Commonwealth Ex Rel. Harbold v. Myers

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Roberts,

Appellant petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus which would release him from imprisonment. Appellant-petitioner is serving a life sentence imposed in 1962 after a jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree. At the jury trial, two court-appointed counsel conducted petitioner’s defense.

Following the verdict, counsel for petitioner filed motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment. Before the trial court passed on these motions, however, the petitioner himself wrote to the trial judge requesting that the post-trial motions be withdrawn and that…