Charles Evans Hughes, Quercia v. United States — Opinion of the Court
“ Thus, a statement in a charge to the jury that 'no one who was conscious of innocence would resort to concealment,' was regarded as tantamount to saying 'that all men who did so were necessarily guilty,' and as magnifying and distorting 'the proving power of the facts on the subject of the concealment.' Hickory v. ”
Charles Evans Hughes, Quercia v. United States — Opinion of the Court
“ And the further charge that the proposition that 'the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the innocent are as bold as a lion,' was 'a self-evident proposition' which the jury could 'take * * * as an axiom, and apply it' to the case in hand, was virtually an instruction that flight was conclusive proof of guilt. ”
Charles Evans Hughes, Quercia v. United States — Opinion of the Court
“ In charging the jury, the trial judge is not limited to instructions of an abstract sort. It is within his province, whenever he thinks it necessary, to assist the jury in arriving at a just conclusion by explaining and commenting upon the evidence, by drawing their attention to the parts of it which he thinks important, and he may express his opinion upon the facts, provided he makes it clear to the jury that all matters of fact are submitted to their determination. ”
