Commonwealth v. Oakes

OPINION OF THE COURT

POMEROY, Justice,

In October of 1974 appellant, Charles John Oakes, was convicted by a jury for the second time of murder in the first degree in the beating death of Eleanor Sanchez. Post-verdict motions were denied by a court en banc and defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for life. This appeal followed. 1 It requires us to consider whether a court en banc, in passing upon post-verdict motions challenging the admissibility of certain evidence following a retrial of a criminal defendant, is bound by the post-trial ruling of a previous court en banc sitting after the…