United States Ex Rel. Johnson v. Rundle

HIGGINBOTHAM, District Judge.

This is a petition for habeas corpus instituted by relator, James Morris Johnson, a Pennsylvania state prisoner serving a sentence of life imprisonment for murder. State remedies have been exhausted and the case is properly before this Court for decision on the merits of the constitutional question presented herein. 1

The issue centers around the controversial “Parker Rule,” which was the law of Pennsylvania at the time of relator’s trial. See Commonwealth v. Parker, 294 Pa. 144, 143 A. 904 (1928), interpreting the Act of May 14, 1925, P.L. 759. Under the procedure…