148 A. 311 | Pa. | 1929
Defendant asked for the allowance of appeals from judgments of the Superior Court affirming sentences against him on certain criminal indictments; he sets forth eight questions for argument before this court. All these questions involve constitutional points, federal and state; but, so far as the record shows, none of them was stated as a question involved when the case was argued on appeal before the Superior Court, though, in a supplemental brief filed after the argument in that tribunal, mention is made of certain provisions of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, now sought to be insisted upon as protecting defendant against part of the sentence imposed on him. We may add that none of the constitutional questions said to be involved appears to have been raised in the trial court.
Rule 50 of the Superior Court provides that an appellant must state the questions involved in a required manner, and that "no point will be considered which is not [thus] set forth." See Rule 50 of the Supreme Court to like effect. Both courts have uniformly upheld this rule: Cairns v. Spencer,
The principal constitutional questions now sought to be raised have to do with a part of the sentence against defendant, purporting to remove him from an elective office because of his conviction of corruption in that office, it being alleged by defendant that the court below had no jurisdiction, in the sense of legal power, to include such a penalty in the sentence, and therefore that the part of the sentence in question breaches the due-process-of-law provision of both the federal and state Constitutions, notwithstanding the statement in section 4 of article VI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, that a public official "shall be removed on conviction of misbehavior *322 in office"; but, as before indicated, defendant is not now in a position to raise these questions. If such questions have any legal merit, defendant may insist upon them in a proceeding against anyone who might take possession of the office which he claims the right to hold; this of itself would be sufficient reason, on the present record, for refusing the instant application. If in such other proceeding defendant maintains his position that the part of the sentence which purports to oust him from office is constitutionally void, the fact of the sentence being in effect unappealed from will in no sense make it res judicata, or deprive him of proper relief.
The application for an appeal is refused.