Commonwealth v. McGlory

Opinion by

Hoffman, J.,

Appellant contends that he was denied his constitutional rights when the Commonwealth was permitted to prove that physical evidence seized from the appellant at the time of his arrest was a narcotic drug. Claiming that the evidence had inadvertently been destroyed or lost, the Commonwealth was allowed to establish the corpus delicti on the basis of oral testimony and scientific documentation. Appellant argues that this indirect method of proof was a violation of his right of confrontation and cross-examination.

The facts of the case may be summarized as follows:

On the…