Commonwealth v. White

OPINION

NIGRO, Justice.

Maxine Davidson White (Appellant) appeals from an Order of the Court of Common Pleas finding that she lacks standing to bring a Post Conviction Relief Act 1 (PCRA) petition on behalf of Gary Heidnik as his next friend. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Following the reasoning of the United States Supreme Court in Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990), our state jurisprudence provides that a third party, such as Appellant, who seeks standing to bring a PCRA appeal on behalf of a defendant as his next friend must first make two…