Commonwealth v. Stanley

This is an appeal from judgments of sentence for escape, possession of implements of escape, possession of an instrument of crime generally, and carrying a prohibited offensive weapon.1 The majority opinion and I are in accord on four of appellant’s.arguments, which I discuss below. We differ on two others; therefore, I dissent.

On May 28, 1975, appellant was convicted of first degree murder. On October 1, 1975, he escaped from the detention room of Philadelphia General Hospital. He was recaptured when police with an arrest warrant forcibly entered a private apartment and discovered him hiding…