The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-07-18 00:00:00

Sip

.ItEskitAr atßculf. •
AMIE. Virtitotarrsa, Jokitit
CROWN BASE--1 eture Mi. Justice nbaILILIL •

CIIARhE OF SlCRlatld: , •
Jame*lietnenant in the Coast Preventive Sertioe, If
put to the bar, charged on the Inquisifinn of the Coroner with bar-
ing, on 3d day rf June latt, tit Miltoh, in this et:runty.: illuX at
James Read: with a pistol, of the sound infifettd Sy VW' ito for,
terwards died; and Wilitain Tone& stood chanted asking Whet
plice, audit* aiding and abetting in the caminiselon of flail&
The prisoners pleaded no: vuilty.
• The jury having been sworn, . •
Mr. Sergeant Act cue rose, ant! atlid„ is that stage cf the rid.
ceedings he Should take • riliminary objection. He etas pre-
pared to maintkln that the avernsema in the inquisition onwhieh the
prisoners were charged were not tintlsfaelbrity made. The allege..
non was, that Jatnes Pullen had feloniously, and of marled
aforethought. made an sestult on the body of James Heade, and
did then and there, .With a pistol loaded With gunpowder etattet
leaden bullet, inflict a mortal wound on the rail James Remi'. In
the inquisition, the trords felon:tit:lly, wilfully, and of mellet atore.,
thtmght, which were necessary id. Constitute murder, teen omitted
in the deacription of titep manner .in Which the nalstrull werind had
been inflicted. The learned Sergeant submitted that the Objection
was fatal and sufficient to quash the Indictment. .
Mr. SEr-reat .supported the objection,. and qhoted d Liebe ?Jodi
Leach's Crown Law, which laid flown that The corpus delittl
should be ((described to have been tommided
and of mall:* aforethought, in order m derignate the Character of
the crime.
Mr. Endo ME also contended, that the itunctnteht *at defhilie,
inasmuch is, ity tuldttion td the objection urged by his learned
friend, it wan [lief:dent in the necessary and technical phrase to be
round in such Indictments, he meant the word pereweir, which Was
nett contained in it.
dlr. Ditstetra, on the other side, toped (hit the itupdsitioh
had been correctly drawn up, according tp the authority elf the last
edition of Burn's Justice tf the Peace. It we not or res
quired by the nature of the fact, that the words " i ioeiou y,.ouss
liciously, and of malice aforethOught," should be inserted %all .
the counts. With regard to the word M percussitc, that was •
technicality, and perfectly nnimpertann-siirPre bad beget sithebeitted
for it.
Mr. Sergeant WI ttit: tralnoined the Validity of the ObtectiOna;
because an assault might be malicious, and the tiring not at ell so,
but the, consequence of an accident, or occasioned by another pre-
son. To impute malice to such pn 4,3 would be the !tetet aiw
j twice, as, if this laxity of deieriptioti were porenitted. losisreense
might be inferred from the cotrealleion ohm azt which might secl,
dentolly and innocently take plate. To do this, Sr ru argue
malevolence. not from the particular action in questleft, but Rom
a previous and isolated circumstance, would be to adopt a helm&
of argument hot to be tolerated, pswicuLsrly I* tin* of eneh Oa-
mancot importance as the preseqt. The undeviating and obilform
pencil:a et' Indictments had been to charge the MlMl:talky upo•
each act alleged to be committed: and he. uusttd his Lordship
would not feel disposed to &litre float di! established rotate of pro,
cording in tint instance.
Mr. Justice LitTtroar..o hating edme•jaatb Court, their
Lordahips conferred for a few minutes, when t. etfled
said, his Learned Brother eeimutred pub Mtn in opinion, that in
a case of such importance It would he better tO go sato the media,
supposing the objection to be valid. Along with tills ftik Court
was not disposed. to consider the derlation stit leient. en great the
inquisition; and under these clrCumatanto, he would permit it to
proceed.
Mr. DAMPIZa stated the ease Pot the prosclltion, and told the
Jury that this eat a case which, from its nature and ftWportance,
demanded the most careful consideration fit there httiiite. It was
not merely that the prisoner stood charged with a serious and
weighty crime; but there were other conaiderations that contri,
buted to give it additional importance. The rank in life of the
principal prisoner; and the office he. held in the *eyelet of hie
country, added to the peculiarity of some Of the facts, were cit../
cumetaoccs of no
,ordetery interest. The prisoner Pullen, noW •
in the preventive servite, had been long in the navy, and held
respectable situation in the service of his King fors seeks of many.
years. lie was hound to state that be belieeed it would appear the
prisoner was not a °person' who war. likely, from bit'habitsalilliK
and character, to be engaged in nets o unnetessary
The situation filled by Mr. Pullen, that of Lieutenant in the
Preventive Service, was a dangerous and ungracitos one.
his duty to exert himself itf that 'hoiden to prevent the am •
of contraband goods, and it would be unfair to Conceal horn the
jury, that many of the witnesses to be adduced on this occasion
were men who bad been engaged in that illegal practice. Thg
were, endoubtedly, by no =Anil tree from blame, and he
that bath they and the nohappy man who lost his life on re ot
June, sere all out for the purpoae of attempting to ran smuggled
goods, had they not been prevented by the activity of the prisoner.
regard to the facts that hg expected to be able to prove, he.
was also ready to allow that there might appear considerable diva*.
policy in the evidence, partly arising from the darkness of the bows
and the alarm anti confusionmeeessarily attendant 1111111.111111111116.
stances such as the present. If after baring given duirealesider&t.
tion to the merits of the case% the jury should feel it tkMv duty to•
acquit the prisoner, no man cotiiil be more sincerely glad of such
a result than himself ;• but if, on the contrary, it should appear to
them that the facts were clearly established, he was satisfied they
could not permit the rank in life of the prisoner, Itio Cr re.
spretability, to turn them aside from the honest and
discharge oftheir duty. :
v. . . - . .

