The Curse of Carne's Hold: A Tale of AdventureHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
The Curse of Carne's Hold: A Tale of Adventure
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 -- Juvenile fiction
"Principally on his own statement, Gulston. I watched him narrowly from
the time that you gave your evidence, and I own that my impression is
that he is innocent. I give every weight to your evidence and that
afforded by the glove, and to his being unable to prove where he was;
and yet, alike from his face, his manner, and the tone of his voice, I
do not think that he is capable of murder."
No other words were spoken for some time, then the lieutenant asked:
"Do you think that an insane person could commit a crime of this kind
and have no memory of it in their saner moments?"
"That is a difficult question, Gulston. I do believe that a person in a
sudden paroxysm of madness might commit a murder, and upon his recovery
be perfectly unconscious of it; but I do not for a moment believe that a
madman sufficiently sane to act with the cunning here shown in the mode
of obtaining access, by the quiet stealthiness in which the victim was
killed whilst in her sleep, and by the attempt to divert suspicion by
the abstraction of the trinkets, would lose all memory of his actions
afterwards. If Captain Mervyn did this thing, I am sure he would be
conscious of it, and I am convinced, as I said, that he is not
conscious."
"What will the jury think?" the lieutenant asked after a long pause.
"I think they are sure to return a verdict against him. A coroner's jury
are not supposed to go to the bottom of a matter; they are simply to
declare whether there is _prima facie_ evidence connecting any one with
a crime; such evidence as is sufficient to justify them in coming to a
conclusion that it should at any rate be further examined into. It's a
very different thing with a jury at a trial; they have the whole of the
evidence that can be obtained before them. They have all the light that
can be thrown on the question by the counsel on both sides, and the
assistance of the summing-up of the judge, and have then to decide if
the guilt of the man is absolutely proven. A coroner's jury is not
supposed to go into the whole merits of the case, and their finding
means no more than the decision of a magistrate to commit a prisoner for
trial. I think the coroner will tell the jury that in this case such
evidence as there is before them points to the fact that Captain Mervyn
committed this murder, and that it will be their duty to find such a
verdict as will ensure the case being further gone into."
"Most of the jury are tenants of the Carnes," Gulston said; "two or
three of them I know are, for I met them at the inn when I was over here
fishing. They will scarcely like to find against a relation of the
family."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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