J-S22005-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT OP 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

v.

WILLIAM ANTHONY DIAMOND JR. 

Appellant

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 11 WDA 2023

Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered October 5, 2021

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

No(s): CP-61-CR-0000488-2017

BEFORE: OLSON, J., STABILE, J., and MURRAY, J.

MEMORANDUM BY OLSON, J.: FILED: August 17, 2023

Appellant, William Anthony Diamond Jr., appeals from the order entered 

on October 5, 2021, which dismissed his petition filed under the Post 

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

On December 14, 2017, Appellant pleaded guilty to the following 

charges: at Docket Number CP-61-CR-0000488-2017 (hereinafter “Docket 

Number 488”), Appellant pleaded guilty to rape of a child;1 at Docket Number 

CP-61-CR-0000533-2017 (hereinafter “Docket Number 533”), Appellant 

pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint, unlawful contact with a minor, and 

corruption of minors;2 and, at Docket Number CP-61-CR-0000740-2017 

(hereinafter “Docket Number 740”), Appellant pleaded guilty to attempted 

____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3121(c).

2 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2902(a)(1), 6318(a)(1), and 6301(a)(1)(i), respectively.
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rape of a child.3 On April 6, 2018, the trial court sentenced Appellant to serve 

an aggregate term of 27 to 87 years in prison for his convictions. See N.T. 

Sentencing, 4/6/18, at 35. Appellant did not file a direct appeal from his 

judgment of sentence.

On January 14, 2020, Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition at all three 

docket numbers and, on January 17, 2020, the PCRA court appointed counsel 

to represent Appellant during the collateral proceedings. On February 14, 

2020, counsel filed an amended petition on Appellant’s behalf. Within the 

amended petition, Appellant claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective 

because:

a) [trial counsel] did not go over the police reports with him; 

b) [Appellant] never read the police reports[,] was not 

offered an “offense specific evaluation,” together with a 

polygraph test, or a mental health evaluation in regard to 

these charges and his ability to aid in his own defense . . . ; 

c) [Appellant] was assured that he would only receive a 7-10 

year sentence from the [trial court] if he pled guilty[;] d) 

[trial counsel] did not file an appeal in his case as directed by 

him . . . ; and e) [Appellant’s] history of abuse, mental health 

issues and disabilities were not properly explored or brought 

to the [trial court’s] attention.

Amended PCRA Petition, 2/14/20, at 1-2.

On October 5, 2021, the PCRA court finally dismissed Appellant’s 

petition at Docket Number 488. See PCRA Court Order, 10/5/21, at 1. 

Further, on March 7, 2022, the PCRA court provided Appellant with notice at 

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3 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 901(a).
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Docket Numbers 533 and 740 that it intended to dismiss these petitions in 20 

days, without holding a hearing. See PCRA Court Order, 3/7/22, at 1; see 

also Pa.R.Crim.P. 907(1).

On August 10, 2022, the PCRA court finally dismissed Appellant’s PCRA 

petition at Docket Number 533 and, on August 31, 2022, the PCRA court finally 

dismissed Appellant’s PCRA petition at Docket Number 740. Appellant filed 

timely notices of appeal at all three docket numbers.4 Appellant raises one 

claim on appeal:

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4 Appellant filed his notices of appeal at all three docket numbers on August 

25, 2022. The notice was facially timely at Docket Number 533, facially 

untimely at Docket Number 488, and facially premature at Docket Number 

740. 

With respect to Docket Number 488, the PCRA court entered its final order 

dismissing Appellant’s petition on October 5, 2021. Nevertheless, the clerk of 

courts failed to note, on the docket, the date upon which the order was served 

upon Appellant’s attorney. This constitutes a breakdown in the operation of 

the courts and renders Appellant’s August 25, 2022 notice of appeal timely. 

To be sure, Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 114(B)(1) requires the 

clerk of courts to serve promptly a copy of any trial court order or notice on 

each party's attorney-of-record or the party if unrepresented. Pa.R.Crim.P. 

114(B)(1). To memorialize that proper service of a trial court order or notice 

was provided, Rule 114(C)(2)(c) requires the clerk of courts to note, via a 

docket entry, the date of service of such trial court order or notice. 

Pa.R.Crim.P. 114(C)(2)(c). It is well-settled that the appeal period only begins 

to run on the date the clerk of courts mails or delivers a copy of the trial court 

order or notice to the parties. Pa.R.A.P. 108(a)(1), (d), and Note (stating, the 

purpose of this rule is to fix that date from which the time for appeal shall be 

computed); see also Commonwealth v. Carter, 122 A.3d 388, 391 (Pa. 

Super. 2015) (stating that, the “appeal period only begins running on the date 

the [clerk of courts] mails or delivers copies of the orders to the parties” 

(original quotation marks omitted)), Commonwealth v. Jerman, 762 A.2d 

366, 368 (Pa. Super. 2000).

(Footnote Continued Next Page)
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Did the [PCRA] court err in dismissing this matter for lack of 

timeliness under the [PCRA]?

Appellant’s Brief at 3.

“As a general proposition, we review a denial of PCRA relief to determine 

whether the findings of the PCRA court are supported by the record and free 

of legal error.” Commonwealth v. Eichinger, 108 A.3d 821, 830 (Pa. 2014). 

