Commonwealth v. Price

J-A32007-17

J-A32008-17

2018 PA Super 105

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

: PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

TREVOR ALLAN PRICE :

:

Appellant : No. 307 MDA 2017

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence February 3, 2017

In the Court of Common Pleas of York County

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-67-CR-0001350-2014

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

: PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

TRAVIS ALLEN PRICE :

:

Appellant : No. 308 MDA 2017

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence February 3, 2017

In the Court of Common Pleas of York County

Criminal Division at No(s): CP-67-CR-0001351-2014

BEFORE: OTT, J., DUBOW, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.

OPINION BY OTT, J.: FILED MAY 02, 2018

Trevor Allan Price and Travis Allen Price (“the Price brothers”) appeal

from their respective judgments of sentence entered on February 3, 2017, in

____________________________________________

 Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

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the York County Court of Common Pleas.1 The trial court imposed a term of

six to 23 months’ imprisonment with respect to both men, following a joint

non-jury trial in which the Price brothers were convicted of statutory sexual

assault (4-8 years older).2 On appeal, the Price brothers contend: (1) the

trial court abused its discretion when it failed to determine that the

Commonwealth could not meet the statutory requirement that the Price

brothers were not “four or more years older” than the victim, where such is

an element of the offense of statutory sexual assault; and (2) whether the

court abused its discretion when it ruled they could not argue the critical

factual issue concerning the meaning of the term “four or more years older”

to the jury. See Trevor Price’s Brief at 6; see also Travis Price’s Brief at 5.

For the reasons below, we vacate the judgments of sentence.

The trial court set forth the factual history regarding Trevor Price as

follows:

[Trevor Price] engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim.

Trevor admitted to this conduct. The victim was born on May 5th,

1998, at 8:16 a.m. Trevor Price was born on May 5, 1994, at 7:00

p.m. The first incident occurred in June of 2012 and subsequent

instances of sexual contact occurred for the ensuing two years. It

was also stipulated that Trevor was 18 years of age at the time of

the first incident. Additionally, simple arithmetic indicates that

the victim, having been born in May of 1998 and the first incident

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1 Based on the nature of the cases and the fact that they raised the same

issues on appeal, we have consolidated their appeals sua sponte.

2 See 18 Pa.C.S. § 3122.1(a)(1).

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occurring in June of 2012, was 14 years old at the time of the first

incident.

Trial Court Opinion, 6/2/2017, at 4 (record citations omitted).

With respect to Travis Price, he also admitted that he engaged in sexual

intercourse with the same victim on one occasion. Id. The incident occurred

in August of 2012. Id.

It was also stipulated that Travis was 18 years of age at the

time of the incident. Additionally, simple arithmetic indicates that

the victim, having been born in May of 1998 and the first incident

occurring in August of 2012, was 14 years old at the time of the

incident.

Id. at 4-5. Both men have been represented by the same counsel throughout

these proceedings.

Moreover, the court recited the procedural history of these cases as

follows:

[The Price brothers], who are identical twins, were charged

in separate Informations with charges of a sexual nature for

separate incidents involving the same victim. Trevor Price was

charged with Statutory Sexual Assault,1 Involuntary Deviate

Sexual Intercourse,2 Aggravated Indecent Assault,3 Corruption of

Minors,4 and Indecent Assault.5 Travis [Price] was charged with

Statutory Sexual Assault,6 Aggravated Indecent Assault,7

Corruption of Minors,8 and Indecent Assault.9 Despite the cases

being separate, the procedural histories of each case have,

befitting twins, marched in lockstep. Ab initio, we note that we

administered a colloquy to [the Price brothers] regarding their

joint representation by their counsel and we were satisfied that

they knowingly and voluntarily waived any potential conflict.

__________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3122.1(a)(1).

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2 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3123(a)(7).

3 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3125(a)(8).

4 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 6301(a)(1)(ii).

5 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3126(a)(8).

6 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3122.1(a)(1).

7 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3125(a)(8).

8 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 6301(a)(1)(ii).

9 18 Pa.C.S.A. [§] 3126(a)(8).

