Commonwealth v. Alessio

Citation169 A. 764
PartiesCOMMONWEALTH v. ALESSIO.
Decision Date02 January 1934
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
169 A. 764

COMMONWEALTH
v.
ALESSIO.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Jan. 2, 1934.


169 A. 764

Appeal No. 38, March term, 1934, from sentence of Court of Oyer and Terminer, Westmoreland County, No. 86, August term, 1932; Charles E. Whitten, Judge.

Tony Alessio, alias dictus Alessio Tinena, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, and he appeals.

Affirmed, and record remitted to carry out sentence.

Argued before FRAZER, C. J., and SIMPSON, KEPHART, SCHAFFER, MAXEY, DREW, and LINN, JJ.

Vincent R. Smith, and George H. McWherter, both of Greensburg, for appellant.

Victor B. Bouton, Dist, Atty., and Paul K. McCormick, Asst. Dist. Atty., both of Greensburg, for the Commonwealth.

MAXEY, Justice.

This is an appeal by Tony Alessio, who was convicted of the murder of Ralph Masco and sentenced to life imprisonment.

About 1 a. m., May 31, 1932, Ralph Masco was shot while sleeping in ins bed in the front room of the first floor of his residence in Monessen. He died two days later. His assailant had stood on the pavement or porch and fired several shots through the window at him. Within a short time after the shooting the defendant arrived at the scene of the crime and came into the room where Masco lay mortally wounded. Besides Masco, his wife, and one or two others were also present. Defendant entered into a conversation with these persons, but no one then openly accused him of having fired the fatal shot.

Before defendant left the Masco home he was arrested by an officer who had seen him near the victim's house a short time before the shooting. Defendant first denied that he was near the scene at the time, but later admitted that he was. Alessio was tried twice and each time was convicted of murder of the first degree and the punishment fixed at life imprisonment. After the second conviction defendant again made a motion for a new trial, which was refused by the court below; a dissenting opinion, however, being filed by President Judge Copeland.

The testimony of the widow and an adult daughter and an eleven year old daughter of the deceased was ample if credited to sustain defendant's conviction. The substance of their testimony was that defendant had been a frequent visitor at their

169 A. 765

home; knew the location of the bed customarily occupied by deceased; on May 28, 1932, the deceased and defendant had a quarrel in the former's home over politics; that the defendant hit the table angrily and as he left, said: "I'll get you"; that at 5 p. m. two days later defendant passed deceased's house in his car without speaking to any of the family sitting on the porch except to look at them and to "whisper"; about eight hours later Masco was shot, and he and his wife and eleven year old daughter who were all in the bedroom were awakened by the shooting, looked out the window, and saw the defendant with a revolver, running towaid his car, which was standing across the street with the motor running and the door open; and shortly after he was shot the deceased came into the dining room, exclaiming, "Godfather has betrayed me" (Alessio, the defendant, was godfather to two of the Masco children). Their further testimony was that defendant appeared at the deceased's house within a short time after the shooting and said, "What's the matter, what's the matter?" and that his face was pale; that he directed or pushed Mrs. Masco in a room, slammed the door; that she then accused him of shooting her husband, and he said: "That is nothing, that is nothing, shut up, don't talk, otherwise I will shoot the whole family." A police lieutenant and a policeman both testified that defendant went into the room with Mrs. Masco and they heard him tell her to "shut up."

Mrs. Masco also testified that when Alessio drove away in his car she heard a "scratching" noise made by the automobile. The possible significance of this noise is indicated by the testimony of Sergeant Bunch of the State Police, who, in examining defendant's automobile shortly after the homicide, found that both hub caps and the running board on the right side of the car were...

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15 cases
  • Commonwealth v. Turza
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • November 25, 1940
    ...statement was made, the acceptability of this explanation is exclusively for the jury to determine". Com. v. Alessio, 313 Pa. 537, 544, 169 A. 764, 766. See also Com. v. Westwood, supra, 324 Pa. at page 300, 188 A. The complaint that the Commonwealth was improperly permitted to cross-examin......
  • Com. v. Bartell
    • United States
    • Superior Court of Pennsylvania
    • November 12, 1957
    ... . Page 166 . 136 A.2d 166 . 184 Pa.Super. 528 . COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania . v. . Joseph BARTELL, Philip Brady, John Durkin and Anthony . Bonacuse, Appellants. . Superior Court of Pennsylvania. . Nov. 12, ...Alessio, 313 Pa. 537, 544, 169 A. 764, 766. Where a witness is confronted by such contradiction his final statement is the one which controls. Stewart v. ......
  • State v. Leonard
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin
    • June 28, 1968
    ....... 2 Hobbs v. State (1963), 231 Md. 533, 191 A.2d 238; Hicks v. Commonwealth (1962), 345 Mass. 89, 185 N.E.2d 739; Sanders v. State (1961), 239 Miss. 874, 125 So.2d 923, 85 A.L.R.2d 481; Commonwealth v. Alessio (1934), 313 Pa. ......
  • Com. v. Levenson
    • United States
    • Superior Court of Pennsylvania
    • December 24, 1980
    .... Page 1355. 422 A.2d 1355. 282 Pa.Super. 406. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania,. v. Oliver LEVENSON, Appellant. Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Argued Nov. 16, 1979. Filed Sept. 12, 1980. Reargument Denied Dec. ... From his citation of Commonwealth v. Loomis, 267 Pa. 438, 110 A. 257 (1920), and Commonwealth v. Alessio, 313 Pa. 537, 169 A. 764 (1934), we assume that counsel wished the court to instruct the jury that if the jury found that Brenner had testified ......
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