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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.
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guilty , therefore , of an accident or misadventure would be absurd , and to punish him for happening to be the innocent , unintentional and unconscious means of evil to another , the height of injustice . But the Judge quoted an Act of Parli&njent , and instanced the case of a brick falling on a man ' s head from the hand of a bricklayer , to shew that
he thereby incurred the guilt of manslaughter . He did so ; at the same time ours may or may not be a parallel case , and the use and office of a Jury is to discriminate in these matters between
good and bad intentions , and between crime and accident . A brick may be thrown with an intention to kill , which would be murder ; with a degree of carelessness for the safety of others , which would properly constitute manslaughter , and call for punishment . On the other hand , the brick might
drop from the labourer ' s hod by mere accident ; or , by rebounding from a spot of apparent safety , and , flying in pieces , reach a person coming in the way unexpectedly . In either of these latter cases I should acquit , and I , therefore , cannot conscientiously do otherwise in the case before us .
Well , I should like to bring in a verdict that will satisfy the court . I trust we shall first think of satisfying ourselves . But you know the Judge said the law is clear , and that our verdict must
be Guilty . He did so ; but I trust there are not many of us disposed to defer quite so much to his Lordship ' s directions as to forget the purpose for which we are appointed ; viz . to determine for ourselves—this the prisoner has a right to expect of us .
There is no need , however , to run counter to the Judge ' s opinion ; for he tells us that all the circumstances shall be taken into account , and that the punishment will be lenient . Very true ; and I am glad of this opportunity of discussing the duties and asserting the rights of Juries in a case where the result is not of
sufficient importance to influence our decision , and particularly as no political or party feeling is involved in the question , which , with us , seems to be merely whether our own opinion or
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the Judge ' s direction is to govern the verdict , for there can be no other motive than deference to the Judge for giving this boy over to be punished , while we are all convinced he does not deserve it . Besides , I have always understood the laws to be founded in reason , and intended to afford protection as well as to inflict punishment ; but if substantial justice and the spirit of the laws are to be made subservient to
technical constructions , then the Jury should consist of lawyers . You are quite right : it is not necessary that Jurors should be lawyers to enable them to form a correct estimate of evidence , or to come at the true intent and meaning of a plain Act of Parliament ; they are , therefore , taken promiscuously from the mass of citizens , on the reasonable
presumption that twelve men , so impannelled , must be a fair sample of the intellect and probity belonging to the community ; and all that is required of them is , that the guilty conduct of an accused person shall appear from the evidence so plain , as to
leave no doubt in the mind of any one of the twelve before they venture to pronounce him guilty . But admitting that the Judge , from
his greater experience , may occasionally throw light upon any part of the evidence that may seem obscure , you would not reject his explanations , merely because they came frpm the bench .
Certainly not ; but I should always guard against being influenced by his or any other opinion when opposed to my own , and should value his explanations of evidence , and quotations of
law , only so far as 1 myself might be convinced of the correctness of the one , and of the reasonable application of the other . What makes the Judge ' s directions at present so extraordinary too , is , that he himself allows that no one can
impute any criminal design to the lad , and the witnesses give Jbim so excellent a character , that really I for one should be very glad to save him from prison if it can be done . Well , he is in your hands , and if this be your impression , what should hinder you from acting upon it ? It is wholly our ^ affair , and surely we who .
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462 Rights and Duties of Jurymen j
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 462, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/6/
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