Commonwealth v. Finch

Citations

• 80 Pa. Super. 386
• 1923 Pa. Super. LEXIS 166

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Selling liquor without a license — Evidence.</p> <p>In an indictment for selling liquor without a license and having unlawful possession of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes, the Commonwealth need not set forth that such liquor was not intended solely for the consumption of the defendant and his family or bona fide guests. Nor was it incumbent upon the Commonwealth to prove affirmatively that such liquors were not so intended for the personal consumption of the defendant and his guests. If the defendant desired to set up such a defense he had to support it by proper proof and evidence at the trial.</p> <p>In a prosecution for selling liquor without a license it was proper to admit in evidence the liquors seized in the home of the defendant at the time of his arrest on warrant, and testimony as to their alcoholic content.</p> <p>It was not in violation of the provision against unreasonable searches and seizures, guaranteed by the Constitution of Pennsylvania, to discover and seize, at the time of the defendant’s arrest on warrant, any evidence or fruits of the crime for which he had been arrested, found upon him or on premises occupied by him.</p> <p>In such prosecution it was not error to admit evidence of sales made by the defendant’s wife in his absence, there being testimony of other sales by the defendant himself, and by his wife in his presence, such as to justify the inference that she was acting as his agent in respect to the sales made by her while he was away, and that they were attributable to him.</p>