Commonwealth v. Barbono

Citations

• 56 Pa. Super. 637
• 1914 Pa. Super. LEXIS 133

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Registration of beer bottles — Refilling of bottles — Summary conviction — Act of June 15,1911, P. L. 975 — Constitutional law— Title of statute — Allocatur.</p> <p>1. If the Act of June 15, 1911, see. 4, P. L. 975, is to be construed to mean that the mere having unlawful possession of registered beer bottles and boxes is itself an offense, for which the act imposes a penalty, then the act tiolates art. Ill, sec. 3, of the constitution in that the title of the act gives no notice of such possession being an offense.</p> <p>2. The Act of June 15, 1911, P. L. 975, confers no express authority upon a justice of the peace to summarily sentence a defendant to im’ prisonment in jail, in default of payment of the penalty provided by the act, and, consequently, payment of the fine and costs, in order to obtain release from such imprisonment cannot be regarded as a voluntary act which precludes the defendant from having the lawfulness and regularity of his conviction reviewed by certiorari.</p> <p>3. Where a certiorari has been taken without an allocatur, and there is no statutory obstacle in the way of taking out a new writ by leave of court, there is no abuse of discretion in the act of the court in allowing the writ already taken out to be filed nunc pro tunc.</p>