IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Gregory Dunbar

, :

Appellant :

:

v. :

: Superintendent Kauffman : No. 1004 C.D. 202 1 SCI Huntingdon : Submitted: Dec em ber 9 , 2022

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION PER CURIAM FILED: February 22, 2023

Gregory Dunbar (Dunbar) appeals pro se from the Huntingdon County
Common Pleas Court’s ( Huntingdon County Common Pleas ) May 21, 2021 order
transferring his Petition for Emergency Writ of Habeas Corpus (Petition) to the
Dauphin County Common Pleas Court (Dauphin County Common Pleas ). The sole

issue before this Court is whether the Huntingdon County Common Pleas properly

t ransferred the Petition to the Dauphin County Common Pleas

. 1 After review, this

Court affirms.

1 Dunbar presents three issues in his “ Statement of Questions : ” (1) whether the Huntingdon County Common Pleas unlawfully transferred his Petition to the Dauphin County Common Pleas in bad faith; (2) whether the Huntingdon County Common Pleas knowingly violated Dunbar’s federal and state right s to access the courts; and (3) whether the Huntingdon County Common Pleas complied with Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 240

, Pa.R.Civ.P. 240, as this Court directed on December 13, 2021. D unbar Br. at 5. However, because Dunbar appealed from the Huntingdon County Common Pleas ’ transfer order, the issue as stated by this Court is the only issue properly before this Court.2 On or about F ebruary 21, 2020, Dunbar was charged with nine counts

of Retaliation Against a Prosecutor or Judicial Official 2 and one count of Ba rra try 3
originating out of Dauphin County. At that time, Dunbar was an inmate at State
Correctional Institution (SCI)

- Greene. On March 30, 2021 , Dunbar was transfer red

from SCI

- Greene to SCI

- Huntingdon

. On April 29, 2021

, Dunbar fil ed the Petition

in the Huntingdon County Common Pleas

. On May 21, 2021, the Huntingdon
County Common Pleas entered an order directing the transfer of th e Petition to the
Dauphin County Common Pleas

. Thereafter, Dunbar filed in the Huntingdon
County Commo n Pleas a Notice of Appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court
(Notice of Appeal)

. On June 9, 2021, the Dauphin County Common Pleas received

the Petition and the Notice of Appeal. 4 On August 3, 2021, the Pennsylvania

S uperior Court transferred the appeal to th is Court.

By December 13, 202 1 Memorandum and Order, this Court remanded

the matter to the Dauphin County Common Pleas and directed t he Dauphin County

Common Pleas ’ Clerk of Courts to return the file transferred from the Huntingdon
County Comm on Pleas , including Dunbar’s Notice of Appeal from the Huntingdon
County Common Pleas ’ May 21, 2021 order, to the Huntingdon County Common

Pleas Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts for appropriate action. This Court further

directed that the Huntingdon County Common Pleas ’ Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts

enter Du n bar’s Notice of Appeal upon the docket and transmit the Notice of Appeal
to this Court in accordance with Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure ( Rule)

2 18 Pa.C.S. § 4953. 1( a ) (“ A person commits an offense if he harms or attempts to harm another or the tangible property of another by any unlawful act in retaliation for anything lawfully done in the official capacity of a prosecutor or judicial official. ”)

.

3 18 Pa.C.S. § 5109 (“A person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree if he vexes others with unjust and vexatious suits.”).

4 On June 23, 2021, the Dauphin County Common Pleas ordered Dunbar to file a concise statement of errors complained of on app eal pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure (Rule) 1925(b) (Rule 1925(b) Statement). On July 6, 2021, Dunbar filed his Rule 1925(b) Statement.3

905(b). 5 On Mar c h 21, 2022, the Huntingdon County Common Pleas filed its
opinion pursuant to Rule 1925(a) (Rule 1925(a) Opinion). On March 25, 2022, this

Court received the Huntingdon County Common Pleas ’ record. On September 2,

2022, SCI

- Hunting don Superintendent Kevin Kauffman filed a notice of non

participation in this appeal. 6

T he Huntingdon County Common Pleas determined that since the

Petition ar ose from Dunbar’s Dauphin County Common Pleas criminal case ( D ocket

No. CP

- 22

- CR

- 0000873

- 2020)

, the Huntingdon County Common Pleas was not the
proper venue for the P etition, and transfer to the Dauphin County Common Pleas

was appropriate. See Rule 1925(a) Opinion at 1.

