Commonwealth v. Mitchell
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment for an assault upon Florence Watson, on August 4,1874, at Hyde Park. Trial in the Superior Court before Pit-man, J., who allowed a bill of exceptions in substance as follows : At the trial, it appeared that the person upon whom the assault was alleged to have' been committed was a little girl.
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Indictment for an assault upon Florence Watson, on August 4,1874, at Hyde Park. Trial in the Superior Court before Pit-man, J., who allowed a bill of exceptions in substance as follows : At the trial, it appeared that the person upon whom the assault was alleged to have' been committed was a little girl. On August 5, Charles Jacobs, a constable of Hyde Park, with a warrant duly issued, went to the house of the defendant for the purpose of arresting him for the assault, found the defendant at his house, and told him that he had a warrant for his arrest. The defendant asked the constable what…
1Opinion of the CourtAmes, J.
Nothing which was said by the officer making the arrest can be construed as a promise of any advantage to the defendant to be gained by confession. If the defendant’s reply, therefore, is to be held inadmissible in evidence against him, it can only be upon the ground that it was induced by fear. But the kind of fear which can have that effect must be something more than that which is produced by the mere fact that the defendant was accused of a crime and was arrested for that reason. If that were all, nothing which an arrested party could say, short of a plea of guilty, would be evidence…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Commonwealth v. CuffeeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
3Cited by6 opinions
- Commonwealth v. PreeceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1885
- Commonwealth v. ShermanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1936
- Commonwealth v. MyersMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1894
- Pueblo v. RiveraSupreme Court of Puerto Rico · 1904
- Hardy v. United StatesDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals · 1893
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