Commonwealth v. Nichols
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
At the trial of the defendant, in the court of common pleas, before Cushing, J. upon an indictment on Rev. Sts. c. 47, § 2, for selling spiritous liquor without license, a witness testified that he called at a grocery shop in Lowell, kept by the defendant; that the defendant was not present, but that he found a man there who sold him a glass of spiritous liquor, to be used in the shop; but that he did not know whether the man was in the defendant’s employ or not.
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At the trial of the defendant, in the court of common pleas, before Cushing, J. upon an indictment on Rev. Sts. c. 47, § 2, for selling spiritous liquor without license, a witness testified that he called at a grocery shop in Lowell, kept by the defendant; that the defendant was not present, but that he found a man there who sold him a glass of spiritous liquor, to be used in the shop; but that he did not know whether the man was in the defendant’s employ or not. Another witness testified that he knew the shop kept by the defendant, and that the defendant had a clerk in his employ; that he…
1Opinion of the CourtDewey, J.
The question here raised as to the liability oí the principal to be punished criminally for the acts of his agent or servant, in which he does not directly participate personally, is certainly not free from difficulty. As to civil liabilities, a broader and more general principle of responsibility applies, and the- master or principal may be held to answer in damages for default and misdoings with which he had no other connexion than that which arises from the fact that the injury was occasioned by one employed in his service. As a general rule, something beyond this is necessary to charge…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Moore v. StateNebraska Supreme Court · 1902
- State v. FaganNew York Court of General Session of the Peace · 1909