Opinion ID: 2272524
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The PCRA Court Committed an Abuse of Discretion in Refusing to Permit the Defense to Amend Appellant's PCRA Petition Two Years after the Evidentiary Hearing Was Conducted.

Text: Almost two years after the evidentiary hearing, Appellant filed a petition with the PCRA court requesting permission to supplement the record with an affidavit signed by Dr. Callery. [10] Appellant also requested that Dr. Callery be permitted to testify that he could not opine to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the victim had been raped. In an order dated July 27, 2006, the PCRA court denied the petition. Appellant contends that the PCRA court committed an abuse of discretion in denying his petition because the contents of Dr. Callery's affidavit and his proposed testimony directly refute the finding that Appellant raped the victim. In addition, Appellant complains that the petition should have been granted in the interests of justice given that Appellant's rape conviction served as the only basis for finding the aggravating circumstance set forth at 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(6). Finally, Appellant asserts that he is entitled to relief because of the ineffectiveness of trial counsel who, Appellant claims, failed to conduct an investigation into whether the victim had been raped. The PCRA court, in addressing this claim in its Rule 1925(a) opinion, declared that no relief was due because Appellant was seeking to introduce Dr. Callery's affidavit and testimony solely to re-litigate the issue of whether the evidence was sufficient to support the rape conviction, a claim this Court rejected on direct appeal. Miller, 724 A.2d at 901. Thus, the PCRA court ruled that the claim was not cognizable under the PCRA. [11] PCRA Court Opinion, 11/2/07, 9-10. The PCRA court further indicated that Dr. Callery's apparent retraction of his trial testimony does not establish that trial counsel was ineffective and that the record, even without Dr. Callery's testimony, supported the finding that Appellant had raped the victim. PCRA Court Opinion, 11/2/07, 10-11. Before we may review any of Appellant's arguments, we must determine whether the PCRA court was correct in holding that the claim was previously litigated. If we determine the PCRA court properly held the claim was previously litigated, we are precluded by the PCRA from reviewing it. See Commonwealth v. Washington, 592 Pa. 698, 927 A.2d 586, 617 (2007) (holding that previously litigated claim is not cognizable under the PCRA); Commonwealth v. Albrecht, 554 Pa. 31, 720 A.2d 693, 708 (1998) (same). The difficulty here is that Appellant has raised two claims that do not allege ineffective assistance of counsel: he alleges that the PCRA court committed an abuse of discretion in denying his petition and that the court should have granted his petition in the interests of justice. To further complicate matters, Appellant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel contains no discussion of these issues and states that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to interview Dr. Callery and investigate whether a rape had occurred. Appellant's Brief, 48-49. A review of the two claims not alleging ineffective assistance of counsel leads ineluctably to the conclusion that they comprise an issue that was previously litigated, namely, whether the evidence was sufficient to support Appellant's rape conviction. This becomes readily clear upon reviewing Appellant's brief and the material he sought to introduce. For example, Appellant argues that the PCRA court abused its discretion because it denied Appellant the opportunity to demonstrate that the prosecution was without any competent evidence of the commission of rape. Appellant's Brief, 45. He also claims that the interests of justice demand that he be granted relief with respect to this issue so that he may be given an opportunity to rebut the testimony of the medical examiner. Appellant's Brief, 47. In Commonwealth v. Collins, 585 Pa. 45, 888 A.2d 564 (2005), this Court defined the term issue for purposes of the PCRA as follows: That term, as used in pleading and practice, is understood to mean a single, certain, and material point, deduced by the allegations and pleadings of the parties, which is affirmed on the one side and denied on the other. Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed. 831. Thus, issue refers to the discrete legal ground that was forwarded on direct appeal and would have entitled the defendant to relief. See, e.g., Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 83 S.Ct. 1068, 10 L.Ed.2d 148 (1963) (defining grounds as a sufficient legal basis for granting the relief sought by the applicant). The theories or allegations in support of the ground are simply a subset of the issue presented. Stated another way, there can be many theories or allegations in support of a single issue, but ultimately, § 9544(a)(2) refers to the discrete legal ground raised and decided on direct review. Thus, at the most basic level, this section prevents the relitigation of the same legal ground under alternative theories or allegations. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Wilson, 452 Pa. 376, 305 A.2d 9 (1973) (concluding that a new theory in support of the same claim of trial counsel ineffectiveness was unavailing since the claim was decided adversely to petitioner in his previous direct appeal); Commonwealth v. Slavik, 449 Pa. 424, 297 A.2d 920 (1972) (A defendant is not entitled to relitigate the validity of his plea every time he offers a new theory or argument which he had not previously advanced.). 888 A.2d at 570. Here, insofar as Appellant sought to introduce the material in question to demonstrate that the evidence was insufficient to sustain Appellant's rape conviction, the PCRA court was correct in finding that it was precluded from addressing the issue because it had been previously litigated. See Miller, 724 A.2d at 901. Thus, no error was committed by the PCRA court in denying relief with respect to Appellant's first two claims. [12] Although Appellant's first two claims are not cognizable because they concern issues previously litigated, the same is not true with respect to Appellant's ineffectiveness claim. In Collins, supra, we ruled that claims of ineffective assistance of counsel constitute separate and distinct issues that may be raised in a collateral proceeding attacking the verdict. Collins, 888 A.2d at 570. Such claims are to be analyzed pursuant to the three-prong ineffectiveness test generally applicable to such claims. Id. at 573. An application of that test to the instant claim indicates that Appellant is not entitled to any relief. Appellant argues that the claim has arguable merit based on an assertion that had trial counsel sought out experts or interviewed Dr. Callery, there is a reasonable probability that Dr. Callery would have given him the same information he provided to undersigned counsel, and counsel could have moved to exclude his testimony on rape as not competent, due to an insufficient level of certainty. Appellant's Brief, 48. However, Appellant's argument amounts to nothing more than mere speculation. There is no indication in the record that Dr. Callery would have advised trial counsel before the trial commenced that it was his belief that no rape occurred if only trial counsel had interviewed him. In fact, according to the PCRA court, Dr. Callery twice affirmed at two previous hearings that it was his opinion that a rape occurred despite vigorous cross-examination by trial counsel. PCRA Court Opinion, 10. Thus, Appellant is not entitled to relief as he has failed to establish that trial counsel was ineffective for the reasons stated.