Commonwealth v. Smith

Dissenting Opinion

by Mb. Justice Pomeroy :

The majority, in awarding a new trial to this appellant whose judgment of sentence as a convicted murderer we have previously affirmed, overlooks important dates and reaches a result which is neither authorized by our legislature nor required by the federal constitution. I must respectfully dissent.

The background facts bearing on the legal issue may be briefly stated: In the early morning of August 28, 1964, Mary Louise Green was found in a mutilated and dying condition in a vacant lot of the city of York. That same day William Smith, Jr., the…