Commonwealth v. Coolidge
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment on the Gen. Sts. e. 160, § 28, charging the defendant with maliciously threatening Ralph H. Chapin to accuse him of having committed the crime of larceny, by sending him a written communication of the tenor following: “ Mr. Chapin, if you want to settle with me for what you have stolen from me, you can do so by paying me $10; if not, I will put you where you will have a chance to look through iron.
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Indictment on the Gen. Sts. e. 160, § 28, charging the defendant with maliciously threatening Ralph H. Chapin to accuse him of having committed the crime of larceny, by sending him a written communication of the tenor following: “ Mr. Chapin, if you want to settle with me for what you have stolen from me, you can do so by paying me $10; if not, I will put you where you will have a chance to look through iron. H. W. Coolidge; ” with intent thereby to extort money from said Ralph H. Chapin. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Pitman, J., the jury returned a verdict of guilty; and the…
1Opinion of the CourtLord, J.
In the trial of causes, civil or criminal, it is not the right of a party to have an instruction in law given simply because the instruction asked is right as an abstract proposition of law; and it is not the duty of a presiding judge to give any instruction which is not called for by the evidence in the case. It is true that whether the instruction asked is called for by the state of the evidence is itself a question of law, upon which the party has the right of revision by the ultimate tribunal.
Upon the trial in this case, the defendant requested the court to instruct the jury that they…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. McDuffyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1879
- Commonwealth v. JonesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1876
3Cited by15 opinions
- Attorney General v. PelletierMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1922
- Commonwealth v. CohenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2010
- Commonwealth v. SnowMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1930
- Commonwealth v. CorcoranMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1925
- United States v. George Zappola and Robert MelliCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1982
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