BLAIR COUNTY JUDGE FINDS SUCCESSFUL CLAIMS OF INTERFERENCE BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND NEWLY DISCOVERED EVIDENCE

Following conviction for child pornography offenses, the defendant was sentenced to serve a de facto life sentence in prison. His attorney promised to challenge the sentence but then abandoned his client by failing to file post-sentence motions and a direct appeal.

Attorney Noel and her co-counsel were contacted to rectify the situation, but the one year time period within which to file a PCRA Petition had already passed. This impacted the state court’s jurisdiction to consider the defendant’s claims for post-conviction relief. Attorney Noel creatively assembled four distinct arguments for why the PCRA Court had jurisdiction over the case, including that her client met two of the statutorily enumerated exceptions to the PCRA’s one-year jurisdictional time bar—the newly discovered evidence exception and the governmental interference exception.

The PCRA Court accepted all four proffered theories for jurisdiction, finding that Attorney Noel and her co-counsel successfully pled and proved their claim of interference by government officials and their claim of newly discovered evidence. The PCRA Court promptly entered an Order reinstating the defendant’s right to pursue post-sentence remedies, a direct appeal, and post-conviction relief.