J-S27011-18

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

WILLIAM GODSHALL BECHTEL 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 322 EDA 2016

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence December 18, 2015

In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal Division at 

No(s): CP-51-CR-0014177-2013

BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., LAZARUS, J., and DUBOW, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SHOGAN, J.: FILED JULY 19, 2018

Appellant, William Godshall Bechtel, appeals from the judgment of 

sentence entered on December 18, 2015. After careful review, we affirm 

Appellant’s judgment of sentence. However, we are constrained to reverse 

the order designating Appellant as a Sexually Violent Predator (“SVP”), and 

we remand to the trial court to advise Appellant of his obligations under 

Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), 42 

Pa.C.S. §§ 9799.10-9799.41. 

On April 9, 2015, Appellant pled nolo contendere to two counts of child 

pornography.1 The trial court sentenced Appellant to a term of eleven and 

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1 18 Pa.C.S. § 6312(d).
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one-half to twenty-three months of incarceration followed by ten years of 

probation on each count.2 The trial court ordered the sentences to run 

concurrently. However, the record reflects that Appellant was sentenced on 

one count of child pornography on April 9, 2015, and then sentenced on the 

second count on December 18, 2015. Order, 12/18/15. The December 18, 

2015 order also designated Appellant as a SVP. Id. 

On January 19, 2016, Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal from the 

December 18, 2015 judgment of sentence.3 On appeal, Appellant challenges

his designation as an SVP, which is a challenge to the legality of his sentence. 

Commonwealth v. Butler, 173 A.3d 1212, 1214 (Pa. Super. 2017). 

Specifically, Appellant avers that 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.24(e)(3) of SORNA is 

constitutionally infirm. Appellant’s Brief at 3. The Commonwealth concedes

this issue and does not oppose reversal of the SVP order. Commonwealth’s 

Brief at 4.4 

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2 Appellant had a previous conviction for rape.

3 The notice of appeal from the judgment of sentence entered on December 

18, 2015, was timely. The thirtieth day following Appellant’s December 18, 

2015 judgment of sentence and designation as an SVP fell on Sunday, January 

17, 2016, and the next day, Monday, January 18, 2016, was the Martin Luther 

King, Jr. holiday. Accordingly, Appellant’s notice of appeal, which was filed on 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016, was timely. See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1908 (stating that 

for computations of time, whenever the last day of any such period shall fall 

on Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, such day shall be omitted from the 

computation).

4 We appreciate the Commonwealth’s candor.
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In Butler, this Court, applying Commonwealth v. Muniz, 135 A.3d 

178 (Pa. 2017), Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and Alleyne 

v. United States, 570 U.S. 99 (2013), found that 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.24(e)(3) 

of SORNA is unconstitutional. Butler, 173 A.3d at 1218. As a result, we held 

that “trial courts cannot designate convicted defendants SVPs (nor may they 

hold SVP hearings) until our General Assembly enacts a constitutional 

designation mechanism.” Id. In the present case, Appellant was determined 

to be an SVP under the now unconstitutional SVP mechanism. In light of 

Butler, we must reverse the trial court’s SVP order and remand this case to 

the trial court for the sole purpose of issuing the appropriate notice under 42 

Pa.C.S. § 9799.23. Id.

SVP order reversed. Judgment of sentence affirmed in all other 

respects. Case remanded with instructions. Jurisdiction relinquished.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 7/19/18