Drawing on over 35 years of experience
Professor Thomas Place not only explains how relief under the act relates to other post-conviction remedies (namely the appeal process and federal habeas corpus) but also organizes the ever-growing body of case law applying and construing the act.
You will benefit from this practical guide, including both answers to your questions and helpful tips for presenting your case.
2020 updates include:
- Bradley reconsideration of Pa.R.Crim.P. 907(1) in ineffectiveness claims
- PCRA and other challenges to sexual offender registration statutes
- PA Supreme Court’s expanded definition of what constitutes an illegal sentence
- absence of DNA evidence in establishing innocence
- untimely petitions and after-discovered evidence
- presumptively knowable information in public records
Summary of Contents
- Introduction
- Custody
- Grounds for Seeking Post-Conviction Relief
- Previously Litigated Claims and Waiver
- Successive Petitions for Post-Conviction Relief
- Time for Filing Petition, Jurisdiction, and Procedure
- Standard of Review on Appeal
- Appendix A: Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act
- Appendix B: Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure Governing Petitions for Post-Conviction Relief
- Appendix C: Summary of Statute, Rules, and Case Law Governing Capital and Non-Capital PCRA Cases
- Appendix D: Forms
- Appendix E: Table of Cases
- Appendix F: Index