Commonwealth v. Haines

Citations

• 257 Pa. 289
• 101 A. 641
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 726

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Criminal procedure — Evidence — Murder — Evidence of other offenses — Admissibility—Accomplices — Testimony of accomplices.</p> <p>1. It is fundamental that a party charged with crime cannot be convicted of the offense of which he is charged because he has committed another offense unconnected with that for which he was indicted, and as a general rule evidence of his participation in another and distinct crime is not admissible on his trial to prove the crime named in the indictment; an exception to this general rule obtains only where such a connection can be shown between the two offenses as tends to establish that if the defendant was guilty of the one he was also guilty of the- other.</p> <p>2. ■ Where at the trial of an indictment for murder it appeared that defendant and another had been jointly indicted, but were separately tried, it was reversible error to permit defendant’s accomplice, over defendant’s objection, to testify as to a burglary which defendant and the witness had committed previous to the killing, where it was not shown when the burglarly occurred and the testimony failed to establish that they had been associated in any other offenses, or that the offense shown was in any way connected with the murder, or was one of a series of mutually dependent crimes connected with or terminating in the murder.</p> <p>3. Where in a criminal ease the accomplice of defendant is called as a witness by the Commonwealth the court should state clearly in its general charge the law applicable to the testimony of an accomplice and make specific application of it to the particular facts in the case; the testimony of such accomplice should be pointed out in a general way and the jury should be instructed wherein it is claimed to be corroborated and contradicted and should be told that they must closely scrutinize such testimony and accept it with caution.</p> <p>Practice, Supreme Court — Assignments of error — Instructions to the jury.</p> <p>4. It