J-S29009-17

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

PENNSYLVANIA

Appellee

v.

NEUR TYYAKEN HEADEN

Appellant No. 2697 EDA 2016

Appeal from the PCRA Order July 26, 2016

In the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-23-CR-0002384-1995

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., SOLANO, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

JUDGMENT ORDER BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED MAY 02, 2017

Neur Tyyaken Headen appeals pro se from the trial court’s order 

denying his third, pro se petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief 

Act (PCRA), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-9546.1 In 1996, Headen was convicted, 

after a jury trial, of first-degree murder and third-degree murder of two 

victims; he was sentenced to a term of life in prison without the possibility of 

parole. Headen was 23 years old at the time he committed the offenses. 

After careful review, we affirm.

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*

Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1

In reviewing the denial of a PCRA petition, this Court is limited to 

determining whether the PCRA court’s findings are supported by the record 

and whether the order is free of legal error. Commonwealth v. Van Horn, 

797 A.2d 983, 986 (Pa. Super. 2002).
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Headen asserts that the trial court improperly determined that his 

untimely2PCRA petition did not warrant relief where: (1) his petition meets 

the “newly recognized” constitutional exception to the PCRA under 42 

Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(1)(iii) and (2) his sentence is unconstitutional, as 

expressed in Miller v. Alabama, 132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012), because it 

constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment to 

the United States Constitution and violates the Equal Protection Clause of 

the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Because Headen was over the age of 18 at the time he committed the 

instant homicide offenses, he is entitled to no relief under Miller. See 

Miller, supra (United States Supreme Court held that sentencing juvenile 

convicted of homicide offense to mandatory life imprisonment without parole 

violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual 

punishment; holding limited to those offenders who were under age of 18 at 

time they committed their crimes).

Moreover, Montgomery v. Louisiana, 135 S.Ct. 718 (2016), 

provides Headen no relief. In Montgomery, the Supreme Court concluded 

that the holding of Miller is a substantive rule of constitutional law to which 

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2 Headen does not challenge the fact that his petition is facially untimely. 

Headen’s judgment of sentence became final on April 1, 1998, the date that 

his 90-day period to file a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme 

Court expired. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 9545(b)(3); Sup. Ct. R. 13. Instantly, 

Headen’s petition, his third, was filed on March 28, 2016.
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state collateral review courts were required, as a constitutional matter, to 

give retroactive effect. Id. at 736. However, the rule in Miller as made 

retroactive by Montgomery still only applies to those juveniles who were 

under the age of 18 at the time they committed their offenses. Again, 

because Headen was 23 at the time of the murders, he cannot be granted 

relief under Miller and Montgomery.

Order affirmed.3

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 5/2/2017

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3 We also reject Headen’s contention that his “developmentally challenged” 

mental state at the time he committed the crimes technically made him a 

“juvenile” under the holdings of Miller and Montgomery. See 

Commonwealth v. Furgess, 149 A.3d 90 (reaffirming fact that petitioners 

who were older than 18 at time they committed murder are not within ambit 

of Miller and rejecting argument that Miller should apply to petitioners who 

were “technical[ly] juvenile[s]” with immature brain development at the 

time of the offenses).