Text-book of forensic medicine and toxicology — John Shaqi
Text-book of forensic medicine and toxicologyBuchanan, R. J. M. (Robert James McLean)
Science
Text-book of forensic medicine and toxicology
Buchanan, R. J. M. (Robert James McLean)
Medical jurisprudence; Poisons
In England, except upon a subpœna, a medical man is not bound to attend
as a witness at a trial, and then it should be served a reasonable time
before the trial, in order that he may make proper arrangements for
the carrying on of his business during his absence. In civil cases his
reasonable expenses should be tendered to him at the time the subpœna
is served, or within a reasonable time of the trial; and he may refuse
to give evidence unless his charges are paid, provided his objection be
stated _before he has been sworn_. A witness may be summoned from any
part of the United Kingdom.
The question has been raised, whether a _scientific witness_ was bound
to attend when subpœnaed. The law on the point is enveloped in some
obscurity; the better course is therefore to attend.
No tender of fees is necessary in criminal cases, “except in the case
of witnesses living in one distinct part of the United Kingdom being
required to attend subpœnas directing their attendance in another, who
are not liable to punishment for disobedience of the process, unless
at the time of service a reasonable and sufficient sum of money, to
defray their expenses in coming, attending, and returning, have been
tendered to them.” When summoned to two cases, the one civil, the other
criminal, the witness must attend the criminal; or when both cases are
the same, the one to which he first received the subpœna--notifying,
however, to the counsel engaged on the other case his unavoidable
absence, and giving the reasons which prevent his attendance.
In Scotland, witnesses are summoned by a writ or citation, which
must be delivered at the residence of the witness a reasonable time
before the trial. Delivery to a member of the family, or a servant
not within the house, will not do. If access cannot be gained, the
copy is fastened to the most patent door of the house. If the witness
do not appear, and it be clearly shown that he was duly cited, a
warrant for his apprehension may be issued, and he becomes liable to
be incarcerated till he finds “caution” for his due attendance at the
trial. His non-attendance may also, unless good excuse be forthcoming,
render him liable to a fine, or unlaw, of a hundred merks Scots--about
£5.
=Form of Subpœna in England.=--Where a medical witness has given
evidence in a case in which the accused person has been committed for
trial to a superior Court, he is summoned to give evidence at such
Court in the following terms:
[Sidenote: L.S.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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