Commonwealth v. Chartiers Railway
Commonwealth v. Chartiers Railway
Opinion of the Court
The first assignment of error relates to that part of the judge’s charge hr which, having directed the jury to render a verdict of not guilty, he instructed them that they should determine how the costs should be paid, and that they might put them on the defendant or on the county. To this assignment the district attorney raises the objection that no request for different instructions was made, and that no exception was taken to the charge, and therefore it is not before us for review. This objection is well taken. The subject of the second assignment of error is the judgment. But as it was in exact conformity with the verdict and as the indictment charged an indictable offense, and as the verdict was one which the statute gave the jury authority to render, this assignment must be overruled.
There are cases in which it has been held that the statutes authorizing the jury, in cases of acquittal, to determine by their verdict whether the prosecutor, the county, or the defendant shall pay the costs, do not take away the common-law supervisory power of the courts which belongs to trial by jury; hence the court has power to set aside that part of a verdict of acquittal which imposes the costs upon the prosecutor: Guffy v. Commonwealth, 2 Grant, 66; Com. v. Doyle, 16
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- Criminal law — Costs—Instruction of court. The appellate court will not reverse a judgment in a criminal case because the court instructed the jury that they might impose the costs either upon the defendant or the county, where it appears that no request for different instructions was made, and no exception was taken to the charge. The refusal of the court to set aside a verdict against the defendant for costs, where the indictment charges an indictable offense, is not ground for reversal unless there be plain abuse of discretion.