Initially, Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal P rocedure 108 (relating to
habeas corpus venue) provides , in relevant part :

(A) A petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the legality of the petitioner ’ s detention or confinement in a criminal matter shall be filed with the clerk of courts of the judicial district in which the order directing the petitioner ’ s detention or confinement was entered.

. . . .
Comment :

. . . .

. . . . A petition misfiled in th e wrong judicial district under this rule may be transferred to the proper judicial district pursuant to Section 5103 [(a)] of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5103(a) [( relating to the t ransfer of erroneously filed matters generally)]

.

5 Pa.R.A.P. 905(b) (relating to transmission to the appellate court).

6 On September 6, 2022, Dun bar filed a “Motion for Summary Relief Res Judicata

- Bar Application for Relief

” (Application for Relief). By Sept ember 16, 2022 Order, this Court directed that the Application for Relief be decided with the merits of this appeal. On December 8, 2022,
Dun bar filed a “Petition for Reconsideration and Rule to Show Cause why this Court in Bad Faith Disregard[ed] its own Precedent on Nov[ember] 22, 2022[,] and Dec[ember] 13, 2021[,] and Request to Correct the Record” (Petition for R econsideration). By January 9, 2023 Order, this Court denied the Petition for Reconsideration.4

Pa.R.Crim.P. 108.

I n his Petition, Dunbar allege d that his March 30, 2021 transfer from

SCI

- Greene to SCI

- Huntingdon was illegal because all transfers were stayed
pending his video hearing at SCI

- G reene on his Dauphin County criminal charges
( D ocket No. CP

- 22

- CR

- 0000873

- 2020 ) scheduled to occur on April 12, 2021. See

Petition ¶ 1; Original Record (O.R.) at 201

- 202. 7 Dunbar further averred that his
continued confinement is unlawful because there is no complaint or arrest warrant
in his prison file. See Petition ¶¶ 5

- 6 ; O.R. at 203. Finally, Dunbar claimed that he
was released from custody on docket number MJ

- 12104

- CR

- 0000869

- 2019. 8 See
Petition ¶ 7 ; O.R. at 203

.

Because the Dauphin County Common Pleas direct ed “ [Dunbar’s]

detention or confinement ” on the criminal charges at issue, the Dauphin County

Common Pleas is the pr o per habeas corpus venue. Pa.R.Crim.P. 10 8 ( A ).
Accordingly, the Huntingdon County Common Pleas “ transferred [the Petition] to
the proper judicial district pursuant to Section 5103 of the Judicial Code [

. ] ” Id

.

comment.
For all of the above reasons, the Huntingdon County Common Pleas ’

order is affirmed. 9

7 Because the Original Record pages are not numbered, the page numbers referenced herein reflect electronic pagination.

8 D ocket No. MJ

- 12104

- CR

- 0000869

- 2019 indicates the same Dauphin County Common Pleas charges, i.e., nine counts of Retaliation Against a Prosecutor or Judicial Official and one count of Barratry , were dismissed by a magisterial district judge on February 23, 2020. See O.R. at 119

- 121.

9 Give n this Court’s disposition of the appeal, Dunbar’s Application for Relief is dismissed

as moot.IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Gregory Dunbar, :

Appellant :

:

v. :

: Superintendent Kauffman : No. 1004 C.D. 2021 SCI Huntingdon :

PER CURIAM O R D E R

AND NOW, this 22 nd day of February , 20 2 3

, the Huntingdon County
Common Pleas Court’s May 21, 2021 order is AFFIRMED

. Gregory Dunbar’s
“Motion for Summary Relief Res Judicata

- Bar Application for Relief ” is

DISMISSED as moot.