imposition of life imprisonment precludes the imposition of the death penalty in a retrial
How later courts described this case
- imposition of life imprisonment precludes the imposition of the death penalty in a retrial
Written by the judges who cited it.
Distinguished
Distinguished by Commonwealth v. Jackson, 443 Pa. 553 (1971)
The post-conviction hearing judge believed that Littlejohn was inapplicable because the fear of the death penalty was not the sole reason for not filing an appeal.
The opinion
*352 Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Chief Justice Bell:
I concur in the Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Littlejohn. I dissent from the Court’s decision and Opinion in Commonwealth v. Archambault, which completely changes the very long and well established law of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, if Justice Roberts is right, then every defendant who obtains a new trial after a conviction of any and every crime cannot, on re-conviction at his new trial, receive a higher or greater sentence than was imposed at his first trial; and this would be so even if the evidence at re-trial was different from and stronger than the evidence at his first trial and warranted a more severe sentence.