Commonwealth v. Mister

Citations

• 79 Va. 5
• 1884 Va. LEXIS 52

Syllabus

<p>1. Practice at Common Law—Continuances.—Motions for continuance are addressed to the court’s discretion, and its refusal, unless plainly wrong, will not'be reversed. Case here of a plainly right refusal.</p> <p>2. Idem—Civil proceedings—Appeals.—Where parties have been convicted under act of March 6th, 1880 (Acts 1879-80, page 197), for violating the oyster laws, and the vessels employed therein have been forfeited and sold under order of court, and the proceeds remain under the court’s control, and other parties entitled to those proceeds, petition therefor, the proceedings are not criminal, but civil; and from a judgment in favor of the petitioners, the commonwealth is entitled to an appeal for errors under Code 1873, chapter 178, section 3: provided the amount in controversy exceeds the minimum jurisdictional sum.</p> <p>3. Idem—Issue.—Where this court has directed the court below to empanel a jury to try an issue, it suffices that the issue tried substantially accords with that directed by this court.</p> <p>4. Idem—Evidence—Irrelevant—Instructions.—Where such issue is whether or not such petitioners owned the forfeited vessels at the time of the violations of said act, whereof the parties were convicted, the record of the conviction of those parties is irrelevant to that issue and inadmissible as evidence at the trial. And so, likewise are all instructions which are predicated on that conviction. But an instruction is proper, which tells the jury to find for the petitioners, if, from the evidence, they believe the petitioners owned the vessels at the time of the violation of the act, and that no employment of said vessels in illegal oyster catching shall be considered by the jury in determining their verdict.</p>