Com. v. Suarez, A.


J-S27025-18 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : ARACELIS SUAREZ : : Appellant : No. 3448 EDA 2017 Appeal from the PCRA Order October 13, 2017 In the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-45-CR-0001048-2011 BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., LAZARUS, J., and DUBOW, J. MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED MAY 29, 2018 Aracelis Suarez appeals from the order, entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County, dismissing her petition filed pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 9541-9546 (“PCRA”) or, in the alternative, the writ of coram nobis. After careful review, we affirm. On December 20, 2011, Suarez, a Cuban national with permanent U.S. residency, pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.1 She was subsequently sentenced to 9 to 23 months’ incarceration on February 16, 2012. On August 29, 2012, the trial court granted Suarez’s petition for early parole and ordered that her supervision be waived and discontinued. On April 17, 2017, Suarez filed a PCRA petition, in which she alleged that she had entered her plea “with the understanding and ____________________________________________ 1 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30). J-S27025-18 knowledge that she would not face deportation because of the long-standing diplomatic situation between the United States and Cuba.” PCRA Petition, 4/17/17, at ¶ 4. However, Suarez asserted that, “[s]ince the taking of her plea, . . . circumstances have changed due the opening of diplomatic ties with Cuba and modified United States policy regarding the deportation of individuals convicted of certain offenses.” Id. at 6. She alleged that she would not have agreed to plead guilty had she known she would be subject to deportation and, thus, her plea was not entered knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. On April 24, 2017, the PCRA court issued a Pa.R.Crim.P. 907 notice of intent to dismiss without an evidentiary hearing. On May 30, 2017, Suarez responded to the court’s Rule 907 notice with an “Answer Regarding Timing of Motion for Post Conviction Collateral Relief,” in which she averred that “[a]t the time [Suarez] entered the plea, there was no way she would have been able to ascertain the possibility of deportation to Cuba, as such deportation was not a legal viability.” Answer Regarding Timing, 5/30/17, at ¶ 8. However, Suarez asserted that “[r]ecent changes to this law have made such deportation possible, if not likely.” Id. at 9. On June 12, 2017, the Commonwealth filed its answer to Suarez’s motion. Thereafter, on June 17, 2017, Suarez filed a petition for writ of coram nobis, arguing that, to the extent she is ineligible for PCRA relief, “coram nobis now stands as the sole means of addressing what would otherwise be an unconstitutional conviction and result.” Petition for Writ of Coram Nobis, -2- J-S27025-18 6/17/17, at ¶ 18. The Commonwealth responded on June 29, 2017, and the court held a hearing on July 18, ...

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