Commonwealth v. Tompkins
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 44, Oct. T., 1919, by defendant, from judgment of O. & T. Cambria Co., Sept. T., 1917, No. 7, on verdict of guilty of murder of tbe first degree in case of Commonwealth v. George Tompkins. Indictment for murder. Before O’Connor, J. Verdict of guilty of murder of the first degree upon which judgment of sentence was passed. Defendant appealed. Error assigned was (2) the portion of the charge of the court quoted in the opinion of the Supreme Court.
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Mr. Chief Justice Brown,
The appellant was defended on his trial on the ground of insanity, but the plea was unavailing, and he was found guilty of murder of the first degree. If he knew what he did at the time he committed the homicide, his offense was rank; but however atrocious it may have been, the duty rested upon the trial judge to instruct the jury dispassionately as to the settled law relating to the plea of insanity. This he did briefly in one portion of his charge, but in other parts of it he held up at length to judicial ridicule the plea made for the prisoner. As a part…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Commonwealth v. BrownSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1932
- Commonwealth v. TompkinsSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1920
- Commonwealth v. KarmendiSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1937