72 Pa. Super. 25 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1919
Opinion by
The appellant was tried and convicted in the court below of a misdemeanor, under an indictment which charged that he did willfully and maliciously set fire to with intent to burn and did burn two barns, “on the property of Agnes W. Braunfeldt in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, then and there being the property of the said Agnes W. Braunfeldt, with an intention thereby to defraud the Royal Insurance Company, &c.” The evidence in the case was circumstantial and the first fourteen specifications of error refer to the comments of the court in its charge upon that evidence. We have carefully considered the evidence and are not convinced that any of these assignments of error are well founded. When the testimony as to any circumstances was conflicting, the court fairly stated the evidence and contentions of the parties with regard thereto and repeatedly instructed the jury that the credibility of the witnesses was for them and the inferences to be drawn from each circumstance and from all of the circumstances were for their exclusive determination. The court charged the jury as to the principle to be applied in considering circumstantial evidence, saying: “The evidence of facts and circumstances must be such as to exclude to a moral certainty every hypothesis but that of the guilt of the offense imputed; or in other words, the facts and circumstances must not only all be consistent with, and point to, the guilt of the accused, but they must be inconsistent with his innocence.” And further, “The several circumstances upon which the conclusion depends must be fully established by proof. They are facts from which the main fact has to be inferred, and they are to be proved by competent evidence, and by the same weight and force of evidence as if each one were itself the main fact
The fifteenth specification of error refers to that part of the charge in which the learned judge referred to the testimony of the defendant. It was entirely proper for the court to refer to the interest which the defendant had in the issue. After referring to the fact that the defendant was an interested witness the court said: “Now, it does not follow, and I do not intend to charge that the defendant when he takes the stand, does not speak the truth as fully and frankly as any other witness called before him, but in weighing the credibility of the witness for the purpose of ascertaining what the true facts of the case are, the jury may remember and take into consideration the interest of the witness. In this case, as in all others, the defendant is presumed to be innocent until the Commonwealth has convinced you of his guilt.” The soundness of this instruction is too well established to require citation of authority and the specification of error is overruled.
The sixteenth assignment of error refers to the charge of the court as to the effect of a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant under the evidence. The court said: “Just as soon as the Commonwealth has satisfied you of the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, so that you no longer hesitate, under the testimony, to say so, then you no longer have a reasonable doubt of that guilt, and your verdict should be that of guilty; but so long as you fair, conscientious and just men hesitate to convict, then you have a reasonable doubt of the guilt of
There was sufficient evidence to warrant the conviction of the defendant of the offense with which he was charged and we would not be warranted in holding that the learned judge of the court below abused his discretion in refusing a new trial. Certain incidents of the trial such as the cross-examination of the wife of the defendant as to collateral and irrelevant matters, the prompting of the defendant by his wife and the direction that she take another seat and the misquoting of the testimony by the district attorney were not brought upon the record by exceptions and cannot be considered; The 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th specifications of error are overruled.
The appellant moved the court below to arrest the judgment upon two grounds: First, that he was not subject to prosecution for the reason that he had been required by the deputy State fire marshal, to submit to an examination and to testify concerning the fire, which excepted him from subsequent prosecution under the provisions of Section 6 of the Act of June 3, 1911, P. L. 658. It does not appear in the record certified to us that the defendant had “been required to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise,” upon any investigation conducted by the fire marshal or any of his deputies, under the provisions of the Act of 1911. There was, therefore, no error in the overruling of the motion to arrest the judgment upon that ground. The second reason advanced for arresting the judgment was that the indict
The judgment is affirmed and it is ordered that the defendant appear in the court below at such time as he may be there called and that he be by that court committed until he has complied with the sentence or any part of it which had not been performed at the time the appeal in this case was made a supersedeas.