Opinion ID: 2395763
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Williams' Massachusetts felony conviction as an aggravating factor

Text: In his sixth ground for relief, Williams contends that he is entitled to relief from the sentence of death, because the sole aggravating circumstance found by the jury was based upon guilty pleas that were unconstitutionally obtained. In the penalty hearing, the jury found present the circumstance set forth at Section 9711(d)(9), 42 Pa.C.S. § 9711(d)(9), establishing a defendant's significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person as an aggravating circumstance in a capital case. In support of this aggravator, the Commonwealth relied upon Williams' multiple Pennsylvania robbery convictions, as well as his Massachusetts convictions predicated upon guilty pleas to assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, armed robbery and manslaughter. Williams questions the knowing and voluntary nature of these guilty pleas in light of his assertion that his Massachusetts counsel failed to advise him that the convictions could be used to establish an aggravating circumstance in the Pennsylvania capital case. On direct appeal in this case, Williams challenged the admissibility of his Massachusetts convictions in the penalty hearing, albeit for different reasons, [10] and this Court concluded that those convictions were properly before the jury. See Williams, 541 Pa. at 97-98, 660 A.2d at 1322-23. A petitioner is precluded from raising a claim on post-conviction review that was previously and finally litigated on direct appeal. See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9543(a)(3), 9544(a)(2), (a)(3); see generally Commonwealth v. Banks, 540 Pa. 143, 148, 656 A.2d 467, 469, cert. denied, 516 U.S. 835, 116 S.Ct. 113, 133 L.Ed.2d 65 (1995) (stating that an issue is previously litigated if the highest appellate court in which the petitioner could have had review as a matter of right has ruled on the merits of the issue). Further, a petitioner may not obtain relief on collateral review merely by alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and presenting claims that were previously litigated under new theories. See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9543(a)(3), 9544; Whitney, 550 Pa. at 629, 708 A.2d at 476; Henry, 550 Pa. at 359, 706 A.2d at 319; Beasley, 544 Pa. at 565, 678 A.2d at 778; Commonwealth v. Peterkin, 538 Pa. 455, 460-61, 649 A.2d 121, 123 (1994), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1137, 115 S.Ct. 2569, 132 L.Ed.2d 821 (1995). To the extent that Williams' post-conviction assertions in this appeal can be seen as distinct from those raised on direct appeal, it is noteworthy that Williams offers no argument that the Massachusetts convictions themselves are subject to legitimate challenge. Nor does he deny having committed the underlying series of violent crimes in Massachusetts. Rather, he merely suggests that he would have proceeded to trial had he been made aware of the potential role of his guilty pleas in the penalty phase of this case. This Court has identified six areas that are mandatory considerations during a guilty plea colloquy. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 319; Commonwealth v. Persinger, 532 Pa. 317, 321-22, 615 A.2d 1305, 1307 (1992). [11] Conversely, this Court has held that a defendant's lack of knowledge of the collateral consequences of pleading guilty does not undermine the plea's validity. See Commonwealth v. Frometa, 520 Pa. 552, 555-57, 555 A.2d 92, 93 (1989)(rejecting the claim of a foreign national that his guilty plea to drug charges was not knowing and voluntary, because he was not advised that such plea might result in his deportation). None of the enumerated mandatory considerations is implicated here. Moreover, while the consequence of Williams' guilty pleas that he has identified is most serious, given Williams' existing criminal history of other felony convictions, the Massachusetts crimes would not necessarily be central to the jury's penalty decision in this case. The independent evidence of Williams' three Pennsylvania robbery convictions would alone have been sufficient to establish the aggravator. See generally Commonwealth v. Clark, 551 Pa. 258, 283, 710 A.2d 31, 43 (1998)(finding that the Commonwealth's proffer of two prior robbery convictions constituted sufficient evidence to support a capital sentencing jury's finding of the (d)(9) aggravator), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S.Ct. 1465, 143 L.Ed.2d 550 (1999). Therefore, it would appear that, in the circumstances of this case, the prospective role of the guilty pleas in the penalty hearing was in the nature of a collateral consequence of the pleas. For this reason, because Williams asserts no other challenge to the validity of the pleas, and because the independent evidence of violent crimes is itself sufficient to support the jury's finding of the (d)(9) aggravator, we find no legal error in the PCRA court's decision to dismiss this claim.