As to the story of the trunk, it is shortly this: there were two trunks
the property of Mr. Brodie; and one of them, containing linens and other
articles, was, from motives of humanity, allowed to remain in his
possession. This was the trunk referred to in the indictment; the other
was, however, sent by mistake to the Justiciary Office, but as soon as
the error was discovered, Mr. Brodie was applied to to deliver up the
proper trunk. This he refused to do, and therefore it became necessary
to apply to the Sheriff, who granted a warrant; in consequence of which
it was recovered from the prisoner and lodged in the Justiciary Office.
This is the plain state of the fact, and, having laid it before your
Lordships, I do not consider it necessary to add one word more to the
subject.
The LORD ADVOCATE--My Lords, if it had been intended to charge the
prisoners with stealing the watch, or any of the other articles, a more
accurate description might have been necessary, but here there is no
such intention--the crime of which the prisoners are accused is breaking
into the Excise Office.
From the nature of the thing, my Lords, as well as from the tenor of the
indictment, it must be evident to every one that it is only meant to
produce these articles in evidence, to refer to them when the witnesses
are examined. It may be necessary, for example, to prove that certain
letters were found in the chest, and to whom the chest belonged; it is
no matter of what form the chest is, and not of the smallest consequence
whether it is identified or not; nay, more, my Lords, there was no
necessity for producing it at all. If every nail of a trunk or every
trinket of a watch, or other articles which it might be necessary to
found upon in trials of this kind, were to be so particularly described
as Mr. Wight has contended for, it would swell indictments to a very
inconvenient and unnecessary length.
The objection that the proper trunk was not produced in sufficient time
to give the prisoner an opportunity of examining it is certainly a very
uncommon one, when it is considered that it was allowed to remain in his
own possession until yesterday; and with regard to the watch, all the
use I mean to make of it is to identify some letters from Mr. Brodie,
which are sealed with the seal appended to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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