Commonwealth v. Cameron

Citations

• 42 Pa. Super. 347
• 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 334

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Evidence—Compulsory self-incrimination — Constitution of Pennsylvania, art. Ill, sec. 32.</p> <p>1. Exemption from compulsory self-incrimination is not a natural right, nor is it a right secured by the federal constitution which a state constitution can neither take away nor abridge.</p> <p>2. The words of sec. 32 of art III of the constitution: “Such testimony shall not afterwards be used against him in any judicial proceeding,” do not confer on the witness an immunity from prosecution for an offense relative to which he has been compelled to testify.</p> <p>Criminal law — Bribery—Penalty—Act of May 23, 1874, sec. 9, P. L. 230. '</p> <p>3. The legislature intended that the punishment to be imposed upon conviction under an indictment laid under sec. 9 of the Act of May 23, 1874, P. L. 230, is the same as that prescribed by sec. 48, of the penal code of March 31,1860, P. L. 382, for the offense of offering, giving or promising a bribe. The punishment is not that provided by sec. 8 of the act of May 23, 1874, for the crime of accepting the bribe.</p>