| In 2015, appellant John Koehler filed his second petition for collateral relief pursuant to the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). In 1996, a jury found Koehler guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and related offenses arising from the killing of his girlfriend and her nine-year-old son, and sentenced Koehler to death. In 2001, Koehler filed a timely PCRA petition. Therein, Koehler included a claim for relief from his death sentence due to ineffectiveness of counsel during the penalty phase. The PCRA court denied relief following a hearing, and Koehler appealed. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed. Then in 2015, Koehler filed a second PCRA petition, this time asserting that his due process rights had been violated during his 2012 appeal. Koehler premised this assertion upon the involvement of a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice in a well-publicized email scandal that included the exchange of religiously, racially, and sexually offensive emails. Viewing the subject of the infamous emails as suggesting a disregard for victims of domestic violence, Koehler alleged that the justice's participation in his previous appeal raised a risk of actual judicial bias, as well as the appearance of bias. Recognizing that his second PCRA petition was facially untimely, Koehler asserted that he met the timeliness exceptions for governmental interference and newly discovered facts. Koehler sought, inter alia, the reinstatement of his appellate rights nunc pro tunc in order to appeal anew to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court the denial of his first PCRA petition. The PCRA court dismissed the petition, holding that it was without authority to grant relief. The Supreme Court concluded that the PCRA court erred as a matter of law, as it did possess the authority to grant the form of relief that Koehler sought in the event that he established the merits of his claim. Accordingly, the PCRA court's order was reversed, and the matter remanded for further proceedings. |
