Commonwealth v. Randolph

Citations

• 146 Pa. 83
• 23 A. 388
• 1892 Pa. LEXIS 1199

Syllabus

<p>1. The solicitation to commit murder, accompanied by the offer of money as a reward for so doing, is an offence at common law: Stabler y. Commonwealth, 95 Pa. 318, followed; Smith v. Commonwealth, 54 Pa. 209, commented on and distinguished, as deciding merely that solicitation to commit a misdemeanor is not indictable by the common law.</p> <p>2. The test whether or not a certain act is a crime at common law, is, not whether precedents for so treating it can be found in the books, but whether it injuriously affects the public police and economy: Commonwealth y. McHale, 97 Pa. 397. Solicitation and offer of money to commit murder, meet this test, constituting an act done, a step in the direction of that crime.</p>