Commonwealth v. Sweeney

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Sadler,

One Emgable was shot and killed in the course of an attempt to rob, and Joseph Sweeney, defendant, with others, was charged with the crime. A verdict of murder of the second degree was rendered as to him. Later, the prisoner was called for sentence, and the learned court below imposed the maximum punishment of twenty years, as fixed by the Act of April 14, 1893, P. L. 17. It designated a minimum imprisonment of not less than eighteen years, declining to limit the term to one-half of the maximum, as directed by the Ludlow Act of June 29, 1923, P. L. 975, on the…