Commonwealth v. Byers
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 55, Oct. T., 1910, by defendant, from judgment of 0. & T. Bucks Co., Nov. T., 1909, No. 28, on verdict of guilty in case of Commonwealth v. Maggie Byers. Indictment for arson and for burning a barn. Before Stout, P. J. The facts are stated in the opinion of the Superior Court.
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Appeal, No. 55, Oct. T., 1910, by defendant, from judgment of 0. & T. Bucks Co., Nov. T., 1909, No. 28, on verdict of guilty in case of Commonwealth v. Maggie Byers. Indictment for arson and for burning a barn. Before Stout, P. J. The facts are stated in the opinion of the Superior Court. Verdict of guilty, upon which the prisoner was sentenced to pay a fine of $50.00 and to undergo an imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than two years and six months, and not more than ten years. Errors assigned were various rulings on evidence and instructions.
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Head, J.,
There was no direct evidence in this case either to prove the corpus delicti or to establish any connection of the defendant with the assumed crime. The learned trial judge correctly stated thus the rule by which the probative value of circumstantial evidence is to be measured: “When a crime charged is sought to be sustained wholly by circumstantial evidence, the hypothesis of guilt or delinquency should flow naturally from the facts and circumstances proved, and be consistent with them all. The evidence of facts and circumstances must be such as to exclude to a moral…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Pauli v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1879
3Cited by34 opinions
- Commonwealth v. MarinoSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1940
- Com. Ex Rel. Scolio v. Hess, WardenSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1942
- Com. v. Benz., Com. v. RoutleySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1935
- Commonwealth v. RosenSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1940
- Commonwealth v. HellerSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1941
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