Commonwealth v. Giaccio

Dissenting Opinion by

Flood, J.:

Section 62 of the Act of March 31, 1860, P. L. 427, 19 PS §1222, insofar as it authorizes the jury to impose costs upon an acquitted defendant and subjects him to commitment to jail upon failure to pay them, is a penal statute. Yet it does not say what conduct shall subject the acquitted defendant to this penalty. Consequently, when the jury determines that an acquitted defendant shall pay the costs and the court proceeds, in accordance with the statute, “forthwith” to “pass sentence to that effect, and order him to be committed to the jail of the county until…