Commonwealth v. Ronemus

Citations

• 205 Pa. 420
• 54 A. 1095
• 1903 Pa. LEXIS 587

Syllabus

<p>Change of venue — Criminal law — Murder—Labor troubles.</p> <p>Ou a petition for a certiorari to the court of oyer and terminer to remove the record and proceedings under an indictment in that court for murder against the petitioner, and for an order to change the venue, the action of the Supreme Court upon the certiorari, while not strictly the exercise of original jurisdiction, is nevertheless one of general supervision in the interest of justice, and is to be governed by the appellate court’s judgment on the facts.</p> <p>A change of venue will be granted by the Supreme Court in a murder case, where the facts are undisputed; that in the county where the killing occurred a large percentage of the population were miners, and were members of a labor union; that at the time of the killing a general strike was in progress; that the persons indicted were nonunion men employed by mine owners to protect property; that the person killed was a member of the union ; that the members of the union and members of other-unions, their neighbors, relatives and friends, were greatly excited and prejudiced against the prisoners; that this excitement had been promoted by inflammatory articles in newspapers and by sermons and addresses of ministers; that strikes, riots and violence were frequent; that the sheriff was unable to maintain peace, and had applied to the governor for troops, and that the disorder was so great that it invaded the court room, and on two occasions proceedings were interrupted and the judge insulted by sympathizers with the union and the strikers.</p> <p>In such a case the change of venue will be granted, although at the time of the hearing the strike had been over for several months, and although in the opinion of the two associate judges unlearned in the law, overruling that of the president judge, a fair and impartial trial could be had in the county where the killing occurred.</p>