Commonwealth v. Smith

Opinion by

Jacobs, J.,

The sole issue raised in this appeal is whether the court below acted properly in dismissing without a hearing appellant’s petition under the Post Conviction *86Hearing Act1 without appointing counsel to represent him in the proceeding. We hold that it did not.

Pa. R. Crim. P. 1503(a) states that “when an unrepresented petitioner satisfies the court that he is unable to procure counsel, the court shall appoint counsel to represent him.” In his petition the appellant represents that his only financial resources are his prison wages, that he has less than $30.00 in his prison…