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479 Pa. 60

387 A.2d 834

Commonwealth v. Johnson

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Decided June 2, 1978

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · decided 1978-06-02

Relies on Commonwealth v. Hubbard · Commonwealth v. Blair · Commonwealth v. Dancer

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1978-06-02

How this case has been cited

Cited by 18 later decisions — most recently January 1992

18 state decisions

140197819801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1OPINION

PER CURIAM.

¶2Appellant, Gary Johnson, was found guilty of murder of the first degree. Post-trial motions were filed, argued and denied; thereafter, Johnson was sentenced to life imprisonment and this appeal followed.1 We affirm the judgment of sentence.

¶3*62Johnson raises two issues before this Court.2 First, it is argued that the trial court erred in allowing the admission of evidence regarding prior criminal conduct on the part of the appellant. Such an issue, however, was not raised in written post-trial motions and accordingly has been waived. Commonwealth v. Blair, 460 Pa. 31, 331 A.2d 213 (1975). Second, it is alleged that appellant was denied his constitutional right to effective representation by counsel when his trial lawyer failed to obtain an investigative report pertaining to a prosecution witness, one Anthony Brothers.3 Appellant has failed, however, to establish either that the report does in fact exist or, if it does, that it contains any information which would have been pertinent to the cross-examination of Brothers. Absent this information there is nothing to show ineffectiveness of counsel. On this record the appellant is entitled to no relief.

¶4Judgment of sentence affirmed.

MANDERINO, J., files a dissenting opinion.

¶5. We hear this appeal pursuant to the Appellate Court Jurisdiction Act of 1970, Act of July 31, 1970, P.L. 673, 17 P.S. § 211.202(1) which places jurisdiction in this Court for the appeal from appellant’s murder conviction.

¶6. Additionally, we have reviewed the record in compliance with our statutory obligation, Act of February 15, 1870, P.L. 15, § 2, 19 P.S. § 1187, and find sufficient evidence to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt for the offense of murder of the first degree.

¶7. Since appellant is represented by new counsel on appeal who has raised the ineffectiveness of prior counsel at the first stage of new counsel’s representation, that issue is properly before this Court. Commonwealth v. Hubbard, 472 Pa. 259, 372 A.2d 687 (1977); Commonwealth v. Dancer, 460 Pa. 95, 331 A.2d 435 (1975).

¶8The alleged investigative report is said to have possibly contained information which might have supplied a basis for the effective impeachment of the witness.

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