Court Opinion

ID: 9352973
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-10 17:07:24.455944+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:06:18.749791
License: Public Domain

J-S42025-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA                :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
                                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                                :
                v.                              :
                                                :
                                                :
    REJEANA MARIA SILLA                         :
                                                :
                       Appellant                :   No. 1541 WDA 2021

             Appeal from the PCRA Order Entered October 22, 2021
     In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Criminal Division at
                       No(s): CP-02-CR-0013554-2013

BEFORE:      BOWES, J., OLSON, J., and COLINS, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY OLSON, J.:                              FILED: JANUARY 10, 2023

        Appellant, ReJeana Maria Silla, appeals pro se from the order entered

on October 22, 2021, which dismissed her petition filed under the Post

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

        On February 18, 2014, Appellant entered a negotiated guilty plea to

possessing instruments of crime, disorderly conduct, prostitution, and

possessing a controlled substance.1            That day, the trial court sentenced

Appellant to serve the negotiated term of nine months of probation.            N.T.

Guilty Plea and Sentencing Hearing, 2/18/14, at 7-8. Appellant did not file a

____________________________________________

*   Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1  18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 907(a), 5503(a)(3),                5902(a)(1),   and   35   P.S.
§ 780-113(a)(16), respectively.
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direct appeal from her judgment of sentence and she completed her sentence

of probation on November 17, 2014. See PCRA Court Opinion, 4/28/22, at 3.

      On November 21, 2019, Appellant filed a PCRA petition.        Within the

petition, Appellant sought to withdraw her February 18, 2014 guilty plea

because, she claimed, she was forced to plead guilty and the arresting officer

later told her that he was “told to lie.”     See Appellant’s PCRA Petition,

11/21/19, at 3-7.

      Since this was Appellant’s first petition for post-conviction collateral

relief, the PCRA court appointed counsel to represent her in the proceedings.

However, on January 30, 2020, appointed counsel filed a motion to withdraw

as counsel and a no-merit letter pursuant to Commonwealth v. Turner, 544

A.2d 927 (Pa. 1988) and Commonwealth v. Finley, 550 A.2d 213 (Pa.

Super. 1988) (en banc).

      On February 5, 2021, the PCRA court granted counsel leave to withdraw

and issued Appellant notice that it intended to dismiss her petition in 20 days

without holding a hearing.     PCRA Court Order, 2/5/21, at 1; see also

Pa.R.Crim.P. 907(1). As the PCRA court later explained, it granted counsel

leave to withdraw and issued the 20-day notice because Appellant was no

longer serving a sentence of probation for her convictions and Appellant filed

her petition outside of the PCRA’s one-year time-bar.        See PCRA Court

Opinion, 4/28/22, at 2-3.

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      Appellant filed a response to the PCRA court’s notice of intent to dismiss

on March 3, 2021. Nevertheless, the PCRA court finally dismissed Appellant’s

petition on October 22, 2021. PCRA Court Order, 10/22/21, at 1.

      Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. On appeal, Appellant contends

that the PCRA court erred in construing her petition under the PCRA.

According to Appellant, the PCRA does not encompass her claims and,

therefore, the requirements of the PCRA do not apply to her petition.

Appellant's contention fails and the PCRA court properly dismissed her

petition.

      We “review an order granting or denying PCRA relief to determine

whether the PCRA court's decision is supported by evidence of record and

whether its decision is free from legal error.” Commonwealth v. Liebel, 825

A.2d 630, 632 (Pa. 2003).

      The PCRA “provides for an action by which persons convicted of crimes

they did not commit and persons serving illegal sentences may obtain

collateral relief.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9542. As the statute declares, the PCRA “is

the sole means of obtaining collateral relief and encompasses all other

common law and statutory remedies . . . including habeas corpus and coram

nobis.” Id.; see also Commonwealth v. Ahlborn, 699 A.2d 718, 721 (Pa.

1997). Thus, under the plain terms of the PCRA, “if the underlying substantive

claim is one that could potentially be remedied under the PCRA, that claim is

exclusive to the PCRA.” Commonwealth v. Pagan, 864 A.2d 1231, 1233

(Pa. Super. 2004) (emphasis in original).

