Commonwealth v. Ockenhouse

OPINION

CAPPY, Justice.

This is an automatic direct appeal of the sentence of death imposed upon John Phillip Ockenhouse, Sr. by the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County.1 This case is somewhat unique in that Ockenhouse, although sentenced to death, informed our court that he would not file a brief, and that he does not desire to contest his conviction or his sentence. While Ockenhouse has evidently accepted his conviction and sentence of death and has implicitly expressed his desire to forego appellate consideration of his case, our court is nevertheless required to review the decision…