Commonwealth v. Buccieri

Citations

• 153 Pa. 570
• 26 A. 245
• 1893 Pa. LEXIS 1147

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Murder—Criminal pauper — Costs.</p> <p>The recovery and payment of costs in criminal cases ai-e so entirely dependent upon statutory regulations, that it is indispensable for every claimant to be able to point to the statute which entitles him to receive what he claims.</p> <p>Although a prisoner is entitled to compulsory process, there is no liability on the part of the county, in the absence of express enactment, for either witness fees or officer’s costs; the witness must attend at his own expense, because of the duty he owes tire community; the officer must execute process at his own costs, for he takes his office cum onere.</p> <p>Costs — Printing of paper books on appeal.</p> <p>The Supreme Court has no authority to make an order to compel a county to pay fdr the printing of paper books on an appeal by a criminal pauper convicted of murder.</p> <p>The act of March 31, 1860, § 59, authorizing the Supreme Court to make special allowance of a writ of error in indictments for murder and manslaughter, and providing that the court shall make all “ proper orders touching notice to the commonwealth and paper books as may be necessary,” has been superseded by the act of Feb. 15,1870, which enacts that “ a writ of error in all cases of murder and voluntary manslaughter shall be a writ of right to be sued out upon oath of defendants, as in civil cases.” In such case the Supreme Court has no longer any duty to perform as to allowance of writs, notice to commonwealth or printing of paper books.</p> <p>Doubted whether the right to make an order “touching paper books” includes the right to make the county pay for them.</p>