Commonwealth v. Valverdi

Citations

• 32 Pa. Super. 241
• 1906 Pa. Super. LEXIS 329

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Election law — Conspiracy—Assessors—Evidence.</p> <p>On the trial of an indictment of election assessors for the illegal registration of persons not resident in the district and not qualified voters therein, the commonwealth may, after having established by competent evidence the offense charged in the indictment, show that the defendants also procured to be placed upon the fist of voters a large number of persons who were not naturalized and therefore not qualified to vote. For the purpose of throwing light upon the motives and intentions of the defendants, it is competent for the commonwealth to prove all that the latter did at the time of the offense charged in the indictment, in dealing with the same subject-matter, and which contributed to the same specific purpose.</p> <p>Criminal law — New trial — Jurors—Reading of newspapers.</p> <p>The granting or refusing of a new trial in a criminal case, upon the ground that during the trial jurors have heard improper oral or have read unauthorized printed statements concerning the case, is a matter within the discretion of the court below, and the conclusion of that court will only be reversed where there is a clear abuse of discretion; and this is particularly so where the publication was merely a correct narration of the incidents of the trial, and did not refer to any previous misconduct of the defendants.</p> <p>Criminal law — Conspiracy—Parties—Acquittal of one party.</p> <p>It is not necessary for the commonwealth on the trial of an indictment for conspiracy to establish that all the persons charged in the indictment had been guilty of an unlawful conspiracy; if the evidence establishes that any two have been guilty of the conspiracy charge, they may be convicted although all the others are acquitted.</p>