Famous Cases of Circumstantial Evidence: With an Introduction on the Theory of Presumptive Proof |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accused afterwards Alley almoner appeared assizes Belestré Berenger blood Bradford brother brought to trial Brun Brunell chamber charge Christopher Schmidt circum circumstances circumstantial evidence Coleman committed confession convicted Couriol court crime criminal d'Anglade daughter death deceased declared defense dence deposed discovered door doubt Dubosq Elezia execution fact father Gagnard garden gave Guesno guilt guineas heard innocence inquiry James Baxwell Jennings judge jury justice knew knife Lady Mazel laurel water Le Brun Lesurques lived Lord magistrate ment Miles mind morning Morten Moulin murder nature neighbors never Niels night observed opinion Paris pastor person positively postilion presumption principles prisoner proof proved public house Quintilian Richard Coleman Ridley robbed robbery Ruprecht Sarah Green scrutoire servant Sören stances strong supposed suspicion swore sworn taken thing Thomas Geddely Thomas Wood tion took truth wife William Fuller William Katt William Ridley witnesses
Popular passages
Page 137 - ... that the impressions were made with his shoes. Thus confirmed in their suspicions, they then immediately went to the prisoner's room, and after a diligent search, they found a hammer in the corner of a private drawer, with several spots of blood upon it, and with a small splinter bone, and some brains in a crack which they discovered in the handle.
Page 136 - ... possession of his father's effects; and that he had long behaved in a very undutiful manner to him, wishing, as the witness believed, to put a period to his existence by uneasiness and vexation ; that, on the evening the murder was...
Page 7 - Jennings, that several of his friends advised him to plead guilty, and throw himself on the mercy of the court.
Page 89 - ... under colour of dealing only in goods that had been legally seized by the king's officers, and taken from smugglers. This trade, however, did not, in the general estimation, impeach his honesty, though it gave no sanction to his character ; but he was often detected in uttering false gold. He came frequently to persons of whom he had received money with several of these pieces of counterfeit coin, and pretended that they were among the pieces which had been paid him : this was generally denied...
Page xxxviii - As it seldom happens that absolute certainty can be obtained in human affairs, therefore reason and public utility require that Judges and all mankind, in forming their opinions of the truth of facts, should be regulated by the superior number of probabilities on one side and on the other.
Page 130 - The accused had indeed, had a scuffle with the deceased, as sworn on the trial, in which he had dropped his pitchfork, which had been, soon after, found by the juryman, between whom and the deceased an accidental quarrel had arisen in the same field ; the deceased having continued there at work after the departure of the person with whom he had been seen to have the affray; in the heat of which quarrel, the juryman had unfortunately stabbed him with that very pitchfork; and had then got away...
Page 7 - To the purse and guineas, when they were produced in court, he swore — as to the purse, positively, and as to the marked guineas, to the best of his belief ; and he testified to their having been taken from the pocket of the prisoner. The prisoner's master, Mr Brunell, deposed...
Page 144 - He bore a respectable character. Mr Hayes, a gentleman of fortune, being on his way to Oxford on a visit to a relation, put up at Bradford's. He there joined company with two gentlemen, with whom he supped, and in conversation unguardedly mentioned that he had then about him a considerable sum of money.
Page xxxvii - If several independent witnesses, of fair character, should agree in all the parts of a story, (in testifying, for instance, that a murder or a robbery was committed at a particular time, in a particular place, and by a certain individual,) every court of justice in the world would admit the fact, notwithstanding the abstract possibility of the whole being false. Again, if several honest men should...
Page xxix - The human mind,' says Lord Bacon, ' has this property, that it readily supposes a greater order and conformity in things than it finds ; and although many things in nature are singular and entirely dissimilar, yet the mind is still imagining parallel correspondences, and relations between them which have no existence.