Commonwealth v. Butler

Opinion by

Mb. Justice Pomeroy,

On December 10, 1957, appellant was found guilty of first degree murder after a jury trial at which he was represented by court-appointed counsel. The jury fixed a penalty of life imprisonment, and after motions for new trial and arrest of judgment were filed and withdrawn by appellant’s counsel, sentence of life imprisonment was imposed.

Since that time appellant has filed three unsuccessful applications for discharge on writs of habeas corpus. The first petition was filed with the Chester County Court of Common Pleas; the writ was denied, and we affirmed, per…