Commonwealth v. Smith

OPINION OF THE COURT

MANDERINO, Justice.

The appellant, Ralph Smith, was convicted by a jury of murder in the first degree on March 18, 1970. Post-verdict motions were denied and appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal was taken to this Court in which we affirmed the judgment of sentence. Commonwealth v. Smith, 447 Pa. 457, 291 A.2d 103 (1972).

On August 22, 1972, appellant, without the assistance of counsel, filed a PCHA petition raising issues including a claim that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel. Since the allegations were in the nature of conclusions…