Commonwealth v. Thompson

CONCURRING OPINION BY

BOWES, J.:

I join the well-reasoned opinion of the learned majority. I write further only to address our prior decision in Commonwealth v. Morris, 958 A.2d 569 (Pa.Super.2008) (en banc), a decision in which I joined, and a seeming inconsistency in the manner in which our courts have construed the terms “convicted” and “conviction” in other statutes.

The Morris decision involved an interpretation of 42 Pa.C.S. § 9715. That statute authorizes life imprisonment for “any person convicted of murder of the third degree in this Commonwealth who has previously been convicted at any…