Commonwealth v. McManus
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
No. 119 July Term 1890, Sup. Ct.; court below. No. 110 March Term 1890, O. & T. On March 6, 1890, the grand jury returned as a true bill ail indictment charging John McManus with the murder of Eugene McGinnis, on February 21, 1890; certified. On March 7th, the prisoner, being arraigned, pleaded not guilty. Issue.
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No. 119 July Term 1890, Sup. Ct.; court below. No. 110 March Term 1890, O. & T. On March 6, 1890, the grand jury returned as a true bill ail indictment charging John McManus with the murder of Eugene McGinnis, on February 21, 1890; certified. On March 7th, the prisoner, being arraigned, pleaded not guilty. Issue. At the trial of the indictment on April 28, 1890, the case presented by the evidence was in substance as follows : On the evening of February 21, 1890, eight or ten men, including Eugene McGinnis, the deceased, met at the house of Cora Campbell, on Stampers street, below Third, in…
1ConcurrenceJustice Mitchell
I concur in affirming this judgment and in the reasons given, *86but upon one point I would go further, and put an end once for all to a doctrine that I regard as unsound in every point of view, historical, logical, or technical. The prisoner at the trial requested the judge to charge the jury that they were “ judges of the law as well as of the fact.” The learned judge, feeling himself bound by the language of Kane v. Commonwealth, 89 Pa. 522, answered that the jury had been sworn to decide the case on the law and the evidence; that the statement of the law by the court was the best evidence of…
2Cases cited12 opinions
- Commonwealth v. HarmanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1846
- Townsend v. StateIndiana Supreme Court · 1828
- State v. CroteauSupreme Court of Vermont · 1849
- Hardy v. StateSupreme Court of Missouri · 1842
- Kane v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1879
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