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74 Mass. 461

Commonwealth v. Byce

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided September 15, 1857

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1857-09-15

Indictment for larceny, in a building, of twelve bank bills, particularly described, amounting in all to forty dollars in amount and in value. At the trial in the court of common pleas, before Sanger, J., the defendant’s counsel argued that a witness who had testified to the larceny of the bills, and to the identity of the bills stolen with those soon after found in the defendant’s possession, might well be, and was, mistaken in his testimony.

Decided 1857-09-15

By the Court.

¶11. The allowance of an irrelevant and im proper com'se of argument is not matter of exception, if the jury-are properly instructed as to the weight to which such arguments are entitled. And we must presume that the instructions on this subject were correct, as they were not excepted to.

¶2*4632. The gist of this offence is stealing any property in a building. On the trial of an indictment for this offence, the amount of property stolen is immaterial, except so far as it may influence the discretion of the judge in passing sentence. The statute undertaking to confer jurisdiction on justices of the peace and police courts, where the amount of property stolen is small, does not affect the proceedings in a higher court. A similar decision was made by this court as to the analogous case of larceny from the person, in Commonwealth v. Nolan, 5 Cush. 288. Exceptions overruled.

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