Commonwealth v. Harris

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Maxey,

This is an appeal from the refusal of the court below to grant a petition for a writ of error coram nobis. The defendant was indicted on March 3,1925, for the murder of Roosevelt Merchison on September 8, 1924. Both the defendant and Merchison were colored 1 men. The defendant was not apprehended until 18 years after the homicide, when he was arrested in Los Angeles and brought back to Pittsburgh. He was tried before Judge J. Frank Graff, special presiding, and a jury. The verdict of the jury was guilty of murder in the first degree, with the penalty of life…