Pannell v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Lancaster county: Of May Term 1878, No. 102. Certified from the Middle District. Indictment of James E. Pannell for the murder of his wife, Anna E. Pannell. Plea, “ not guilty.” The evidence produced at the trial disclosed the following facts : Pannell was born in Maryland in 1843. He lost both of his parents at an early age and was taken by an uncle in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who cared for and educated him as a son.
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Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Lancaster county: Of May Term 1878, No. 102. Certified from the Middle District. Indictment of James E. Pannell for the murder of his wife, Anna E. Pannell. Plea, “ not guilty.” The evidence produced at the trial disclosed the following facts : Pannell was born in Maryland in 1843. He lost both of his parents at an early age and was taken by an uncle in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who cared for and educated him as a son. As he grew towards manhood he became dissipated and reckless, and finally was discarded by his uncle, upon whom he had forged a…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Mercur
Forty-six errors are assigned. Many of them were not pressed on the argument, and have no special merit.
The killing of Anna O. Pannell by her husband, the plaintiff in error, is not questioned. The sole ground of defence urged to secure an acquittal, or to lessen the grade of the crime, was the unsound mind of the prisoner. "We cannot say that there was not much evidence tending to prove him to be of unsound mind. If, several of the witnesses were believed, the opinion of his insanity was not first entertained after the commission of tjiis act, but existed, and was expressed, many years prior…
2Cited by7 opinions
- Commonwealth v. BezekSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1895
- Blasband v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.Superior Court of Pennsylvania · 1910
- Norwood v. GoeddelSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1914
- Commonwealth v. DavisDelaware County Court of Oyer and Terminer · 1931
- Commonwealth v. AlbrightPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Dauphin County · 1930
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