Commonwealth v. Conner

OPINION OF THE COURT

EAGEN, Justice.

The appellant, John R. Conner, was convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter on June 13, 1969. 1 Subsequently, he filed two separate petitions for writs of coram nobis with the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County alleging his conviction was tainted by the use at trial of four prior uncounseled convictions to impeach his credibility as a witness and to enhance his punishment. In each petition Conner sought the grant of a new trial or, in the alternative, a reconsideration of sentence. The lower court, while recognizing the invalidity of the four prior…