Commonwealth v. Starr

Opinion by

Ms. Justice Pomeboy,

In June, 1972 Gary Lee Starr was convicted of the first degree murder of his wife by a three-judge panel in Beaver County following his plea of guilty to murder generally. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Shortly thereafter Starr’s counsel, although having filed no post-trial motions in arrest of judgment or for a new trial, placed before the court a “Petition to Withdraw Guilty Plea” on the ground that appellant’s plea was “not a voluntary or intelligent plea.” The trial court denied that petition without a hearing and appellant then prosecuted this direct…