Shaw v. Commonwealth

Opinion op the Court by

Judge Clarke

Eeversing.

Appellant was convicted of unlawfully possessing intoxicating liquor. The evidence is conflicting, and there is no complaint that the verdict is flagrantly against the evidence, or that any error was committed during the trial, hut it is urgently insisted that a statement made by the court to the entire panel of petit jurors just after their selection for service during the term, and of which the appellant did not learn until after his conviction, was highly prejudicial.

That the statement was improper under our Code of Practice must be conceded,…