Jent v. Commonwealth
Jent v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
Opinion of the Court by
Affirming in each case.
In each of these cases appellant was tried and convicted of a misdemeanor, in his absence, and the single question presented by both appeals is whether or not the court erred in refusing new trials upon the ground that his absence was unavoidable.
Conceding the truth of the affidavits, appellant must have been able to get some one to attend his wife when later in the same term he appeared in court to apply for new trials, and there is no effort to explain why this was not done or that it could not have been done when the cases were tried. If these affidavits be held sufficient to warrant new trials, the way is made easy for defendant to avoid a trial during the life of his wife.
Section 184 of the Criminal Code authorizes the trial of a misdemeanor case in the absence of the accused, and trial courts have a large discretion in granting or refusing new trials. That there was no abuse of that discretion upon the showing made in these cases is, we think, evident.
Wherefore the judgments are affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.