On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
BriP V v&Wi&tiM' y * Wifo tefl&ei ^ lnfting 3 « bj ^ ea W * & &&' rtfiefc'j at * tAttWfr 6 * tf ' tfuBjee ? forfc ^ fh t ^ religib « S p ^ ftefciiflbn ; maV clatttf some cbireidet&Wh frdm JuVors who are called upon to put a criminal
construction lipon conduct which may possibly , at least , have' proceeded ffom inh < 6 cfcnt , and even laudable motives . It is founded upon the notes of a Juryman oh a late trial , but is not pretended to state the conversation vferbatirfl , or in the exact order in which the sentiments of the different individuals were advanced . S . C .
Untitled Article
Consultation of a Jury on a charge of Manslaughter against a lad ivho caused the death of a mun by firing a ball at a board fence \ through which it penetrated at a distance of 60 yards , the man who was killed being 70 yards from the fence on the other side , and hid from view . Well , Gentlemen , what think you
df this case ? I think he is guilty . Several—So do I ; rt- does not admit of a question . No doiibt he was the cause of the iftttafs death—of that we are all satisfied ;
Well , then , I don't see what we have to do but return a verdict of guilty accordingly , for although it was an accident which he could not foresee , it is" our duty to abide by the law . Yes , Certainly , that is oui * duty , and I fear we cafnPt do otherwise than firld him guilty . Vet it ? is a hard case , and I really caft't help feeling sdtfry that the lad should be punished .
But Why sfrorrtd y 6 u feel sttfry if you are convinced he is guilty ? You KrttSW ffre guilty should be punished . Because this was eiltifely accidental ; aVtd it is certainly very unfofttntetfe for the prisoner .
Yetf ; strid hard upon us txto , becaiise w £ Bate no optioh . Our duty itf imperative . No doiMW bur duty i 3 ictipfeitaSve ; % M df * des < icrti ft ; What is our t h £ ti& Jtidg ^ i tells ns that . H ^ % fe tbe hM h &to * i , trt&our daty i&
Untitled Article
t 5 ° fittf a verdict of Gtfilty ;; dtk&x- tkm \ 1 i * * tt > ^ s \ V 5 M tb < &i The Judg ^ difl ^ - i tfite e ^ i s ay * itiaP * ifr w 6 b ^ liev ^ d the wiMfe ^ s ^ i our V 6 fdiW ^ rftust be GuiWvVbirt I > cdhfe& * I am not quite satisfied that this i $ reallyf otu ? 1 dirty , notvVithstandinfgi betook Up ^ n him so to direct us . If tlie lad
intended no harm and WasunconStSbua ? of the mischief he had done ; why prunish him ? Intend it he certainly did noty ii * that \ ve are all agreed ^
Then it appears to me wecatittdt : return a verdict of Guilty . It is con- * tfary tb common sense that a person should be pfonoiificed guilty who is " not culpable , or that he should be punished for an accident . Persons who
have blown up houses by gunpowder , accidentally , are not accounted esicriinal , although mariy deaths ar& the consequence . Well , but here one man loses his life by the act of another , and that is manslaughter , is it not ? So the Judge says , at least , and the king ' s subjects must be protected .
If you mean that the terms killing and slaughtering are the same in fact , I admit it for argument ' s sake ; but the term manslaughter implies ( according to any reasonable construction of law )
a criminal killing , although short of that degree which constitutes murder ; and as you all agree , and the evidence proved , that this lad wa £ wholly ignorant of his misadventure until * some
time after it happened , how &&A 1 brittle be imputed to him , and how ca& he deserve punishment ? He committed the act , he dtedharged the gun , and the ball killed the man , therefore the Judge has laid it dovtfrt tfhat he is guilty in law , and We atfe not to concern ourselves with the
conge ^ uerices . Then allow me to say . you appear to mistake the office of Juror . Jf we were merely called upott to s&y whether the acd of discharging the pie ^ e wasr committed by the prison ^ , the terrtis of oiir verdict wonld be si *» t > l y
Yes or No ttf Chat qiieStidil of foci ; btt « you will recollect the very tetm& Guilty and Not Guilty shew that the qwistiow 6 f fact is not the onty stilbjfcct < k inquiry . Every legal offeii ££ must ptotuhe &f ttrofal tur ^ kiide ^ - ^ la % vs he&tog otAy mohal regulations ; to i > fGnoujtee ^ man
Untitled Article
with Note * ^ a * mk *^ ffldhWtfmft 4 > fr a late Tria . 46 } *
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 461, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/5/
-