On a late spring evening, Aug. 08, 2002, the lives of those in a West Chester, Pennsylvania apartment building were shattered by an act of violence. Inside a first-floor rear apartment at 327 North High Street, a man named Maurice Miller was the victim of a brutal stabbing. The attack was severe, leaving him with significant and lasting injuries. The quiet of the evening was broken by the subsequent arrival of police, who found a trail of blood leading from where Miller had collapsed in the street back to the apartment. The male victim was bleeding profusely from wounds to his left forearm and neck, as well as cuts on both of his hands.
The investigation into the violent assault took a surprising turn when a man named James Snowden walked into the West Chester Police Station. He sought out a detective and confessed to the stabbing that had occurred earlier inside the residence he shared with his wife. As a result of the attack, Miller suffered grave injuries, including severe and permanent nerve and tendon damage to his left forearm and hands.
In the aftermath of the crime, the legal process moved forward. James Snowden entered into a negotiated agreement with the Commonwealth. He was sentenced to a term of seven to fifteen years of incarceration for aggravated assault. In addition to the prison sentence, he received a consecutive five-year term of probation for the charge of possessing an instrument of a crime.
Following his sentencing, Snowden had a change of heart and attempted to navigate the legal system to undo his plea. He filed a post-sentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea. After a series of subsequent filings by both Snowden and his court-appointed legal counsel, and after two hearings on the matter, the trial court ultimately denied his efforts to withdraw his plea. His attempts to challenge the outcome of his case through the court system continued with a petition for post-conviction relief, which was also met with denial.
