Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1872

Commonwealth v. Mooney

Commonwealth v. Mooney
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Decided September 15, 1872
110 Mass. 99

Counsel

0. Delano, (J. O. Hammond with him,) for the defendant., Q. B. Train, Attorney General, for the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth v. Mooney

Opinion of the Court

By the Court.

The witness Allen having testified to certain facts tending to prove the guilt of the defendant, it was not competent for the defendant to show what opinion the witness may have had or expressed upon the merits of the case. The fact that he had an opinion that the defendant was innocent would not tend to contradict or impeach him. At most, it only shows the weight he gave to the facts testified to by him as tending to prove the defendant’s guilt, which is for the jury exclusively, and upon which the opinion of witnesses is not competent.

Exceptions overruled.

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