Commonwealth v. Keene

Citations

• 7 Pa. Super. 293
• 1898 Pa. Super. LEXIS 286

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Competency of dying declarations in abortion.</p> <p>The admission of evidence cannot be assigned for error, if it were competent for any purpose unless the party objecting first required its purpose to be slated.</p> <p>An indictment for an attempt to procure miscarriage andan indictment for procuring an abortion were tried together resulting in a conviction on the first indictment and an acquittal on the second, evidence of the dying declaration of the mother was admitted under a general objection. Held, that the evidence was competent as all of the essential averments of both indictments were in issue.</p> <p>Evidence — Abortion—Eying declarations — Admissibility.</p> <p>Dying declarations having been made competent evidence in indictments for abortion, the nature of the issue in which they are admitted can make no difference in determining the intrinsic value of the evidence except that no conviction can be had on the uncorroborated declarations of • the woman.</p> <p>Charge of court — Comments on dying declarations.</p> <p>The charge of the court is not open to criticism as to comments on the weight to be given to dying declarations when in such instructions as a connected whole the court pointed out to the jury the weak points in sucli evidence as well as the considerations which tend to equalize it in probative effect with evidence given under oath.</p>