The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-08-02 00:00:00

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• WESDBRN enICUIT
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DEVONSHIRE ASt3IESS,' ZIZTTI, JC&T le
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CIVIL SIDS. .
There were no eases of any public Interuit in this Court to-day.
CROWN SIDE.
Before Mr. Justice OAsELEE.
Richard Rake• was put to the bar, indicted for feloaloudy as-
saulting and abusing Emma Lavallia, a child under the age of ten
yeas, on the 21st May, in the Borough of Plymput b.
it appeared, front the evidence adduced in support of %he charge
against the prisoner, that the father of the girl was a hair-dresser,
living in Market-street, Plymouth, and the prisoner resided in the
same street, where be carried on his buaineas as a grocer.
These frets were clearly established by the testimony of the child
herself. _
The mother of the clidd corroborated her daughter's testimony
in serend material points.
Mr. (Mokwortliy, a surgeon at Plymouth, corroborated the state.
merits of elie previous witnesses.
In the mum of the cross-examination of this witness, by tlr.
BIRD, the Learned Counsel not it/jiving the answer he had ex-
pected to a previous question, addressed him rather roughly, and
requestedhe-would not " arect to misundesstand the nature of the
questions! put,toldro."
Mr. Justice Oeveenm—" What I sit on this bench, Mr. Bird,
I certainly shall not permit any witness to be needlessly insulted.
I will not suffer sarcusin to be thrown out against a man who is
giving his evidence with propriety. With regard to this while's,
he appears ;Host anxious to give the fullest and fairest testimony,
and lie must not be brow• beaten. I can't perceive the least symp-
toms or appearance of affectation about him, and don't think tie
pretends to lid:understand your questions."
The Gooier of Plymouth Prison, who was also the person that
apprehended the prisoner.' deposed to • conversation that had oc.
tuned betwixt them, in which the prisoner made a confession of
I several facts that ferried fully to establish his guilt. In the course
of this witnen's examination, it came out. that he was in the
i habit of quesrioniog prisoner committed to his charge relative to
their guilt or innocence, and extracting as many particulars as pos-
sible from them on the subject of the transactions with which they
were stipposed to be connected.
Mr. Justice °ascent took this opportunity of censuring the
i conduct of constables and gaolers, who, on apprehending persons
aceused of criminal offences, interrogated them for the purpose of
extracting a confession, which was afterwards to be given in Ai.
dente against them, and this whbont informing the prisoners at
the time, that the communication would he placed on record upon
the oceskon of their trial before a joie, of their country.
'l'he Learned JUDGE summed up the cave to the Jury, and called!
on them to dismiss every angry and vindictive feeling from their
mieds, which the revolting nature of the offence wss calculated to
excite ; and to try the charge ',imply upon its own merits without
any unfavourable prejudice against the prisoner. lie then pro.'
ceeded to comment on the materiel parts of the evidence; and,
after layinr, down the law of the case, concluded by leaving the
question of the guilt or innocence of the prisoner to the considera-
tion of the Jury.
After a long consultation, in the course of which several of the
witneises were recalled and examined for the purpose of elucidating
rattetilar circurnstancee of the ease, the Jury returned a verdict
ut Ghilty.
Mr. It tan immediately rose to move an arrest ofjudgment, on
the gmund of an inaccuracy in the indictment. His Lordthip'
must be aware it was a maxim of law that every circumstance din-
fleeted with a capital charge should he set forth in the indictment,
coupled with the " when and where," or, in other words, the time
and place of the occurrences. It was necessary that in every in.
dichnent those two points should Instant down, and distinguished
with the closest accuracy, for the purpose of connecting the felony
in all its branches with the prisoner. But he respectfully submitted
to his Lordship that in the present Indictment this necessary alle-
gation bad rot been attended to in every partigular. For instance,
the age of the girl was laid as " under ten years," but that allege,
tion had cot been connected with time and place. She was de-
scribed in the indictment an " a woman child under the age of ten ,
tears," but the allegation to steed good in law should run in this
manner, " rewoman child then and there being under the age of''
ten years." farther on in the indictment the child was described
in this manure, " in the peace of lied and our Lord the King then'
and there being." But be was ptepared to maintain this was a
substantive sentence, complete in itself, and was, in fact, super.
fluons, and not necessary to the proof of the allegation, for if the
child had net been " there" the felony could not have been cont.
mitted. Ile humbly submitted to his Lordship that this last repe-
tition
of the words " then and there" was mere surplusage, and if it
were taken away, as it should be by law, then no words remained ,
to mark that the child was " then and there" under the age of ten I
years. The allegation was perfectly superfluous, and consequendy
the words descriptive of time and place, as it referred to that *lli-
Kaden, were no more than surplusage, because the allegation.was
not essential to the substantiat.on of the charge against the prisoner.
Ile was prepared to maintain that particular words connected whit
circumstances immaterial to the case, could not be properly applied
to other circumstances which were mann ial. The words'' then and
there," the time and place, should be attached to what was de facto
the material allegation.
Dlr. Justice eIesEI.EE examlued the indictment, and said lie had
not the slightest doubt that it wits properly framed. However, as
the Learned Cuunsel had raised the objection, he should consult his
beamed Brother (Mr. Justice Littledale) on the subject of the ob-
jection.
The Learned Judge then proceeded so the other Court, where
Mr. Justice Littledale was situr.g, and after a few minutes spent
in consultation, returned and observed, his Learned Brother was of
a similar opinion with himself. and thought the indictment cor-
rectly framed, and perfectly valid in law. Indeed he had himself
entertained no doubt on the subject, but as the matter went to al.!
feet the prisoner's life, and was one of importance to the public, he
had consulted hit brother Judge previous to deciding on the objec-
tion
of prisoner's Counsel. He had no doubt, neither had his bro.
thee Littledale, that the objection was perfectly unfounded, and in.
capable of receiving legal surpht.
Proclamation of silence hiving been made,
Mr. Justice (iASELEE proceeded to pass sentence of death upon
the prisoner, which he did in the most solemn and impressive man-
ner, having flies animadverted on the heinous nature of the offence,
and exhorted the unhappy prisoner to look to another world for the
mercy he need not entertain any expectations of experiencing in
this.

The prisoner, a wretched, squalid looking creature, appeared
very little, if at all, affected by his awful 61tt11161011, and having
muttered something of `• Innocence and witnesses swearing very
f4lsely," was unloved from the bar.