Com. v. Hicks, K. ( 2015 )

J-S48001-15
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
KEITH HICKS
Appellant No. 59 WDA 2014
Appeal from the PCRA Order December 9, 2013
In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-02-CR-0010400-1995
BEFORE: PANELLA, J., DONOHUE, J., and WECHT, J.
JUDGMENT ORDER BY PANELLA, J. FILED OCTOBER 26, 2015
Appellant, Keith Hicks, appeals form the order denying his petition
pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). In essence, Hicks
requests that we overturn the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s decision in
Commonwealth v. Cunningham, 81 A.3d 1 (Pa. 2013). Since we cannot
do so, we affirm.
On April 1, 1996, Hicks was sentenced to life in prison pursuant to
being convicted of homicide. This Court affirmed the judgment of sentence
on December 9, 1997, and Hicks filed a timely, pro se PCRA petition on
December 10, 1998. Counsel was appointed, an amended PCRA petition
was filed, and numerous requests for extension were granted. However, the
docket entries reveal no decision on the petition, and no progress in the
J-S48001-15
matter from 2007 to July 9, 2012, when Hicks filed another pro se PCRA
petition.
New counsel was appointed, who requested and received a stay of
proceedings pending the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in
Cunningham. After Cunningham was filed, the Commonwealth filed an
answer to Hicks’s petition, and Hicks filed, inter alia, a counseled amended
PCRA petition. On December 9, 2013, the PCRA court denied Hicks’s
petition. This timely appeal followed.
On appeal, Hicks raises several arguments, all of which seek to
overturn the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Cunningham. As
Hicks notes, this issue is presently before the Supreme Court of the United
States.1 However, this circumstance does not empower this Court to
disregard existing precedent from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. See
Eckman v. Erie Ins. Exchange, 21 A.3d 1203, 1207 (Pa. Super. 2011)
(Superior Court is bound by existing precedent). Thus, we have no power to
overrule Cunningham, and must affirm the order of the PCRA court.
Order affirmed. Jurisdiction relinquished.
____________________________________________
1
Montgomery v. Louisiana, 135 S. Ct. 1546, cert. granted March 23,
2015.
-2-
J-S48001-15
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 10/26/2015
-3-