Commonwealth v. Merrick

CIRILLO, Judge:

This is an appeal by appellant John Merrick from the judgment of sentence 1 entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County. Following a trial by jury, appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree. Post-trial motions were denied by the trial court en banc, and appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment. We affirm.

On September 15, 1981, appellant was arrested for the stabbing death of his father. Prior to his preliminary hearing, a mental health evaluation revealed that appellant was incompetent to stand trial. Approximately six months later, appellant was…