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      Within Appellant's petition, Appellant requested to withdraw her plea,

as her plea was coerced and the arresting officer informed her that he was

“told to lie.” See Appellant’s PCRA Petition, 11/21/19, at 3-7. However, the

PCRA undoubtedly encompasses Appellant's claims, as the claims concern

“matters affecting [Appellant's] conviction [or] sentence.” Commonwealth

v. Judge, 916 A.2d 511, 520 (Pa. 2007), quoting Coady v. Vaughn, 770

A.2d 287, 293 (Pa. 2001) (Castille, J., concurring); see also 42 Pa.C.S.A.

§ 9542 (“[the PCRA] provides for an action by which persons convicted of

crimes they did not commit and persons serving illegal sentences may obtain

collateral relief”).

      Appellant's claims thus fall under the rubric of the PCRA and, since the

PCRA encompasses Appellant's claims, Appellant “can only find relief under

the PCRA's strictures.” Pagan, 864 A.2d at 1233; see also Commonwealth

v. Jackson, 30 A.3d 516, 521 (Pa. Super. 2011) (“[petitioner's legality of

sentence] claim is cognizable under the PCRA. . . . [Thus, petitioner's] ‘motion

to correct illegal sentence’ is a PCRA petition and cannot be considered under

any other common law remedy”).

      To be eligible for relief under the PCRA:

         the petitioner must be “currently serving a sentence of
         imprisonment, probation or parole for the crime.”           42
         Pa.C.S.A. § 9543(a)(1)(i). As soon as [her] sentence is
         completed, the petitioner becomes ineligible for relief,
         regardless of whether [she] was serving [her] sentence when
         [she] filed the petition. In addition, this [C]ourt determined
         in Commonwealth v. Fisher, 703 A.2d 714 (Pa. Super.
         1997), that the PCRA precludes relief for those petitioners

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          whose sentences have expired, regardless of the collateral
          consequences of their sentence.   Id. at 716 (citations
          omitted).

Commonwealth v. Hart, 911 A.2d 939, 941–942 (Pa. Super. 2006) (some

citations omitted).2

        On February 18, 2014, the trial court sentenced Appellant to serve nine

months of probation. Appellant's sentence was effective immediately, and she

completed her sentence of probation on November 17, 2014. See PCRA Court

Opinion, 4/28/22, at 3. Appellant has thus completed serving her sentence

on the crimes for which she seeks relief.

        Therefore, pursuant to Section 9543 of the PCRA, Appellant cannot now

obtain collateral relief on her underlying convictions or sentence, as her

sentence is complete. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Martin, 832 A.2d 1141,

1143 (Pa. Super. 2003) (affirming dismissal of PCRA petition because

petitioner completed serving the sentence on the crime for which he sought

____________________________________________

2   In relevant part, Section 9543 of the PCRA declares:

        (a) General rule.--To be eligible for relief under [the PCRA], the
        petitioner must plead and prove by a preponderance of the
        evidence all of the following:

           (1) That the petitioner has been convicted of a crime under
           the laws of this Commonwealth and is at the time relief is
           granted:

               (i) currently serving a sentence of imprisonment, probation
               or parole for the crime[.]

42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9543(a)(1)(i).

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relief); Commonwealth v. Fields, 197 A.3d 1217, 1222 (Pa. Super. 2018)

(en banc) (plurality) (“section 9543 requires that a petitioner be serving a

sentence of incarceration at the time relief is granted; if they are not, they

are ineligible for post-conviction relief”) (emphasis omitted).   Given that

Appellant can no longer obtain relief because she is not currently serving a

sentence, dismissal of Appellant's PCRA petition was proper, and we may not

consider the merits of Appellant's claims on appeal.3

       Order affirmed. Jurisdiction relinquished.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 1/10/2023

____________________________________________

3 We further note that dismissal was also proper because Appellant filed her
petition outside of the PCRA’s one-year time-bar and she did not plead a valid
statutory exception to the time-bar. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9545(b). 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).

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