__________________________

On July 17, 2014, [the Price brothers] separately filed their

Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and/or Motion to Quash

Information. Subsequently, on August 13, 2014, the

Commonwealth’s Brief in Opposition to Defendant’s Petition for

Writ of Habeas Corpus was docketed. The Commonwealth filed a

motion on August 12, 2014 to consolidate the cases for trial, which

was denied by this Court on December 1, 2014 as the charges

against [the Price brothers] involved two separate incidents and,

thus, two separate crimes had been alleged. On December 23,

2014, we reserved our decision on the habeas corpus motions.

Then, on April 16, 2015, we issued an Order and an Opinion

denying [the Price brothers]’ motions for habeas corpus relief. On

December 28, 2015, the Commonwealth filed a Motion in Limine

seeking to preclude counsel for [the Price brothers] from arguing

to a jury the same age-gap theory that had undergirded [the Price

brothers]’ habeas corpus petitions and which this Court had

denied. One day later, we granted the Commonwealth’s Motion

in Limine. Then, on January 19, 2016, we received Notice from

the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that [the Price brothers] had

submitted Petitions for Writ of Prohibition. These petitions were

ultimately denied on May 5, 2016. On February 3, 2017, [the

Price brothers] proceeded to a bench trial with each Appellant

convicted of Count 1 of their respective Informations for Statutory

Sexual Assault with all other counts against the Appellants being

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nolle prosequid. [The Price brothers] proceeded to sentencing

immediately following trial and each received a sentence of six to

twenty-three months followed by four years of probation and with

the attendant costs of prosecution assessed against each of them.

Trial Court Opinion, 6/2/2017, at 2-3. This appeal followed.3

Based on the nature of their claims, we will address both issues

together. In their first argument, the Price brothers argue the court

“committed an abuse of discretion [as] a matter of law when it denied [their]

pre-trial motion for habeas corpus relief and instead determined that the

Commonwealth could meet its legal statutory requirement to prove that [the

Price brothers] w[ere] four (4) years older than the victim.” Trevor Price’s

Brief at 15, citing 18 Pa.C.S. § 3122.1(a)(1); see also Travis Price’s Brief at

14. Second, the Price brothers contend the court abused its discretion when

it ruled they could not argue the critical factual issue of what “four years older”

meant to the jury and the failure to do so “violated [their] constitutional rights

under the 6th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution and Art.

1, § 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution (notice and jury trial guarantees).”

____________________________________________

3 On February 22, 2017, the trial court ordered the Price brothers to file a

concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P.

1925(b). The Price brothers filed a concise statement on March 15, 2017.

The trial court issued an opinion pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) on June 2,

2017.

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Trevor Price’s Brief at at 20 (citation omitted); see also Travis Price’s Brief at

19.

Our scope and standard of review regarding a habeas corpus petition4

is as follows:

We review a trial court’s grant [or denial] of a pre-trial habeas

corpus motion de novo and our scope of review is plenary. See

Commonwealth v. Dantzler, 2016 PA Super 59, 135 A.3d 1109,

1112 (Pa. Super. 2016) (en banc).

As this Court explained in Dantzler:

A pre-trial habeas corpus motion is the proper means for

testing whether the Commonwealth has sufficient evidence

to establish a prima facie case. To demonstrate that a prima

facie case exists, the Commonwealth must produce

evidence of every material element of the charged

offense(s) as well as the defendant’s complicity therein. To

meet its burden, the Commonwealth may utilize the

evidence presented at the preliminary hearing and also may

submit additional proof.

Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

Commonwealth v. Carper, 172 A.3d 613, 620 (Pa. Super. 2017).

In reviewing a trial court’s order granting [or denying] a

defendant’s petition for writ of habeas corpus, we “must generally

consider whether the record supports the trial court’s findings, and

whether the inferences and legal conclusions drawn from those

findings are free from error.” . . . Notably, the Commonwealth

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4 We acknowledge the Price brothers were convicted and sentenced for

statutory sexual assault and therefore, the claim could be analyzed pursuant

to a sufficiency standard of review. However, their argument centers around

the contention that the trial court erred in denying their habeas corpus

petitions and therefore, the cases should have never gone to trial. As such,

we will apply the habeas corpus standard of review.

