Overshiner v. Commonwealth
Overshiner v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
delivered the Opinion of the Court.
This is an indictment against Overshiner for keeping a tipling house. The indictment charges that the appellant did, on a named day, ‘ ‘keep a tipling house, by then and there selling, by the small', and by retail, in said tipling house, divers quantities of spirituous liquors, to-wit: whiskey, brandy, ram, gin, wine, &c. to divers persons' to the jurors unknown, and by then and there permitting the same to be drank in said tipling house, he the said Overshiner, not then and there being a licensed tavern keeper.”
The indictment, with sufficient certainty, charges those acts which constitute the keeping a tipling house. It not only charges the selling spirituous liquors by ■ retail, but also the permitting the same to he drank in the house, and in this latter specification, differs from the case of Woods, &c. vs The Commonwealth, (1 Ben. Mon. 74,) in which the selling by retail only, was specified. And if it were conceded that the offence charged is one for which a presentment might be maintained, it would not follow that an indictment would not also be good. An indictment embraces all the requisites of a good presentment, and ' even more, namely, the signature of the attorney for the Commonwealth, which cannot render it bad as a presentment. Nor can the fact that an indictment has been found for an offence for which a presentment would lie, prevent the Court from assessing the fine without the intervention of a jury, in.any case, in which he could as
There being no error in the record, it is the opinion of the Court that the motion to. set aside the non-suit be overruled.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.