United States of America Ex Rel. Walter Henderson v. Joseph R. Brierley, Supt., State Correctional Institution, Pittsburgh, Pa

OPINION OF THE COURT

SEITZ, Chief Judge.

Appellant, a state prisoner, appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

In 1953, appellant pled guilty to murder before the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. After the entry of his plea, but prior to sentencing, he testified at the trial of two codefendants about matters relevant to his own conviction. This testimony was then introduced against him at his “degree of guilt” hearing, after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In 1968, appellant filed a petition under the state’s Post Conviction Hearing Act…