Commonwealth v. Johnson

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Roberts,

This is an appeal from the dismissal without hearing of appellant’s petition brought under the Post Conviction Hearing Act. Appellant was originally convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to the death penalty, a judgment and sentence which was affirmed by this Court in an opinion at 410 Pa. 605 (1963). The Pennsylvania Board of Pardons subsequently commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, a sentence which appellant is currently serving. In January 1966 a habeas corpus petition was filed on behalf of appellant; it was denied without hearing and no…