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Because the PCRA court docket does not contain the entry information 

prescribed by Rule 114, we are unable to discern the date upon which the 

clerk of courts served Appellant with a copy of the October 5, 2021 dismissal 

order. A breakdown in the judicial system occurs if the clerk of courts fails to 

note on the docket the date upon which a trial court order or notice has been 

served upon a party. Jerman, 762 A.2d at 368 (finding a breakdown in the 

judicial system and deeming the appeal timely when the clerk of courts failed 

to serve a copy of an order on the party). As a result of this breakdown, the 

period in which Appellant may file a notice of appeal has not begun to run. 

Therefore, we deem Appellant's notice of appeal to be timely filed on August 

25, 2022.

As to Docket Number 740 (where Appellant filed a premature notice of 

appeal), we find that this notice of appeal was also timely filed. On August 

10, 2022, the PCRA court finally dismissed Appellant’s PCRA petition at Docket 

Number 533. Believing that his PCRA petitions at all three docket numbers 

were dismissed, Appellant filed notices of appeal at all three docket numbers 

on August 25, 2022. Further, the PCRA court also believed that its August 10, 

2022 order dismissed both of Appellant’s outstanding petitions because, when 

the PCRA court finally dismissed Appellant’s petition at Docket Number 740, 

the PCRA court declared that its failure to list Docket Number 740 on the 

August 10, 2022 order was “due to [a] scrivener’s error.” See PCRA Court 

Order, 8/31/22, at 1. Therefore, as to Docket Number 740, since all entities 

believed that the August 10, 2022 order finally dismissed Appellant’s petition 

at Docket Number 740, we will treat Appellant’s August 25, 2022 notice of 

appeal “as filed after [the] entry” of the August 31, 2022 order, which finally 

dismissed Appellant’s petition at Docket Number 740. See Pa.R.A.P. 

905(a)(5) (“[a] notice of appeal filed after the announcement of a 

determination but before the entry of an appealable order shall be treated as 

filed after such entry and on the day thereof”).
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Before this Court may address the substance of Appellant’s claims, we 

must first determine if this petition is timely. 

[The PCRA requires] a petitioner to file any PCRA petition 

within one year of the date the judgment of sentence 

becomes final. A judgment of sentence becomes final at the 

conclusion of direct review . . . or at the expiration of time 

for seeking review.

. . .

However, an untimely petition may be received when the 

petition alleges, and the petitioner proves, that any of the 

three limited exceptions to the time for filing the petition, set 

forth at 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1)(i), (ii), and (iii), are met. 

A petition invoking one of these exceptions must be filed 

within [one year] of the date the claim could first have been 

presented. In order to be entitled to the exceptions to the 

PCRA’s one-year filing deadline, the petitioner must plead 

and prove specific facts that demonstrate his claim was raised 

within the [one-year] timeframe.

See Commonwealth v. Lawson, 90 A.3d 1, 4-5 (Pa. Super. 2014) 

(quotation marks and some citations omitted).

The trial court sentenced Appellant on April 6, 2018 and Appellant did 

not file a notice of appeal. Thus, Appellant’s judgment of sentence became 

final at the end of the day on Monday, May 7, 2018. See, e.g., Pa.R.A.P. 

903(a); see also 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1908 (computation of time). Since the PCRA 

requires that a petition be filed “within one year of the date the judgment 

becomes final,” Appellant had until May 7, 2019 to file a timely PCRA petition. 

See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1); see also 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1908 (computation of 

time). Therefore, Appellant’s current petition, which was filed on January 14, 

2020, is patently untimely and the burden thus fell upon Appellant to plead 
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and prove that one of the enumerated exceptions to the one-year time-bar 

applied to his case. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b)(1); Commonwealth v. 

Perrin, 947 A.2d 1284, 1286 (Pa. Super. 2008) (to properly invoke a 

statutory exception to the one-year time-bar, the PCRA demands that the 

petitioner properly plead and prove all required elements of the relied-upon 

exception).

Appellant did not attempt to plead a valid statutory exception to the 

PCRA's one-year time-bar. Thus, since Appellant's PCRA petition is manifestly 

untimely and Appellant did not plead any of the statutory exceptions to the 

one-year time-bar, our “courts are without jurisdiction to offer [Appellant] any 

form of relief.” Commonwealth v. Jackson, 30 A.3d 516, 523 (Pa. Super. 

2011). We, therefore, affirm the PCRA court's order, which dismissed 

Appellant's PCRA petition without a hearing.5

Order affirmed. Jurisdiction relinquished.

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5 On appeal, Appellant does not claim that the PCRA court erred when it 

dismissed his petition at Docket Number 488 without issuing a Rule 907 

notice. Appellant has thus waived any such claim on appeal. See 

Commonwealth v. Taylor, 65 A.3d 462, 467 (Pa. Super. 2013) (“[t]he 

failure to challenge the absence of a Rule 907 notice constitutes waiver”); 

Commonwealth v. Boyd, 923 A.2d 513, 514 n.1 (Pa. Super. 2007) 

(“[a]lthough the notice requirement set forth in Rule 907 has been held to be 

mandatory, Appellant has not objected to its omission and thereby has waived 

the issue”) (citations omitted).
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Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 8/17/2023