Commonwealth v. Wilson

Citations

• 30 Pa. Super. 26
• 1906 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Extortion—Public officers — Police captain — Bribery.</p> <p>A captain of police may be convicted of common-law extortion.</p> <p>Extortion is an abuse of public justice which, consists in an officer’s unlawfully taking, by color of his office, from any man, any money or thing of value that is not due to him, or more than due, or before it is due.</p> <p>An essential element of the offense of extortion is, that the fee or reward must be taken by the officer by color of his office, but this does not necessarily imply that it must be taken for an act or service which it is his duty, or he has discretionary power, to perform. It does imply, however, an exercise of official power possessed, as pretended to be possessed by the officer, or distinguished from an act which could have been performed by any other person.</p> <p>Bribery on the part of an officer and extortion are not identical, but they are very closely allied; and whilst the former does not necessarily involve a pretense of official authority to do the act for which the bribe is given, yet, if such pretense is used to induce its payment, there is no reason to doubt that the taking of it is common-law extortion as well as bribery.</p> <p>Where the conduct' of a captain of police is tantamount to the assertion and use of his official authority as a cover for an act whereby he obtains a pecuniaiy reward to which he is not entitled, the officer may be convicted of extortion at common law.</p>