Pennsylvania v. Hannibal

Sheldon Hannibal appealed an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County denying his petition for relief from his death sentence. In 1992, Hannibal and a co-defendant, Larry Gregory, got into an argument with the victim, Peter LaCourt. LaCourt was pistol whipped before attempting to flee. Hannibal shot LaCourt six times. A fifteen-year-old girl witnessed the robbery and beating, and later gave statements to police, implicating Hannibal and Gregory. She also testified at their preliminary hearings. However, she and two of her female friends were murdered "execution-style" in an apartment located in the same housing development where LaCourt had been murdered. The jury convicted appellant and codefendant of first-degree murder. Hannibal applied for post-conviction relief, raising a number of issues for the Supreme Court's review. Finding that Hannibal was not entitled to relief, the Court affirmed dismissal of his PCRA petition. View "Pennsylvania v. Hannibal" on Justia Law