McLain v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1880, No. 61. Indictment of Samuel McLain, Samuel Gisal and Theodore Gross, for the murder of Samuel Hunter. A nolle prosequi was entered as to Gross. McLain and Gisal pleaded not guilty, and a separate trial was allowed to McLain on bis demand.
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Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1880, No. 61. Indictment of Samuel McLain, Samuel Gisal and Theodore Gross, for the murder of Samuel Hunter. A nolle prosequi was entered as to Gross. McLain and Gisal pleaded not guilty, and a separate trial was allowed to McLain on bis demand. On tbe trial, before Bailey, J., the following facts appeared : — On the evening of the 5th of March 1879, about half-past six o’clock, the dead body of Samuel Hunter, a lad fourteen years of age, was found lying in tbe edge of the Monongahela river, not far from…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Mekour
All the specifications of error argued, were properly presented under a few heads, and will now be so considered. The first is to the rejection of the testimony given by James Cox *97before the coroner on the inquest. Oox was shown to be ill, and although convalescent at the time of the trial, yet unable to attend court.
It is undoubted law that the testimony of a deceased witness given on a former trial between the same parties in the same issue, and duly proved, is admissible in a civil case. The authorities are not in entire harmony as to the application of the same rule in criminal cases. The…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Crary v. SpragueNew York Supreme Court · 1834
3Cited by16 opinions
- Commonwealth v. WilliamsSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1979
- Commonwealth v. RyhalSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1922
- Commonwealth v. SchrothSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1978
- Commonwealth v. BoneSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1916
- Commonwealth v. WinkelmanSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1900
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