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does not have to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable

doubt. Further, the evidence must be considered in the light most

favorable to the Commonwealth so that inferences that would

support a guilty verdict are given effect.

Commonwealth v. Santos, 876 A.2d 360, 363 (Pa. 2005) (citations

omitted).

Here, the statute at issue provides, in pertinent part:

(a) Felony of the second degree. — Except as provided in

section 3121 (relating to rape), a person commits a felony of the

second degree when that person engages in sexual intercourse

with a complainant to whom the person is not married who is

under the age of 16 years and that person is either:

(1) four years older but less than eight years older than

the complainant[.]

18 Pa.C.S. § 3122.1(a)(1) (emphasis added).

Turning to the present matter, [the Price brothers] argue that “the

crucial wording of the statute refines the basic question to what does ‘four

years older’ mean and is it subject to a determination by a jury?” Trevor

Price’s Brief at 22; see also Travis Price’s Brief at 21. They contend the

language of the statute of is not free from ambiguity and therefore, pursuant

to the rule of lenity, the benefit should go to the accused. Trevor Price’s Brief

at 22-23; see also Travis Price’s Brief at 21-22. Specifically, they state:

It is with this understanding that [Trevor Price] believes that

he is less than four years older than the victim. He was born May

5, 1994, at 7:00 p.m. [Travis Price also believes he is less than

four years older the victim because he was born on May 5, 1994,

at 6:50 p.m.] The victim was born May 5, 1998, at 8:16 a.m.

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Accordingly, [they are] 3 years, 364 days, and approximately 10

hours older than the victim. These facts are not disputed. What

is disputed is what a “year” means as it relates to its calculation

in terms of “days.” A “day”7 is twenty-four (24) hours. These

facts, [the Price brothers] contend[], were ambiguous, subject to

multiple interpretations as evidenced by both the argument of the

prosecution and the decision of the trial court.

________________________

7 According to “BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY,” 9TH Ed., West,

2009- A “day” is any 24-hour period; the time it takes the

earth to revolve once on its axis. at p. 453. An “entire day”

is [a]n undivided day, rather than parts of two or more days

aggregated to form a 24-hour period. An entire day must

have a legal, fixed precise time to begin and end. A statute

referring to an entire day contemplates a 24-hour period

beginning and ending at midnight. Id. at p. 454.

Trevor Price’s Brief at 23-24; see also Travis Price’s Brief at 22-23.

The trial court, however, analyzed the issue as follows:

As alluded to supra, the victim was under the age of 16 at the

time of the incidents by dint of her birthdate being May 5th, 1998

and the incidents in question occurring in 2012. [Trevor and

Travis Price] admitted to sexual intercourse with the victim. (N.T.,

2/3/17, at 13 and 20.) Marital status aside, the only real issue is

whether or not [Trevor and Travis Price] were four years older

than the victim at the time of the incident. This question is born

of [Trevor and Travis Price] and the victim sharing a birthday

separated by four years of time. Yet, as stated by [Trevor and

Travis Price’s] lawyer, [the Price brothers] are not technically 4

years older than the victim; but, rather, [they] are 3 years, 11

months, 29 days, and approximately 11 hours older than the

victim. The age–gap could hardly be more inconvenient for a

court to interpret unless reduced to minutes, seconds, and

infinitely smaller dissections of time.

Counsel for the Appellants represented to this Court that she

could find no relevant case law within Pennsylvania to clarify the

issue and we note that neither this Court, nor the Commonwealth,

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discovered any such law either. [Trevor and Travis Price] did,

however, produce the case of United States v. Brown, Jr., which

appears to be on point. 740 F.3d 145 (3d Cir. 2014). In Brown,

Jr., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed a decision by the

District Court to withdraw its approval of a Sex Offender

Registration and Notification Act - implicated plea where the

District Court found that it served the interests of justice to do so

because the defendant was 17 and his victim was 13, which the

District Court found to fall within a SORNA exception. Id., at 147.

