Commonwealth ex rel. Kerekes v. Maroney

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Roberts,

In December 1959, appellant was found near the body of his wife with a self-inflicted bullet wound in his left temple. Subsequently he was indicted for her murder and brought to trial.1 Originally he pleaded not guilty, but shortly after the jury was sworn he requested, through his court appointed counsel, permission to withdraw this plea and “enter a plea of guilty to second degree murder.” After ascertaining that the Commonwealth would not introduce evidence to prove that appellant was actually guilty of murder in the first degree, the court accepted the…