Commonwealth v. Coyle

Opinion by

Woodside, J.,

This appeal involves the weight to be given to evidence of a blood grouping test which showed that the defendant in a bastardy case could not have been the father of the prosecutrix’s child. The jury, apparently ignoring the evidence of the blood test, convicted the defendant, and the court below refused a new trial. After sentence was imposed upon the defendant, he appealed to this Court.

Prior to the Act of June 15, 1951, P. L. 585, 19 PS §871, Pennsylvania courts granted new trials in cases where the Commonwealth’s evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction,…