Com. v. Harrison, C ( 2015 )


Menu:
  • J-A06011-15
    NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA                    IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
    PENNSYLVANIA
    Appellee
    v.
    CHRISTOPHER HARRISON
    Appellant                   No. 582 EDA 2013
    Appeal from the Order February 7, 2013
    In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
    Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0817821-1982
    BEFORE: PANELLA, J., OTT, J., and JENKINS, J.
    MEMORANDUM BY PANELLA, J.                             FILED JUNE 01, 2015
    Appellant, Christopher Harrison, appeals from the February 7, 2013
    order denying his motion to correct the judgment of sentence imposed on
    November 28, 1990.       Harrison contends that the judgment of sentence is
    patently illegal, and that the Department of Correction’s interpretation of the
    sentence is not supported by the text of the order. We affirm.
    On April 20, 1983, Harrison was sentenced to three concurrent terms
    of incarceration of 4 to 10 years on convictions of rape, involuntary deviate
    sexual intercourse, and burglary. The trial court also sentenced Harrison to
    a consecutive term of probation of 5 years for aggravated assault.
    Harrison’s sentence was subsequently reduced to 18 to 36 months of
    imprisonment, to be followed by a 10 year term of probation on all other
    charges.
    J-A06011-15
    On November 28, 1990, Harrison’s probation was revoked, and the
    trial court imposed an aggregate term of imprisonment of 15 to 30 years. At
    the hearing, the trial court indicated that Harrison was to serve this sentence
    before serving any other existing sentence.          Shortly thereafter, the
    Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (“DOC”) wrote to the trial court,
    indicating that Pennsylvania law did not provide for the possibility of
    imposing a sentence to be served prior to a previously imposed sentence
    that was already being served. Consequently, the DOC sought guidance on
    the trial court’s intent in imposing sentence.
    The trial court replied, indicating that it had been unaware of
    Harrison’s existing sentence.    Furthermore, the trial court stated that its
    intent was that Harrison would serve the 15 to 30 year sentence in addition
    to the previously imposed sentence. Upon receiving the trial court’s letter,
    the DOC issued an internal memorandum directing that Harrison’s sentence
    be served consecutively to the existing sentence.
    On June 8, 2011, Harrison filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in
    the Commonwealth Court, challenging how the DOC was calculating his
    credit for time served. The Commonwealth Court dismissed his petition on
    November 30, 2011, noting that the remedy for Harrison’s claim lay in the
    form of a petition nunc pro tunc to the trial court for correction of his
    judgment of sentence.
    -2-
    J-A06011-15
    Thereafter, Harrison filed a petition for reconsideration of his sentence
    in the trial court.   The trial court initially denied the petition on July 23,
    2012. However, the trial court vacated the order after Harrison pled that he
    had not received notice of the order.       The trial court reinstated its order
    denying Harrison’s petition as of February 7, 2013.         This timely appeal
    followed.
    On appeal, Harrison argues that the trial court erred in denying his
    petition, as he alleges that the signed sentencing order does not provide a
    foundation for imposing the sentence consecutively to the prior sentence.
    The Commonwealth contends that Harrison’s petition was an untimely
    petition pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”).           As the
    Commonwealth’s argument raises an issue with our jurisdiction, we must
    address the Commonwealth’s argument first.
    The Commonwealth contends that since Harrison is arguing that the
    sentence imposed by the trial court was illegal, his petition is, by necessity,
    a petition under the PCRA. However, a close reading of Harrison’s brief and
    reply brief reveal that he is asserting that the written sentencing order
    contains a patent error, and that the DOC has improperly resolved the error
    in a manner that does not comport with Pennsylvania law.
    In an absence of traditional jurisdiction, Pennsylvania courts retain the
    power to correct patent errors. See Commonwealth v. Holmes, 
    933 A.2d 57
    , 65 (Pa. 2007). The limitations of jurisdiction contained in 42 Pa.C.S.A. §
    -3-
    J-A06011-15
    5505 are irrelevant to this power.             See 
    id. Thus, a
    trial court retains
    jurisdiction to correct “errors in its records or orders so they speak the truth,
    and thereby reflect what actually took place in judicial proceedings.”
    Commonwealth v. Borrin, 
    80 A.3d 1219
    , 1227 (Pa. 2013) (internal
    quotation marks and citations omitted).1 The hallmark of this jurisdiction is
    the obvious nature of the error in the order, and not the illegality itself. See
    
    id., at 1228.
        Thus, Harrison’s claim does not fall under the ambit of the
    PCRA; it is rather a request for the trial court to exercise its inherent power
    to correct patent errors. We find no merit to the Commonwealth’s argument
    that Harrison’s petition was, by necessity, a petition pursuant to the PCRA.
    Turning to the merits of Harrison’s arguments, we have no difficulty in
    affirming the trial court’s order refusing to correct the written sentencing
    order.   While the written sentencing order clearly contains an error of law
    that is obvious on its face, it just as clearly evinces the intent to not allow
    ____________________________________________
    1
    Borrin’s lead opinion only garnered the votes of three Justices, which
    raises a question of its precedential authority. However, Justice Eakin,
    writing in dissent, notes that to the extent there was an error in the written
    sentencing order at issue, it was “a clear, patent, and obvious error which
    the trial judge was empowered to 
    correct.” 80 A.3d at 1238
    . Justices
    Castille and Stevens joined Justice Eakin’s dissent. Only Justice Saylor’s
    concurring opinion raises any challenge to this proposition. See 
    id., at 1234,
    n.1 (“[I]t would be preferable to simply rely more consistently on the
    axiom that untimely challenges to sentencing orders which are reasonably
    unambiguous on their face are disfavored.”). As a result, six of the seven
    Justices agreed that the trial court retained the inherent power to correct
    patent and obvious errors in a sentencing order outside the limitations
    contained in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5505.
    -4-
    J-A06011-15
    Harrison to serve the sentence concurrently with any existing sentence. The
    method chosen by the trial court to ensure that the sentence was not served
    concurrently may have been illegal, but it does not render ambiguous the
    trial court’s clear intent to have Harrison serve this sentence in addition to
    any sentence he had already been serving.
    In sum, we conclude that the trial court had jurisdiction to entertain
    Harrison’s petition to correct his sentence, as the original sentencing order
    contained a patent error. However, we conclude that the trial court properly
    denied Harrison relief, as there is no ambiguity, either in the written
    sentencing order or in the transcript of the sentencing hearing, that the trial
    court intended for the judgment of sentence to be served in a non-
    concurrent manner.
    Order affirmed. Jurisdiction relinquished.
    Judgment Entered.
    Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
    Prothonotary
    Date: 6/1/2015
    -5-
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 582 EDA 2013

Filed Date: 6/1/2015

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 6/1/2015