Commonwealth v. Jones

Citations

• 269 Pa. 589
• 113 A. 57
• 1921 Pa. LEXIS 618

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Mwrder—Charge—Opportunity to correct misstatements — Appeal—Review.</p> <p>1. Where no complaint is made of any erroneous instructions as to controlling legal principles in a charge in a murder trial, a conviction will not be reversed because of an allegation that facts were misstated or not referred to, when full opportunity was given to secure necessary corrections before the jury retired.</p> <p>Criminal law — Murder—Malice—Evidence—Threats — Remoteness of time.</p> <p>2. Where, on a trial for wife murder, the proof shows a course of illtreatment by the prisoner of his wife covering years, with actual assaults, the last about nine months before the killing, and threats within two weeks of that time, the mere fact that the acts described covered a long period does not make the testimony objectionable.</p> <p>3. The length of time intervening is a circumstance to be considered by the jury in determining whether or not there was connection between the threats and the homicidal act, but it does not affect the relevancy of the testimony although it may impair the probative force.</p> <p>Criminal law — Murder—Sentence—Act of June 19, 1918, P. L. 528.</p> <p>4. Where the sentence in a murder case does not embrace all of the requirements of the Act of June 19, 1913, P. L. 528, the record will be referred back to the court below for the entry of a proper sentence, which should be in the form suggested in Com. v. Davis, 266 Pa. 245.</p>