Watson v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1879, No. 144. Indictment of Alvin and George Watson for burglary.
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Error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1879, No. 144. Indictment of Alvin and George Watson for burglary. The defendants were jointly indicted with Humphrey Campbell and W. H. Franks for a burglary alleged to have been committed at the house of Isaac Irwin, in Allegheny county, on the night of October 16th 1877. The defendants alone were tried, the indictment against Campbell having been nol. prossed and Franks in the penitentiary, and no preliminary hearing had as to him. Upon the trial it was proved, beyond all doubt, that a burglary had…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Trunkey
An alibi is as much a traverse of the crime charged as any other defence, and proof tending to establish it, though not clear, may, with other facts of the case, raise a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused. When the evidence is so imperfect as not to satisfy the jury they will not find the fact. Where the Commonwealth rests upon positive and undoubted proof of the prisoner’s guilt, it should not be overcome by less than full, clear and satisfactory evidence of the alleged alibi. But the evidence tending to establish an alibi, though not of itself sufficient to work an acquittal,…
2Cited by14 opinions
- Glover v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 1906
- Commonwealth v. ElliottSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1928
- Commonwealth v. BarrishSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1929
- Commonwealth v. BubnaSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1947
- Commonwealth v. BoschinoSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1896
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