Pennsylvania v. Bomar (majority)
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In this capital case, Appellant Arthur Bomar appealed the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County that denied his petition for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). Appellant was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, rape, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse for the 1997 death of Aimee Willard. While Appellant’s appeal from resentencing was pending, counsel from the Federal Community Defender Office (“FCDO”) for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Capital Habeas Unit filed on Appellant’s behalf a “Petition for Habeas
Corpus Relief Pursuant to Article I, Section 14 of the Pennsylvania Constitution Statutory Post-Conviction Relief Under the Post-Conviction Relief Act [...],” which was deemed to be an amended PCRA petition. The PCRA proceedings were stayed pending the conclusion of Appellant’s direct appeal. The Superior Court affirmed Appellant’s judgment of sentence on the remaining offenses, and the Supreme Court denied allocatur. Nine months later, Appellant’s counsel filed a motion seeking an order declaring Appellant incompetent to proceed. Following a hearing on the matter and briefing by both parties, the PCRA court found Appellant competent and denied the motion. Thereafter, the Commonwealth filed a response to Appellant’s PCRA petition on March 31, 2008, and evidentiary hearings on appellant’s petition took place on July 17, 2007, May 28, 2008, November 5-7, 2008, January 15-16, 2009, April 28-29, 2009, September 24, 2009, October 20-21, 2009, February 1-3, 2010, July 28, 2010, November 29, 2011, January 20, 2011, and November 29, 2011. The PCRA court ultimately denied Appellant’s petition on March 28, 2012. Appellant filed a notice of appeal on April 23, 2012, and, on September 4, 2012, the PCRA court filed an extensive 213 page opinion addressing, and rejecting as meritless, each of the 22 claims in Appellant’s PCRA petition. Of those claims, he raised nine to the Supreme Court. Finding no reversible error as alleged in any of appellant's nine claims, the Supreme Court affirmed denial of PCRA relief.
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