Commonwealth v. Pipes

Citations

• 158 Pa. 25
• 27 A. 839
• 1893 Pa. LEXIS 1535

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Murder—Manslaughter—Evidence.</p> <p>On the trial of an indictment for murder where it appears that the killing was done at midnight in an alley near the prisoner’s stable, and the prisoner claims that he shot the deceased in self defence while he was escaping from the stable, it is proper to admit evidence that part of a harness belonging to the prisoner had been stolen, that it had been in the possession of the deceased, and that the latter had traded it to another person with a promise to supply the missing part, for the purpose of showing the deceased’s intent in entering the stable.</p> <p>Felonious entry — Bight to pur site — Act of April 22, 1863.</p> <p>Under the act of April 22, 1863, P. L. 531, the willful and malicious entry of a stable with intent to commit a felony, is itself a felony. If, therefore, in the above case the deceased was in the stable with intent to steal.the harness, he had committed a felony, though the actual larceny was not completed, and the right of the prisoner to pursue and arrest him must be determined as in cases of felony actually committed, not of a felony attempted but abandoned by a fleeing criminal.</p> <p>Credibility of defendant — Charge of court.</p> <p>On the trial of an indictment for murder it is improper to char’ge: “ The defendant is, of course, most deeply interested in your determination, and just so far as he fails in being substantiated and corroborated by other testimony in the case, or facts in the ease, and that interest and feeling would bias him or prejudice him in giving his testimony, so far would you be warranted in discrediting that testimony.”</p>