Commonwealth v. Fagan
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment against Thomas Fagan and Michael Riley for robbing George A. Turner. At the trial in the superior court for Middlesex, before Heed, J., the fact of the robbery was not denied, and the case turned on the identity of the robbers with the defendants.
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Indictment against Thomas Fagan and Michael Riley for robbing George A. Turner. At the trial in the superior court for Middlesex, before Heed, J., the fact of the robbery was not denied, and the case turned on the identity of the robbers with the defendants. The district attorney was allowed, against the objection of the defendants, to ask Turner, who was a witness, whether he gave a description of the persons who assaulted him, to the officers, on the night of the assault; and he answered that he did. Asa Bowles, a police officer, was then called as a witness, and was asked, against the…
1Opinion of the CourtAmes, J.
At the trial, it was not denied that the robbery had been committed. The only matter really controverted was the question whether the defendants were sufficiently identified as the robbers. The person who had been robbed was permitted to testify that he gave to the police officers a description of the persons who assaulted him ; and the officers were also permitted to testify, in substance, that by means of that description they recognized the defendants as the assailants. According to the .decision in Commonwealth v. Moulton, 4 Gray, 39, it would have been improper to have asked the first…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Commonwealth v. JamesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
3Cited by9 opinions
- Commonwealth v. DiStasioMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1936
- Gillespie v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma · 1960
- People v. McNamaraCalifornia Supreme Court · 1892
- State v. BaldwinSupreme Court of Missouri · 1927
- State v. HoughtonOregon Supreme Court · 1903
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