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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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Untitled Article
are appointed to try the accusation should feel no difficulty in saying must not , when it is dictated by our deliberate judgment I I see that is our proper course—the
Jury , and the Jury only , are the persons to decide the question of guilt , and had we exercised our own judgment upon the evidence from the first , we should not have hesitated about
acquitting him ; but the Judge ' s charge confounded us . The boy thought no more of doing mischief , than as though his piece had been pointed agains t a rock . His friends should not have entrusted fire-arms in
the hands of one with so little experience ; and I am persuaded , that if punishment is due any where , it is to them .
I cannot help remarking , that if premeditation is necessary to crime , that it was completely disproved in this instance by the witnesses themselves , who proved the fact ; and the
impression upon my mind , when the evidence closed , was , that we must acquit him ; but when the Judge laid it down as the law , and charged us so positively to bring him in guilty , I thought we could not do otherwise .
Well , I confess my impression was the same throughout the trial , and the Judge ' s charge really surprised me ; but being in possession of his exposition of the law , I am still not satisfied about acquitting him .
Then , Gentlemen , what is the use of our hearing evidence ? If that is not to guide us , we may . as well wait here during the next trial , and let the Judge send us directions for our verdict when
it is over . I would really advise those who are so anxious to please the Judge , to take their hats , tell him they are content to leave all to him , and are satisfied he can do quite as well without a Jury . But are we not to attend to the Judge ' s construction of the laws ?
When the Judge quotes an Act of Parliament which he considers applicable to any class of crimes , he addresses himself to the Jury for their information ; he being more conversant with the laws of course than we
can be , but it is the Jury who are to apply it practically antl specifically , and their verdict i& to b £ founded upon their own construction a&d application of the law to the charge laid in
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the indictment , always keeping in view that it is malicious intention which constitutes crime in law , as well as in morals and common sense .
True ; and I am quite of opinion that neither the Act quoted by the Judge , nor the punishment annexed to the crime of manslaughter can apply to this boy ' s case , which h one of accident and not of crime . The
indictment charges him with feloniously killing , to which the Act and the Indictment relate ; now the evidence proves that it was purely accident , which I think you , Gentlemen , will not call felony , however the lawyers may construe the word .
I agree with you , and I think it would be doing an injustice to the boy to convict him ; he is a well-disposed boy now , but we all know he would get no good in prison . But the law is answerable for that :
and , as I said before , we have nothing to do with the consequences . So unreasonable a construction of the law and of the duties of Jurors ,
cannot excuse us all for subjecting a well-disposed lad ( which every witness allowed him to be ) to the contamination of a prison , satisfied as we are , that he is not deserving of
punishment . Well , as so many are for an acquittal , I will consent to a verdict of Not Guilty ; but I am afraid the-Judge will not approve of it . He may not ; and it would be certainly more pleasant if we could perform what we conceive to be our duty
without differing in opinion with the Judge or any one , because his and our motives may be equally good ; but I cannot avoid expressing a hope , that this determination to think and act for ourselves will lead him to dispense with the word must in his future
addresses to Juries , although the law and the evidence may appear perfectly clear to him ; because we are the persons to try , and there are generally individuals in every pannel who will consider such positive language from the bench as derdgating from the true character of Juries , and interfering
with their province . Viewing the matter in this li g irt , there appears to mean impropriety in the application of the term directions to a Jury . In my opinion there is . As the word
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with Notes of a Consultation of a Jury on a late Trial . 463
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 463, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/7/
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