Commonwealth v. Brown

Opinion by

Hoffman, J.,

Appellant and his codefendant were arrested and charged with two crimes, arising from two separate incidents: attempted robbery and assault and battery with intent to ravish. They appeared before a magistrate without counsel, where witnesses with respect to both crimes testified. With regard to the attempted robbery, both appellant and his codefendant were clearly identified as the perpetrators. With regard to the assault and battery with intent to ravish, however, only the codefendant was identified as one of two assailants. Appellant, in the words of the district…