Com. v. Ross
| Citation | 296 A.2d 629,449 Pa. 103 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Bernard ROSS, Appellant. |
| Decision Date | 04 October 1972 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania |
Robert W. Duggan, Dist. Atty., Charles B. Watkins, Asst. Dist. Atty., Pittsburgh, for appellee.
Before JONES, COHEN, EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, and POMEROY, JJ.
In 1962, following a jury trial in the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny County, the appellant was convicted of first-degree murder. The jury fixed the penalty at death. The conviction and sentence were affirmed by this Court, Com. v. Ross, 413 Pa. 35, 195 A.2d 81 (1963). Following denial of several 'habeas corpus' petitions not germane to this proceeding, by both the Federal Courts and this Court, appellant filed the present petition in 1969, pursuant to the Post Conviction Hearing Act, contending that the jury which convicted and sentenced him to death was selected in violation of the principles announced in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). Following an evidentiary hearing, appellant's petition was denied. This appeal followed.
Inasmuch as the United States Supreme Court, in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), has ruled that the imposition of the death penalty under statutes such as the one in which the death penalty was imposed upon appellant * is violative of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, it is unnecessary for us to consider appellant's claim of non-compliance with the Witherspoon standard. The United States Supreme Court, in Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786, 92 S.Ct. 2562, 33 L.Ed.2d 706 (1972), quoting from Witherspoon, stated: See, Com. v. Bradley, Pa., 295 A.2d 842 (1972).
The sentence of death is vacated and appellant is sentenced to life imprisonment.
BELL, former C.J., and the late COHEN, J., did not participate in the decision of this case.
* Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. 872, § 701, as amended, 18 P.S. § 4701.
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