed to 

adequately review the record in his case; his guilty plea is invalid because he 

did not receive the agreed upon sentence; and the evidence was insufficient 

to support his convictions because the victim did not identify him and there 
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was no DNA evidence tying him to the crime. Appellant does not argue that 

any of these claims satisfy an exception to the PCRA timeliness requirements 

set forth in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b).1

 Consequently, we are without jurisdiction 

to review the merits of this appeal. 

 Order affirmed. 

____________________________________________ 

1

 That section states, in relevant part: 

(b) Time for filing petition.--

(1) Any petition under this subchapter, including a second 

or subsequent petition, shall be filed within one year of the 

date the judgment becomes final, unless the petition 

alleges and the petitioner proves that: 

(i) the failure to raise the claim previously was the 

result of interference by government officials with 

the presentation of the claim in violation of the 

Constitution or laws of this Commonwealth or the 

Constitution or laws of the United States; 

(ii) the facts upon which the claim is predicated were 

unknown to the petitioner and could not have been 

ascertained by the exercise of due diligence; or 

(iii) the right asserted is a constitutional right that 

was recognized by the Supreme Court of the United 

States or the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after 

the time period provided in this section and has been 

held by that court to apply retroactively. 

42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(i)-(iii). 
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Judgment Entered. 

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. 

Prothonotary 

Date: 9/23/2014