Commonwealth v. DeHart

OPINION

NIX, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Robert Perry DeHart, was found guilty by a jury on November 17, 1983, of escape,1 robbery,2 burglary,3 and murder in the first degree.4 The jury fixed the penalty for the murder conviction at death. An automatic direct appeal to this Court followed pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 722(4) and 9711(h)(1), whereupon the verdict and judgment of sentence were affirmed. Commonwealth v. DeHart, 512 Pa. 235, 516 A.2d 656 (1986), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1010, 107 S.Ct. 3241, 97 L.Ed.2d 746 (1987).

Appellant subsequently filed a petition in the Court of Common Pleas under…