Commonwealth v. Stanley

Citations

• 19 Pa. Super. 58
• 1902 Pa. Super. LEXIS 33

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Embezzlement—Evidence—Examination of prisoner— Harmless error.</p> <p>On the trial of an indictment for embezzlement where the question of the genuineness of the signature of the prisoner to certain papers is raised, and a folded paper with the signature exposed is shown to the prisoner, and he is asked whether or not the signature is his, to which he answers that he cannot tell, and subsequently the paper is unfolded, and upon inspection he states that the signature is not his, the error in compelling the prisoner to answer the first question, if error it is, is entirely harmless in view of what followed.</p> <p>On the trial of an indictment for embézzlement where the defendant’s examination in chief takes a wide range covering practically the reliability of his mode of doing business and the accuracy of his bookkeeping, it is competent to show on his cross-examination that he was unreliable, that his bookkeeping was not accurate, and that he was mistaken as to the general scope of his business transactions, and that, as a witness, he was not credible. In such a ease it is immaterial that some of the matters upon which he was cross-examined for the purpose stated were not covered by the bill of particulars.</p> <p>Practice, C. P. — Trial—Charge of court.</p> <p>Atrial judge cannot be charged with error as giving binding instructions for conviction in a criminal case by reason of a single sentence in the charge, where it appears from the charge as a whole, and especially from that portion in immediate context with the sentence complained of, he did not have it in mind, and did not instruct the jury that they were bound to convict the prisoner.</p> <p>On the trial of an indictment for embezzlement, where a simple business transaction is very much involved by the prisoner’s explanations, it is not error for the trial judge to call the attention of the jury to the character of the transaction.</p> <p>Evidence — Practice, C. P. — Sending out papers wit