United States ex rel. Cannon v. Johnson

OPINION AND ORDER

EDWARD R. BECKER, District Judge.

I. Preliminary Statement

This habeas corpus ease raises squarely the question of the retroactivity of the en bane holding of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in United States ex rel. Matthews v. Johnson, 503 F.2d 339 (3d Cir. 1974), cert, denied, 420 U.S. 952, 95 S.Ct. 1336, 43 L:Ed.2d 430 (1975) (hereinafter “Matthews”). In Matthews, it was decided that where, under Pennsylvania law, the jury had the power and prerogative to return a verdict of voluntary manslaughter in any murder prosecution, even in the absence of any…