Russell v. Commonwealth

The defendant, William Glasgow Russell, was convicted by the jury of robbery, and his punishment was fixed at 20 years confinement in the penitentiary. The sentence was imposed by the trial court. We granted a writ of error to review the court’s action (1) in granting, at the request of the Commonwealth, Instruction E, relating to the adverse presumption arising from the unexplained failure to call a material witness, and (2) in refusing defense Instruction 1, relating to the corroboration of the testimony of accomplices.

The record shows that the robbery occurred between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. on…