Commonwealth v. Rivera, W., Aplt.

*370William Rivera appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County denying his petition for relief from his death sentence, filed under the Post Conviction Relief Act ("PCRA"), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541 - 9546, following an evidentiary hearing limited to one issue - whether penalty phase counsel was ineffective for failing to present mental health and life history mitigation evidence. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

We summarized the facts leading to appellant's conviction in our opinion on direct appeal affirming appellant's sentence of death. Commonwealth v.…