Commonwealth v. McCloud

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Roberts,

Appellant, Artie McCloud, was charged with the murder of one Louella Pester. At McCloud’s jury trial, the Commonwealth endeavored to satisfy its burden of proving legal causation beyond a reasonable doubt by reading into evidence, over repeated objection, substantial portions of the written report of the official, salaried medical examiner who performed an autopsy on the deceased. The medical examiner was not called to testify; at the time of trial he was attending a convention. Recognizing that the report was hearsay evidence, the Commonwealth relied on a…