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114 Mass. 261

Commonwealth v. Burke

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided November 15, 1873

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1873-11-15

Complaint for keeping and maintaining a tenement used for the illegal sale and illegal keeping for sale of intoxicating liquors. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Aldrich, J., a witness, called by the government, was allowed, for the purpose of refreshing his recollection as to certain dates, to refer to memoranda, which he said he made at the times of the dates and occurrences of which he was about to testify.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1873-11-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently July 1959

8 state decisions

40187318801890190019101920193019401950decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Ames, J.

¶1It was a matter wholly within the discretion of the judge whether the witness should be cross-examined as to the memorandum, before giving his testimony in chief upon the general facts of the case. The defendant’s rights were fully pro. *263tected, by having the opportunity, on the cross-examination, to inspect the memorandum, and to examine the witness in relation to it.

¶2We see no ground of exception in the remaining rulings of the court. It was not necessary to prove that the place was kept mainly for the sale of intoxicating liquors, or that the defendant was the proprietor. Commonwealth v. Dowling, ante, 259. It is enough if the place was kept for the illegal purpose described, and the defendant aided and assisted in “ so keeping and maintaining it.” If the defendant was the proprietor,-proof of sales was admissible against him. The jury were cautioned that sales made in his absence were not to be considered by them, unless they should find that the defendant was the proprietor.

¶3Exceptions overruled.

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