Commonwealth v. West

The defendant was convicted on the first indictment of falsely assuming and pretending that he was a police officer and of acting as such, and on the second indictment, which contained two counts, of maliciously threatening to accuse one Sanders of a crime with intent thereby to extort money from him on two occasions. He was sentenced on the second indictment.

Sanders, who was the “ chief government witness,” testified to a relationship between the defendant and him which began on the evening of August 29, 1941, and ended October 7, 1941, when the defendant was arrested. The jury could have…