Case Name: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Samuel DUNCAN, Appellant
Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 1981-12-17
Citations: 496 Pa. 444
Docket Number: No. 80-3-397
Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Samuel DUNCAN, Appellant.
Judges: Before O’BRIEN, C. J., and ROBERTS, NIX, LARSEN, FLAHERTY, KAUFFMAN and WILKINSON, JJ.
Reporter: Pennsylvania State Reports
Volume: 496
Pages: 444–445

Head Matter:
437 A.2d 956
COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Samuel DUNCAN, Appellant.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Submitted Oct. 19, 1981.
Decided Dec. 17, 1981.
Norris E. Gelman, Philadelphia (Court-appointed), for appellant.
Robert B. Lawler, Chief, Appeals Div., Eric Beller, Philadelphia, for appellee.
Before O’BRIEN, C. J., and ROBERTS, NIX, LARSEN, FLAHERTY, KAUFFMAN and WILKINSON, JJ.

Opinion:
OPINION OF THE COURT
FLAHERTY, Justice.
Appellant was convicted of third degree murder on February 24, 1975 after trial by jury. Judgment of sentence was affirmed on appeal. Commonwealth v. Duncan, 473 Pa. 62, 373 A.2d 1051 (1975). Subsequently, appellant filed a PCHA petition, which was denied, and that denial is presently before us on appeal. Appellant was represented in this proceeding by his third lawyer. Three allegations of ineffectiveness of counsel are raised in this appeal: (1) that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to interview witnesses to the crime; (2) that PCHA counsel was ineffective for failing to raise issues concerning the prosecution's opening speech; (3) that trial counsel was ineffective in making certain remarks in his opening speech, and PCHA counsel was ineffective in failing to raise these remarks as a ground for relief in the PCHA petition. We have carefully reviewed the record and find these claims to be without merit. Denial of the PCHA petition is affirmed.