Commonwealth v. Brown

Citations

• 138 Pa. 447
• 21 A. 17
• 1891 Pa. LEXIS 1123

Syllabus

<p>[To be reported.]</p> <p>1. An indictment for forcible detainer, under § 22, act of March. 81, 1860, P. L. 890, must aver a prior possession of the premises by the prosecutor, and an unlawful detention thereof by the defendant by force and with a strong hand, or by menaces or threats.</p> <p>2. The same description and degree of force are necessary to constitute the offence of forcible detainer, that are required to constitute a forcible entry; greater force must be averred than is expressed by the phrase “with force and arms,” and the words “and with a strong hand” should never be omitted.</p> <p>8. Under an indictment for forcible detainer, which does not aver that the prosecutor, at the time of the commission of the offence, had an estate either of freehold or of leasehold in the premises detained, the court, in sentencing the defendant after conviction, cannot award'restitution of the premises.</p>