As noted by the Brown, Jr. court, 42 U.S.C. § 16911(5)(C),

“provides that an offense involving consensual sexual conduct is

not a sex offense under SORNA as long as the victim ‘was at least

13 years old and the offender was not more than 4 years older

than the victim.’” Id., at 149 (emphasis added). The question

was whether Brown, being between four and five years older than

his victim was truly more than 4 years older where Congress could

have defined the differential in terms of months. Id., at 148.

Accounting for leap year, the Brown, Jr. court concluded that the

term “4 years” is quite precisely 1,461 days. Id., at 149 (citing

Black’s Law Dictionary 1754 (9th ed. 2009)). Thus, “‘[m]ore than

4 years’ means anything in excess of 1,461 days.” Id. The

Brown, Jr. court went on to state the following:

Though we have not ruled before on the meaning of “years”

in this exact context, several state courts have interpreted

how to count “years” when applying sexual offense statutes.

The Connecticut Supreme Court observed that “common

sense dictates that in comparing the relative ages of

individuals, the difference in their ages is determined by

reference to their respective birth dates.” State v. Jason

B., 248 Conn. 543, 729 A.2d 760, 767 (1999). Florida,

Wisconsin, and North Carolina have each relied on that

interpretation to conclude that the phrase “more than 4

years older” within 42 U.S.C. § 16911(5)(C) or similar

statutes means more than 1,461 days older. See State v.

Marcel, 67 So.3d 1223, 1225 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 2011) (“if a

defendant is one day past the four-year eligibility .. . [he]

clearly is ‘greater’ or ‘of a larger amount’ than four years.”);

State v. Parmley, 325 Wis.2d 769, 785 N.W.2d 655, 662

(Wis.Ct.App. 2010) (“From these cases we conclude that to

calculate the disparity of ages . . . to determine if an actor

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is exempt from registering as a sex offender, the time

between the birth dates of the two parties is to be

determined.”); State v. Faulk, 200 N.C.App. 118, 683

S.E.2d 265, 267 (2009) (“Neither our legislature nor this

court deals only in whole integers of years, and, as such,

this argument must fail. So too does defendant’s argument

that a plain language analysis of the statute requires this

Court to consider the everyday conversational meaning of

age differences....”). That conclusion is, we think, entirely

correct.

740 F.3d, at 151. Based upon this recitation, the Third Circuit

Court of Appeals reinstated the indictment against Brown, Jr. as

he was, as stipulated, 4 years older than his victim at the time of

the offense. Id. Yet, the Brown, Jr. court could barely envision

the scenario confronted by this Court. Quoting the Brown, Jr.

court,

It seems highly unlikely that a prosecution will ever be

brought on the basis that someone who is exactly 4 years

older than another by birth -date will be prosecuted under

SORNA on the theory that, by hours or minutes, the offender

was “more than 4 years older.” We are not required to

address extreme hypotheticals.

Id., at 150, n. 10. We have before us more than an extreme

hypothetical, for it is a criminal case.

Instantly, it must be recognized that the SORNA exception

at issue in Brown, Jr. stands in contrast to 18 Pa.C.S.A.

3122.1(a)(1), which we deal with here. The SORNA exception

deals with the phrase “more than 4 years” 42 U.S.C. §

16911(5)(C); whereas, 18 Pa.C.S.A. 3122.1(a)(1) simply states

that the offender must be “four years older”. Nonetheless, we find

this to be a distinction without a difference. The “extreme

hypothetical” recounted supra raises the instant issue.

We have circled long enough and now we state why there

was sufficient probable cause. Just as the Brown, Jr. court found

that, “‘[m]ore than 4 years’ means anything in excess of 1,461

days,” it follows that 4 years means 1,461 days. 740 F.3d 145,

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148 (3d Cir. 2014). [Trevor and Travis Price] were born 1,461

days before their victim, which satisfies the four years older

element of 18 Pa.C.S.A. 3122.1(a)(1). [The Price brothers] were

not more than four years older than the victim; however, [they]

were, exactly, four years older. We find some ancillary support

for our conclusion in Commonwealth v. Hooks, 921 A.3d 1199

(Pa. Super. Ct. 2007). In Hooks, the Superior Court clarified that

the common law practice of ascribing a newly attained age to a

person on the day before their birthday is abolished and that the

anniversary date of birth marks the achievement of the next age.

