Commonwealth v. Wright

OPINION

Justice TODD.

This case presents the question of whether a convicted person who seeks court-ordered DNA testing under the “Postconviction DNA Testing Act,” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 9543.1, is precluded by his confession, which was ruled to be voluntary and admitted into evidence against him at trial, from establishing a prima facie case demonstrating that DNA testing would establish his actual innocence. After careful review, we conclude that a confession, even if previously and finally adjudicated as voluntary, does not constitute a per se bar to establishing a prima facie case, and the…