Hyde v. Commonwealth

Convicted in a bench trial, James Taylor Hyde was sentenced by orders entered February 9, 1976 to confinement in the penitentiary for 10 years for rape and 15 years for murder of the second degree. On the murder conviction, he was placed on probation without supervision, conditioned upon good behavior for life. Pre-trial psychiatric examinations showed that Hyde, a voluntary patient at Eastern State Hospital whose condition was diagnosed as schizophrenia, paranoid type, was competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense. Members of the commission who conducted post-conviction…