Opinion
No. 79 MAP 2009
07-09-2012
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Appellee v. QU'EED BATTS, Appellant
J-103-2010
Appeal from the Order of the Superior Court, entered April 7, 2009, at No. 766 E.D.A. 2008,
affirming the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, entered October 22, 2007, at No. 1215-2006
ORDER
PER CURIAM
On December 6, 2011, this Court ordered a hold placed on this matter pending disposition by the U.S. Supreme Court of Jackson v. Hobbs, 132 S.Ct. 548 (2011), and Miller v. Alabama, 132 S.Ct. 548 (2011). The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the two cases before it to be argued in tandem and, on June 25, 2012, issued a decision disposing of both matters, sub nomine Miller v. Alabama, -- S.Ct. --, 2012 WL 2368659 (2012). Upon review of the Miller decision, we believe that supplemental briefing is warranted to resolve the issues upon which we granted allowance of appeal in this matter. See Commonwealth v. Batts, 981 A.2d 1283 (Pa. 2009).
Accordingly, this 9th day of July, 2012, we direct the parties to submit supplemental briefing on the following issues:
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's federal constitutional holding in Miller v. Alabama, -- U.S. --, 2012 WL 2368659 (2012):
(1) What is, as a general matter, the appropriate remedy on direct appeal in Pennsylvania for a defendant who was sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a murder committed when the defendant was under the age of eighteen?
(2) To what relief, if any, is appellant entitled from the mandatory term of life imprisonment without parole for the murder he committed when he was fourteen years old?
The Prothonotary is directed to establish an expedited briefing schedule, and to schedule this matter for argument at the Court's next session, in September 2012.