Commonwealth v. Harper

Appellant, Willie Lee Harper, was convicted of receiving stolen goods1 at a jury trial in Erie County. Boiler-plate post-trial motions were filed and dismissed by order of the court dated December 28, 1973. Appellant was sentenced to serve from one to four years imprisonment. In January, 1978, appellant filed a petition under the Post Conviction Hearing Act,2 raising numerous allegations of trial error and ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failure to perfect his appellate rights, among other things. Although the lower court’s order of March 9, 1978 set a hearing date on the PCHA…