Commonwealth v. Welch

• Decision Date: 21 October 1886
• Citation: 142 Mass. 473,8 N.E. 342
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. WELCH.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

142 Mass. 473

8 N.E. 342

COMMONWEALTH v. WELCH.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Plymouth.

October 21, 1886

COUNSEL

E.J. Sherman, Atty. Gen., for the Commonwealth.

OPINION

BY THE COURT.

If we assume, in favor of the defendant, that the officer testified that the tumbler which he seized contained intoxicating liquor, his testimony was competent, without producing the liquor or accounting for its absence. Such testimony is not secondary evidence, within the rule that the best evidence must be produced, unless destroyed or otherwise accounted for. Com. v. Blood, 11 Gray, 74; Com. v. Pope, 103 Mass. 440.

Exceptions overruled.