Commonwealth v. Bell
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 33, March T., 1900, by-defendant in a suit of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania against Peter Bell, from sentence of Q. S. Cumberland Co., Feb. Sess., 1900, No. 4, on verdict of guilty. Opinion by Beaver, J. Indictment for assault and battery with intent to rávish.
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Appeal, No. 33, March T., 1900, by-defendant in a suit of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania against Peter Bell, from sentence of Q. S. Cumberland Co., Feb. Sess., 1900, No. 4, on verdict of guilty. Opinion by Beaver, J. Indictment for assault and battery with intent to rávish. It appears from the testimony, as recited in the charge of the court, as follows : That on the night of Tuesday, November 14, about half past nine o’clock, as Edna Harris was going from the opera house northward on Pitt street with some of her girl friends, she saw á man with a light hat and coat come out of Dickinson alley,…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
BeaveR, J.,
The defendant was indicted, inter alia, for the statutory offense of assault and battery with intent to ravish. The several assignments of error raise practically a single question, was there sufficient evidence to be submitted to the jury (1) of the intent to ravish, (2) of the amount of force used in the ass'ault upon the prosecutrix ?
Criminal intent is usually hidden in the mind. It is not the subject of direct evidence except when avowed, and hence must be inferred from facts and circumstances. This of course is the province of the jury when there are facts, from…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Commonwealth v. AbdoSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1948
- Commonwealth v. MollSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1940