Commonwealth v. Barker
Commonwealth v. Barker
Opinion of the Court
The seventeenth section of St. 1855, c. 215, which prescribes the punishment of an unauthorized common seller of spirituous or intoxicating liquor, enacts that three several sales thereof, either to different persons or to the same person, “ shall be sufficient evidence ” of a violation of that section. The jury were therefore rightly instructed, that if they were convinced, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had made three several sales of intoxicating liquor, in violation of law, as alleged in each indictment, they were required by their oath to find the defendant guilty of being a common seller, as alleged. The jurors’ oath in this case is prescribed by the Rev. Sts. c. 137, § 7, in these words: “ You shall well and truly try the issue between the Commonwealth and the defendant, according to your evidence. So help you God.” And the jury could not, without disregarding their oath, refuse to find the defendant guilty, if they were convinced, beyond a reason
Exceptions overruled.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Commonwealth v. Thomas Barker & another Same v. James L. Dodge
- Status
- Published