Commonwealth v. Williams
| Decision Date | 18 May 1894 |
| Citation | 37 N.E. 371,161 Mass. 442 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. WILLIAMS. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
The indictment charged defendant with stealing a watch, chain, and charm from one Preston O. Sweet. There was evidence that the owner's name was O. Preston Sweet, but that he was also known as Preston O. Sweet, and was as well known by one name as the other. A clerk in a pawnbroker's office testified that the defendant had pawned the watch in question at his office two days after the theft. The defendant requested the court to rule (1) that the jury should return a verdict of not guilty, by reason of a variance, the name of the owner not being proved as laid; (2) that there was no evidence on which the jury could convict. The court refused both requests, and defendant excepted.
M.J. Sughrue, for the Commonwealth.
Cornelius P. Sullivan and Joseph M. Sullivan, for defendant.
There was evidence that the owner of the property described as stolen was "as well known by the name of Preston O. Sweet as by the name of O. Preston Sweet." The court could not, therefore, rule as matter of law that there was a variance. Com. v. O'Hearn, 132 Mass. 553; Com. v. Gormley, 133 Mass. 580; Com. v. Caponi, 155 Mass. 534, 30 N.E. 82; Com. v. Gould, 158 Mass. 499, 33 N.E. 656. There was evidence for the jury that the watch, chain, and charm had been stolen, and that the defendant was the thief. Com. v. Deegan, 138 Mass. 182. Exceptions overruled.
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