Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1855

Commonwealth v. Berry

Commonwealth v. Berry
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Decided October 15, 1855
71 Mass. 93

Counsel

B. Sanford, for the defendant., J. H. Clifford, (Attorney General,) for the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth v. Berry

Opinion of the Court

By the Court.

1. If a conviction of part of the offence could be a bar to this indictment—a point which we need not now decide—it must be a conviction, and not a mere prosecution. Commonwealth v. Drew, 3 Cush. 279.

2. It is undoubtedly true that a riot cannot ordinarily be committed by one person. It is the acting in concert, the unlawful combination, which constitutes the offence. The direction was strictly correct. Whether the other rioters were named in the indictment, or not, proof of a riot in which any two other persons joined with the defendant was sufficient.

Exceptions overruled.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.