Commonwealth v. Meas

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Eagen,

Joseph John Meas, the appellant, twenty-seven years of age, after trial, was convicted by a jury of murder in the first degree. Punishment was fixed at death. Following the denial of post trial motions and imposition of sentence in accordance with the jury’s verdict, this appeal was filed.

From the evidence offered by the Commonwealth, the jury could find the following facts:

On August 8, 1962, about ten o’clock p.m.,. the defendant accosted Janis Chmielewski, aged fourteen years, at a drinking fountain on the Glenside Playground in the City of Reading. He choked her…