Opinion ID: 1462658
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admissibility of evidence concerning Mrs. Klein's death.

Text: The only evidence of another crime which was admitted in evidence was that pertaining to the death or killing of Mrs. Klein [] and the relationship between her and Smith and the appellant. Even if the evidence as to the death of Mrs. Klein and the relationship between her and Smith and her connection with the defendant had not been part of defendant's confession, such evidence was an inseparable, indispensable and inextricable part and parcel of this case, and because of this fact could not possibly have been separated or eliminated: Brown v. Commonwealth, 76 Pa. 319, 337; Commonwealth v. Wable, 382 Pa. 80, 84, 114 A. 2d 334. Commonwealth v. Wable is on its facts similar to the instant case and aptly states the controlling principle of law. The Court said (p. 84): It is true, of course, that a distinct crime, except under certain special circumstances, cannot be given in evidence against a defendant who is being tried for another crime, because the fact of the commission of one offense is not proof of the commission of another. . . . But it is also true that sometimes there exist the `special circumstances' which operate as exceptions to the general rule, and bring the case within the equally well established principle that evidence of other crimes is admissible . . . where there is such a logical connection between the crimes that proof of one will naturally tend to show that the accused is the person who committed the other. A veritable multitude of authorities in our appellate courts enunciate, albeit in varying language, this familiar principle [citing cases]. Johnston v. United States, 22 F. 2d 1, 5 (C.C.A. 9); United States v. Cohen, 73 F. Supp. 96, 99 (D.C.W.D. Pa.); United States v. Wheeler, 172 F. Supp. 278, 283 (D.C.W.D. Pa.). There was no error in the admission of evidence concerning the death and burial of Mrs. Klein.