Conditions similar to confessional circumstances arise when other types
of persuasive evidence are gathered, which have the same impressive
influence as confessions. In such cases the judge’s task is easier than
the witness’s, since he need not tell them of evidence already at hand.
How very much people allow themselves to be influenced by antecedent
grounds of suspicion is a matter of daily observation. One example will
suffice. An intelligent man was attacked at night and wounded. On the
basis of his description an individual was arrested. On the next day
the suspect was brought before the man for identification. He identified
the man with certainty, but inasmuch as his description did not quite
hit off the suspect he was asked the reason for his certainty. “Oh, you
certainly would not have brought him here if he were not the right man,”
was the astonishing reply. Simply because the suspect was arrested on
the story of the wounded man and brought before him in prison garb, the
latter thought he saw such corroboration for his data as to make the
identification certain--a pure ὑστερον πρωτερον, which did not at all
occur to him in connection with the vivid impression of what he saw. I
believe that to keep going with merely what the criminalist knows about
the matter, belongs to his most difficult tasks.
Section 9. (g) Interest.
Anybody who means to work honestly must strive to awaken and to sustain
the interest of his collaborators. A judge’s duty is to present his
associates material, well-arranged, systematic, and exhaustive, but not
redundant; and to be himself well and minutely informed concerning the
case. Whoever so proceeds may be certain in even the most ordinary and
simplest cases, of the interest of his colleagues,--hence of their
attention; and, in consequence, of the best in their power. These are
essentially self-evident propositions. In certain situations, however,
more is asked with regard to the experts. The expert, whether a very
modest workman or very renowned scholar, must in the first instance
become convinced of the judge’s complete interest in his work; of the
judge’s power to value the effort and knowledge it requires; of the fact
that he does not question and listen merely because the law requires it,
and finally of the fact that the judge is endowed, so far as may be,
with a definite comprehension of the expert’s task.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account