Id., at 1209-1210. “[W]e conclude a person reaches a given age

on the anniversary of birth, that is, on his or her birthday.” Id.,

at 1210. Though the context is admittedly different, we are

nonetheless struck by the clarity of dealing in days and we believe

that the ipse dixit argument presented by [Trevor and Travis

Price] would result in a tyranny of semantics. This is why we

further rejected [their] argument in favor of applying the rule of

lenity. As stated in Sondergaard v. Com., Dept of Transp.:

The rule of lenity provides that where a statute is penal and

the language of the statute is ambiguous, the statute must

be construed in favor of the defendant. . . and against the

government. Underpinning the rule of lenity is the

fundamental principle of fairness that gives validity to our

laws and requires a “clear and unequivocal warning in

language that people generally would understand as to what

actions would expose them to liability for penalties and what

the penalties would be.” Commonwealth v. Reaser, 851

A.2d 144, 149 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2004) (quoting

Commonwealth v. Cluck, 381 A.2d 472, 477 (Pa. Super.

Ct. 1977)). The rule of lenity, though it has its origins in

common law, is consistent with Pennsylvania’s rules of

statutory construction, which require that provisions of a

penal statute, whether that statute be civil or criminal, must

be construed narrowly. See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1928(b) (“All

provisions of a statute of the classes hereafter enumerated

shall be strictly construed: (1) penal provisions . . .”).

Sondergaard v. Com., Dept of Transp., 65 A.3d 994, 997-98

(Pa. Cmwlth. [2013]). Frankly, we do not find the statute in

question, 18 Pa.C.S.A. 3122.1(a)(1), to be ambiguous. Moreover,

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18 Pa.C.S.A. 3122.1(a)(1) does give a clear and unequivocal

warning in language that people generally would understand as to

what actions would expose them to liability. Sondergaard,

supra.

Trial Court Opinion, 6/2/2017, at 6-11 (footnotes and record citations

omitted).

Recognizing that this case presents a unique set of factual

circumstances, we are compelled to disagree with the court’s conclusion. We

begin by noting we are guided by the following:

The [Statutory Construction] Act is clear that the object of all

interpretation and construction of statutes is to ascertain and

effectuate the intention of the legislature. 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(a).

Generally, the best indication of the General Assembly’s intent is

the plain language of the statute. Martin v. Commonwealth,

Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 588 Pa. 429,

438, 905 A.2d 438, 443 (2006). When the words of a statute are

clear and unambiguous, there is no need to look beyond the plain

meaning of the statute “under the pretext of pursuing its spirit.”

1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(b); see Commonwealth v. Conklin, 587 Pa.

140, 152, 897 A.2d 1168, 1175 (2006). Consequently, only when

the words of a statute are ambiguous should a court seek to

ascertain the intent of the General Assembly through

consideration of statutory construction factors found in Section

1921(c). 1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1921(c); Koken v. Reliance Ins. Co.,

586 Pa. 269, 288, 893 A.2d 70, 81 (2006).

Additionally, penal statutes are to be strictly construed. 1

Pa.C.S.A. § 1928(b)(1); Commonwealth v. Booth, 564 Pa. 228,

234, 766 A.2d 843, 846 (2001); Commonwealth v. Wooten,

519 Pa. 45, 53, 545 A.2d 876, 879 (1988). Yet, the need for strict

construction does not require that the words of a penal statute be

given their narrowest meaning or that legislative intent should be

disregarded. Id. at 53, 545 A.2d at 880; Commonwealth v.

Gordon, 511 Pa. 481, 487, 515 A.2d 558, 561 (1986). It does

mean, however, that, if an ambiguity exists in the verbiage of a

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penal statute, such language should be interpreted in the light

most favorable to the accused. Booth, 564 Pa. at 234, 766 A.2d

at 846; Wooten, 519 Pa. at 53, 545 A.2d at 879. More

specifically, “where doubt exists concerning the proper scope of a

penal statute, it is the accused who should receive the benefit of

such doubt.” Booth, 564 Pa. at 234, 766 A.2d at 846;

Commonwealth v. Allsup, 481 Pa. 313, 317, 392 A.2d 1309,

1311 (1978).

