Commonwealth v. Simon

Citations

• 44 Pa. Super. 538
• 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 215

Syllabus

<p>Appeals — Assignment of errors — Answer to point.</p> <p>1. An appellate court will not consider an assignment of error to an answer to a point, where the assignment, although containing the point, does not quote the answer totidem verbis.</p> <p>Criminal law — Accomplice—Evidence.</p> <p>2. On the trial of an indictment for crime the court is not bound to instruct the jury to acquit the defendant when the commonwealth relies on the testimony of accomplices alone; but it is proper for the jury to be advised that it is not safe to convict a defendant upon the uncorroborated testimony of accomplices.</p> <p>3. If two or more accomplices are produced as witnesses, they are not deemed to corroborate each other.</p> <p>Practice — Trial—Continuance—Selection of jury — Presence of defendant.</p> <p>4. A trial judge cannot be convicted of error in a criminal case on the ground that he refused to continue the case because of the absence of defendant when the jury was selected, where it appears that the defendant was present on the morning of the day of the trial, that he voluntarily left the court room, leaving his counsel in the room, that he returned before the jury was fully chosen or sworn, made no objection to any juror, and was not deprived of any right to challenge.</p> <p>Criminal law — Jury—Locking up jury — Discretion of court.</p> <p>5. The question of keeping the jury in a criminal case together and in charge of an officer of the court rests in the discretion of the trial judge, and in the absence of any abuse of discretion the action of the court in keeping the jury together is not error.</p> <p>Criminal law — Evidence—Cross-examination.</p> <p>6. On the trial of an indictment for crime, where the commonwealth relies largely upon the evidence of a particular witness, such witness may be asked on cross-examination for the purpose of showing motive and impeaching his credibility, whether he had not stated prior to the trial that he could make money by testifyin