Commonwealth v. Dress

Opinion by

Ross, J.,

The appellant was convicted by a jury of committing sodomy with his eight-year-old adopted son. After the appellant’s motion for a new trial ivas refused, he was sentenced and this appeal followed.

The only witness against the appellant was the adopted son. When he was on the witness stand, he was examined for approximately 45 minutes by the assistant district attorney and the trial judge. During this time he constantly sobbed and cried and failed or refused to incriminate his father. During a five-minute recess the district attorney, who had not been participating in the…