Finally, the Crimes Code itself supplies guidance as to the

construction of the provisions of the Code: “The provisions of this

title shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms

but when the language is susceptible of differing constructions it

shall be interpreted to further the general purposes stated in this

title and the special purposes of the particular provision involved.”

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 105.

Commonwealth v. Fithian, 961 A.2d 66, 73-74 (Pa. 2008).

The Pennsylvania Crimes Code does not specifically define the meaning

of the term “four years older.” Further, both the Third Circuit and a panel of

this Court have calculated applicable dates for similar statutes in terms of

days, not hours. See Brown, supra; Hooks, supra. Relying on those

decisions, the trial court herein determined that “four years means 1,461

days” and the Price brothers were born 1,461 days before the victim, “which

satisfie[d] the four years older element” of Section 3122.1(a)(1). Trial Court

Opinion, 6/2/2017, at 9-10 (emphasis added). The court also determined the

difference between the federal statutory language analyzed in Brown, supra,

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“more than 4 years,”5 and the phrase at issue here, “four years older,” was “a

distinction without a difference.” Trial Court Opinion, 6/2/2017, at 9.

As recited above, Trevor Price was born May 5, 1994, at 7:00 p.m.,

Travis Price was born May 5, 1994, at 6:50 p.m., and the victim was born May

5, 1998, at 8:16 a.m. If the difference in the ages of the defendants and the

victim is calculated by hours, both brothers are 3 years, 364 days, and

approximately 10 hours older than the victim. Consequently, the Price

brothers are less than four years older than the victim by 14 hours. However,

as found by the trial court, if the term is counted by days, then they would be

“four years older” because the brothers are 1,461 days older than the victim.6

The definition of what constitutes a day is not defined by the Crimes Code,

and that determination is essential to this calculation. Nonetheless, we accept

the Price brothers’ argument that

[they] had to be a full 1461 days older than the victim. A “day”

is twenty-four (24) hours. [They] w[ere] not a full 1461 days

older than the victim in June of 2012 [and August of 2012]. This

fact has been stipulated. [The Price brothers] w[ere] fourteen

(14) hours short of a full day from the age of the victim.

Trevor Price’s Brief at 30 (reproduced record citation omitted); see also

Travis Price’s Brief at 28-29.

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5 See 42 U.S.C. § 16911(5)(C).

6 See Trial Court Opinion, 6/2/2017, at 9-10.

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Because this is a unique case, and given that the Pennsylvania

legislature has yet to define the term “four years older,” we are compelled to

conclude there is a latent ambiguity when the term is applied to the special

set of facts.7 By using only days, the trial court ignored the fact that based

on the exact date and time of birth of the victim and the Price brothers, they

were not four years older than the victim. Rather, they were 14 hours short

of that requirement. As such, we must apply the rule of lenity to resolve the

ambiguity in Section 3122.1(a)(1) in favor of the Price brothers. Fithian, 961

A.2d at 73. Applying that rule to this case, we find the Commonwealth has

not satisfied the “four years older” requirement of Section 3122.1(a)(1) with

regard to the Price brothers, because they are only 3 years, 364 days, and

approximately 10 hours older than the victim.

Accordingly, we conclude the trial court erred in denying the Price

brothers’ habeas corpus petitions and subsequently, finding them guilty of

____________________________________________

7 One could reasonably interpret the statute two different ways as to what

precisely a day is and therefore, the period of 1,461 days becomes inclusive

or exclusive as to a defendant who is born “on the day of” under Section

3122.1(a)(1).

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statutory sexual assault under Section 3122.1(a)(1). 8 Therefore, we vacate

the judgments of sentence.

Judgments of sentence vacated. Jurisdiction relinquished.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 05/02/2018

____________________________________________

8 Consequently, because we determined the trial court erred in denying their

petitions based on statutory construction, we need not address their

remaining argument regarding whether the trial court abused its discretion

when it ruled they could not argue the critical factual issue of what “four years

older” meant to the jury.

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