Criminal law — Practice — Writ of error coram nobis — Habeas corpus — Petition without merit.
On this appeal from an order dismissing what appellant called a "petition for writ of error coram nobis" which also raised habeas corpus contentions, in which it appeared that in September 1946 he shot and killed a man and fled to North Carolina and while he was a fugitive he was indicted for both murder and manslaughter; that he was apprehended in North Carolina in March 1948, brought to Philadelphia, committed to prison, arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the indictments; that in April 1958, appellant, while represented by counsel, withdrew his previous plea and pleaded guilty to murder generally and was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment by a three judge court; and appellant complained that (1) he never had a preliminary hearing before indictment, (2) when his own counsel called him to testify in mitigation following his plea of guilty he was compelled to testify against himself in violation of his privilege against self-incrimination and (3) he was guilty of nothing more than, manslaughter; it was Held that the court below had properly dismissed appellant's petition.
OPINION BY MR. JUSTICE MUSMANNO, January 2, 1962:
The order of the court below is affirmed on Judge SLOANE's Second Opinion — April of 1961.