# Commonwealth v. Jackson

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · July 15, 1971 · 443 Pa. 553

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6260331

## Case

- **Full name:** Commonwealth v. Jackson
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** July 15, 1971
- **Citations:** 443 Pa. 553; 279 A.2d 163; 1971 Pa. LEXIS 948
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Bele
- **Judges:** Barbieri, Bele, Bell, Brien, Eagen, Jones, Pomeroy, Roberts
- **Cited by:** 2 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6260331

## Opinion text

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Chief Justice Bele :
In 1958, defendant while represented by counsel was convicted of first-degree murder. One of defendant’s two reasons for not appealing his conviction and sentence was “(2) his lawyer found no merit in an appeal and thought an appeal would be fruitless.” Can anyone imagine a better reason for denying a new trial 12 or 13 years after conviction?
If there is one good reason for holding that an appeal should not be taken, what legal difference should it make if defendant alleges another good reason or ground (fear of the death penalty on retrial) why he should have been allowed to take an appeal?
Is there never to be an end to the endless appeals by a convicted murderer?

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/6260331. Public record. Not legal advice.