Commonwealth v. Cleary
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
APPEAL BY DEPENDANT EBOM THE COUBT OE OYEB AND TEBMINEB OE CLINTON COUNTY. No. 265 January Term 1890, Sup. Ot.; court below, No. 1 May Term 1889, O. & T. On May 13, 1889, the grand jury returned as a true bill an indictment charging Citarles Cleary with the murder of Philip Paul. Tbe defendant pleaded not guilty.
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APPEAL BY DEPENDANT EBOM THE COUBT OE OYEB AND TEBMINEB OE CLINTON COUNTY. No. 265 January Term 1890, Sup. Ot.; court below, No. 1 May Term 1889, O. & T. On May 13, 1889, the grand jury returned as a true bill an indictment charging Citarles Cleary with the murder of Philip Paul. Tbe defendant pleaded not guilty. At tbe trial on May 14, 1889, testimony for the commonwealth tended to establish the following facts: Between 11 and 12 o’clock on the night of March 12, 1889, Philip Paul was found lying in front of the borough lock-up, in the borough of Renovo. Examination revealed a bullet wound…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion,
Me. Chief Justice Paxson :
But for a single error, this judgment might have been affirmed. The learned judge below instructed the jury, in his general charge, that “ good character is always of importance and is evidence to be duly considered by the jury, and may turn the scale where there is a reasonable doubt as to the degree or grade of the crime.” See second assignment. This is all the charge contains upon this subject; there was no point put to the court in regard to it. The fact that the homicide was committed by the appellant was not disputed below nor here, nor was there any…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Kilpatrick v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1858
- Heine v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1879
3Cited by67 opinions
- Commonwealth v. GravesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1975
- Commonwealth v. SanduskySuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 2013
- Commonwealth v. FugmannSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1937
- Commonwealth v. Samuel JonesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1946
- Commonwealth v. IacobinoSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1935
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