Commonwealth v. Moore

279 A.2d 146, 444 Pa. 24, 1971 Pa. LEXIS 755
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania·Decided June 28, 1971·No. Appeal, No. 616·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Bell,

A jury found appellant, Nathaniel Moore, guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

[26]*26Charles Tovsky, the deceased victim, was the proprietor of a grocery store in Philadelphia. At approximately 1:00 P.M. on January 3, 1968, he was robbed by two men, both armed with guns. During the robbery, decedent drew a gun from under the counter, but before he could use it was shot through the head by one of the robbers. He died shortly thereafter as the result of this wound.

The Commonwealth produced two eyewitnesses to the crime, but neither was able to identify appellant. Another Commonwealth witness testified that she had seen the appellant and his confederate receive guns from a man who had allegedly planned the robbery. She further testified that later that day she saw the three men together and the man alleged to have planned the robbery asked appellant what had gone wrong. However, this witness failed to connect this conversation directly to or with the robbery and murder of Tovsky.

In the last analysis, the conviction can be sustained only if defendant’s confession was voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently made and was legally and Constitutionally admissible.

Pursuant to a Federal fugitive felon warrant,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Commonwealth v. Moore, 279 A.2d 146, 444 Pa. 24, 1971 Pa. LEXIS 755 (Pa. 1971).

279 A.2d 146 (Commonwealth v. Moore) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Commonwealth v. Coach
370 A.2d 358 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
Commonwealth v. Eiland
301 A.2d 651 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)
Geiger Appeal
288 A.2d 911 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)
Commonwealth v. Koch
288 A.2d 791 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)