Commonwealth v. Davey

Summary

The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the denial of Allen Lee Davey’s amended PCRA petition. The court held that the petition presented cognizable legality-of-sentence claims, rather than merely discretionary sentencing claims, but concluded that the sentence was lawful because Davey admitted the victim’s age by pleading guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child. The court also held that the statutory maximum of 40 years under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123(d) could be imposed following the guilty plea.

Holdings

1. Davey waived his claim of ineffective assistance of PCRA counsel because, after counsel filed the Turner/Finley letter, the PCRA court gave him an opportunity to file an amended petition, but he did not assert PCRA counsel's ineffectiveness there.
2. Davey's claims challenged the legality of his sentence and therefore were cognizable under the PCRA; the PCRA court erred as a matter of law by characterizing them as challenges to the discretionary aspects of sentencing.
3. The trial court had authority to impose a statutory maximum sentence of forty years after Davey pleaded guilty to IDSI with a complainant under thirteen because the guilty plea admitted the victim's age, and no authority required a jury to find that fact before the court could impose the statutory maximum.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Davey waived his claim that PCRA counsel was ineffective by failing to raise that claim in the PCRA court when he had an opportunity to assert it in an amended petition.
2. Whether the PCRA court erred in treating Davey's claims as challenges to the discretionary aspects of his sentence rather than challenges to the legality of his sentence.
3. Whether the victim's age under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123(b) had to be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt before the court could impose the forty-year statutory maximum under § 3123(d)(1), despite Davey's guilty plea.
4. Whether the trial court had authority to impose a maximum sentence of forty years under § 3123(d)(1) after Davey pleaded guilty to violating § 3123(b).

Disposition

affirmed