Commonwealth v. Detweiler

Citations

• 229 Pa. 304
• 78 A. 271
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 586

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Murder—Defenses—Intoxication—Use of drug.</p> <p>1. The mere intoxication of a person charged with murder will not excuse or palliate his offense unless he was in such a state of intoxication as to be incapable of conceiving any intent. If he was, his offense is reduced to murder in the second degree.</p> <p>2. Intoxication from the voluntary excessive use of opium or any other drug taken to gratify the appetite is considered in the law the same as intoxication from the voluntary use of liquors.</p> <p>Criminal law — Murder—Evidence—Accusation—Standing silerit.</p> <p>3. In a murder trial a witness for the commonwealth may be permitted to testify that he said in the presence of the defendant, who was standing within four feet of him, with the deceased’s body lying before them, “that is something you ain’t going to get away with.” In such a case it is for the jury to say whether the defendant heard the remark, and also whether or not the remark was in the nature of an accusation, and what effect they would give to the standing silent of the defendant under the circumstances.</p> <p>4. Where the trial judge in a colloquy between counsel and the court over a remark of the district attorney in his argument, suggests that anger or revenge over the loss of money might have been the motive for the killing, and there is evidence upon which the judge might have made such a suggestion in his charge, a verdict of guilty will not be set aside because of the suggestion made by the trial judge.</p> <p>5. A verdict of guilty in a murder case will not be set aside where the district attorney permitted a woman to sit by his side during the trial whom he supposed to be the wife of the deceased and addressed as such, where it appears that the woman had lived with the deceased as his wife, had seen the killing, and was in court as a witness for the commonwealth.</p>