Criminal law — Constitutional law — 6th and 14th Amendments — Right to counsel — Counsel on appeal — Waiver of right.
In this appeal from the dismissal of a post-conviction petition without hearing, in which it appeared that the petition raised the issue of whether or not defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his right to the assistance of counsel in perfecting and prosecuting an appeal from the judgment of sentence for murder in the first degree, the order was vacated and the case remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine the issue, in which the defendant should be represented by court-appointed counsel.
Mr. Justice COHEN took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
OPINION BY MR. JUSTICE EAGEN, January 3, 1968:
The appellant, Keith Magee, was convicted by a jury in Erie County on February 16, 1954, of murder in the first degree, and the punishment was fixed at life imprisonment. A motion for a new trial was dismissed, and judgment of sentence imposed in accordance with the jury's verdict. No appeal was filed from the judgment.
In December 1966, Magee filed a petition for post-conviction relief which the lower court dismissed without hearing. An appeal from that order is now before us.
We are satisfied that certain allegations in the petition in the present proceedings are sufficient to require an evidentiary hearing and subsequent determination in the court below, on the question of whether or not Magee knowingly and intelligently waived his right to the assistance of counsel in perfecting and prosecuting an appeal from the judgment of sentence. See Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353, 83 S.Ct. 814 (1963), and Commonwealth ex rel. Neal v. Myers, 424 Pa. 576, 227 A.2d 845 (1967). The record will therefore be remanded for this purpose. Counsel must be appointed by the court to assist Magee in the preparation and prosecution of these proceedings. See Commonwealth v. Richardson, 426 Pa. 419, 233 A.2d 183 (1967).
Order vacated and record remanded.
Mr. Justice COHEN took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.