Com. v. Hartman
Decision Date | 04 January 1956 |
Citation | 383 Pa. 461,119 A.2d 211 |
Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania v. Albert D. HARTMAN, Appellant. |
Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Joseph E. DeSantis, Clarence C. Mendelsohn, Reading, for appellant.
Edward Youngerman, Asst. Dist. Atty., Henry M. Koch, Dist. Atty., Reading, for appellee.
Before STERN, C. J., and STEARNE, JONES, BELL, MUSMANNO and ARNOLD, JJ.
Albert D. Hartman was convicted of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The Trial Court ordered a new trial. The Commonwealth appealed to the Superior Court which reversed the order. This Court granted an allocatur. 'At most, appeals by the Commonwealth are sanctioned only where the ruling is against the Commonwealth on pure questions of law and no issues of fact are involved.' Com. v. Dolan, 155 Pa.Super. 453, 455, 38 A.2d 497, 498. It is evident that the appeal to the Superior Court was one based on an admixture of law and fact and that, therefore, the Commonwealth was not under the circumstances entitled to appeal.
An intoximeter device had been used to test the percentage of alcohol in the defendant's blood system about an hour after his arrest. In granting the new trial, the lower Court said:
'The trial court has wide discretion in granting a new trial, and the appellate court is warranted in reversing only where there has been a clear abuse of that...
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