Commonwealth v. Wilson

Citations

• 44 Pa. Super. 183
• 1910 Pa. Super. LEXIS 148

Syllabus

<p>Criminal law — Forgery—Railroad tickets — Change of name of station— Evidence.</p> <p>1. One who personally uses a railroad ticket knowing that the name of a station originally written into the ticket had been erased and that the name of another station much further away, and for which a much greater fare is demanded is inserted, may be convicted of forgery both at common law and under sec. 169 of the Act of March 31,1860, P. L. 382.</p> <p>2. On the trial of an indictment for forgery a witness who was not an expert may be permitted to show the effect produced on ink and color by using a proprietary article, where a package of such article is shown by other evidence in the case to have been in the defendant’s possession.</p> <p>Evidence — Witness—Cross-examination—Reputation.</p> <p>3. A witness who testifies to the general good reputation of one accused may be tested by asking him on cross-examination as to reports he has heard, or contradictory statements he has made, or other facts known to him, not for the purpose of discrediting the person whose reputation is involved, but solely for the purpose of affecting the credibility of the witness.</p> <p>4. A witness called by the prisoner as a character witness, is properly excluded where it appears that he had seen the prisoner only a few hours each year on annual vacation visits, away from the community in which he resided, and that he did not know of any business transacted by the prisoner, nor of people who knew him.</p>