J-S16018-18 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA : PENNSYLVANIA : : v. : : : SHANICE AMANDA PORTER : : No. 1645 MDA 2017 Appellant : Appeal from the PCRA Order September 25, 2017 In the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-21-CR-0001036-2013 BEFORE: BOWES, J., MURRAY, J., and PLATT*, J. MEMORANDUM BY MURRAY, J.: FILED MARCH 21, 2018 Shanice Amanda Porter (Appellant) appeals from the order dismissing her Post Conviction Relief Act1 (“PCRA”) petition because she is no longer serving a sentence for the underlying crime. We affirm. Appellant is not a United States citizen. On August 20, 2013, she pled guilty to forgery,2 graded as a felony of the third degree, and the court immediately imposed a sentence of 4 to 14 months’ imprisonment. Appellant did not take a direct appeal. Following one parole violation, her sentence _________________________ * Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. 1 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546. 2 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 4101(a)(2). J-S16018-18 expired on December 12, 2014. On September 1, 2016, Appellant was detained by federal authorities because her forgery conviction triggered removal proceedings under Title 8 (Aliens and Nationality) of the United States Code. 3 According to Appellant, she “lost her second federal appeal on June 26, 2017,” and “[d]eportation has already been ordered and she is in imminent danger [of deportation] at any moment.”4 Appellant’s Brief at 6. On August 2, 2017, Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition, averring that her plea counsel was ineffective for failing to sufficiently inform her of the probable deportation collateral consequences of her guilty plea, pursuant to Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010) (criminal defense counsel has affirmative duty to inform defendant that the offense to which he is pleading guilty will result in deportation). Appellant averred that had counsel advised her that deportation was possible, she would not have agreed to plead guilty. Also, Appellant requested that her sentence be reduced to a term shorter than one year, in order to avoid deportation and the consequent separation from her family. The PCRA court appointed present counsel to represent Appellant. The Commonwealth filed a motion to dismiss Appellant’s petition, _________________________ 3 See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(43)(R) (defining “aggravated felony” as “an offense relating to . . . forgery . . . for which the term of imprisonment is at least one year”), 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) (“Any alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission is deportable.”). 4Appellant explains that she was released on bond on December 1, 2017. Appellant’s Brief at 6. -2- J-S16018-18 arguing that because her sentence had expired, she failed to establish eligibility for PCRA relief under Subsection § 9543(a)(1)(i) (petitioner must prove he “is at the time relief is granted . . . currently serving a sentence of imprisonment, probation or parole for the crime”). The Commonwealth further claimed that Appellant’s attempt to use PCRA proceedings to seek immigration ...
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