Commonwealth v. Beaman

Citations

• 57 Pa. Super. 132
• 1914 Pa. Super. LEXIS 163

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Conspiracy—Evidence—Fraud, of officers of beneficial association.</p> <p>1. On the trial of an indictment of the officers of a beneficial association for the fraudulent manipulation of the funds of the association, the commonwealth is not concluded by the testimony of one of the parties to the transaction called by the commonwealth to the effect that the transaction in question was not unlawful; and the conviction of the defendants will not be set aside because of such testimony.</p> <p>2. On the trial of such an indictment it is not error to refuse to admit oral testimony of the opinion of an attorney as to the legality of the transaction where the opinion of the attorney was in writing; nor is it error to refuse to permit one of the defendants to testify that the commissioner of insurance of the state of Ohio regarded the transaction as legitimate.</p> <p>3. On the trial of an indictment for conspiracy charging the officers of a beneficial association with having entered into a combination with strangers to turn over the assets of the corporation of the latter in such a way that the assets might be embezzled, the commonwealth may show that certain of the assets were paid over to the defendants. In such a case it is not error to exclude a question on cross-examination as to whether a witness had been informed that certain of the defendants had paid back the money they had received. Such a question is mere hearsay, and not proper cross-examination.</p>