Pennsylvania v. Hanible (majority)
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In this capital case, Appellant Ronald Hanible appealed an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (PCRA court) which denied without a hearing all guilt phase claims raised in his petition for post-conviction relief. Appellant was convicted on two counts of murder. Appellant did not testify on his own behalf or present any witnesses at trial. Instead, he urged the jury to reject the Commonwealth's key witness' testimony as unreliable. Appellant further argued to the jury that none of the physical evidence recovered by police implicated him in the crime. Following the penalty hearing, the jury found two aggravating circumstances and no mitigating circumstances. Accordingly, it returned a verdict of death. Appellant filed a pro se PCRA petition and was appointed counsel. The PCRA court granted a new penalty hearing based on evidence that Appellant's trial counsel failed to present available mitigating evidence. Appellant raised sixteen issues for review to the Supreme Court based on the PCRA's dismissal of his relief petition. The Supreme Court took each in turn, and ultimately affirmed the PCRA court's decision to deny Appellant the relief he requested.
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