Commonwealth v. Dame

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Commonwealth v. Dame, 62 Mass. 384 (Mass. 1851)
Metcalf

Commonwealth v. Dame

Opinion of the Court

Metcalf, J.

It is said in the text books that persons convicted of treason, felony, or the crimen falsi, are incompetent to be witnesses. Roscoe on Ev. 78; 1 Greenl. on Ev. § 373. But the offence, of which Cummings was convicted, was *385neither of these three, and we nowhere find that a conviction of any other offence renders the convict incompetent to testify.

In the case of United States v. Brockius, 3 Wash. C. C. 99, it was decided that a person convicted of the crime of assault and battery with intent to murder was, nevertheless, a competent witness. That case is analogous to the present.

Exceptions overruled.

Reference

Full Case Name
Commonwealth v. Frederick Dame
Status
Published