Commonwealth v. Claiborne

Opinion by

Reno, J.,

Appellant was convicted of drunken driving. His defense was that he was neither drunk nor driving. On his appeal he contends (a) that the court below abused its discretion in refusing his motion for a continuance; (b) that his trial was unfair and the conduct of the trial judge prejudicial; and (c) that the evidence does not support the verdict.

Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding between appellant’s counsel and an assistant district attorney, shared perhaps by the trial judge, appellant was compelled to stand trial when all of his seven witnesses were absent. The record…