Commonwealth v. Palarino

Opinion by

Dithrich, J.,

Five defendants — Louis Palarino, Paul Madden,. Danny Vranick, Eddie Stanks and Malcolm Epstein— were jointly indicted for the armed robbery of one Bernard Kessler. Epstein entered a plea of guilty and became the Commonwealth’s chief witness. Vranick was confined in a hospital and therefore was not tried. Palarino, Madden and Stanks, appellants herein, stood trial and were found guilty. Motions for a new trial were refused. Subsequently Epstein, upon whose testi mony the Commonwealth had relied most strongly (although there was some corroborating evidence), recanted,…