Dales
John Goddard sworn and eramined—l am a Ition and live at
Christ Church. On the 4th June, about four o' kln the morn-
ing, I was esl!ed to a man of the name James Resde, who- was as.
the parish poor house; I went and found him in a weak state, and
on inauiring the cause of his illness, he said he had been shot. On
removing his clothes, I found a wound in his belly half an inch
above the navel ; having dressed that wound and given proper hi.
structions for ins treatment, I returned to my bowie. I saw him
again about three in the afternoon, when he complained of much
pain about the muscles of the right buttock. On examining that
part I found a herd substance, and cutting down on it, I exttacird
a leaden ball. I did not see him again till five o'clock, when I
staid with him for an hour. The man died about two hours after
my third visit, from loss of blood or internal haimorbage occasioned
by the wound. It was a pistol ball. The wan died in the parish
of Milton.

Cross-examined—When I lint saw the man he was aware the
wound was dangerous.'and thought he should die of it. I thought
so too. 1 had a conversation witlt him as to the manner 1.1
which he received the wound. I collected from his manne:
and words that he knew he should die of the wound. I ,
consequence of a particular season, I asked the decease(
James Iteade, if he knew the person who shot him; his anew:.
was, he did. )le said the person was named Evans, and helves,
to the preventive boat of Hunt. lie said, in answer to a question
of mine, that the man who fired at him did not take hold of his
frock coats or ally part of his garments. I asked him how far the
person was from him who tired the pieta He replied, as far as I
am from hence to the window. I afteraards measured that distance,
and found it nearly five yards. I asked deceased if they had
landed any goods at the time, and he said not. I asked him before
if he was correct in what he said, he said perfectly so, and willing
to make oath of it before any Magistrate. He said he did not
think lie was singled out from any other man. I inquired if there
was any landing of goods, he said not for the boat went to sea
again. In answer to a question from me, he said there were about
sixty persons present at the place where the accident happened. He
said he went out because they were paid for it, and they were owed
thirty shillings for being out several nights. I inquired how he
came to the place where he was found, which was a consi-
derable distance from the place where he was said to have been shot.
He said, when I was shot, I fell dead. On recovering I beard
some person say, let us take hint to the boat-house. On heating
, that. I crawled on my hands and knees through a gap in the hedge
' to Mr. Porter's door, the place where I was found.
Timothy Dawkins sworn.-1 work at Milford. I live at Milton,
lam a carpenter, and know Hurst Castle. I hare worked there at
the Preventive Station, and know the Commanding Officer. I
heard persona say his name was Lieutemcnt Pullen. I know him
when I see him. This is he nearest me. The name of the matt
who stands next him is William Young. On the night of the 3d
'June last I was near Milton. I heard tiring about 11 o'clock. My
home is about a mile from Lob's.hole. The firing was in that di-
rection, and I walked towards it. I heard a wicked firing; as I went
1 met nobody. I went to Lob's-hole, that is the name of a field,
where I met a lot of people coming back from the cliff. They were
walking, not running. I could see them plainly. I don't know
whether Heade was with them. I turned back with them about
two lugs (32 feet). Lieutenant Pullen ran round from the cliff
towards the men. There were two more with him. He tame and
said, " what are you up to ?" or some such words. Some man an-
swered, "I am not up to much." lie then stopped, and spoke to
his men. The lot.of men walked off away from the shore. 1 went
with them. Then Lieutenant Pullen lan again, and catched hold
of a man by his smock.frock. He said. "Are you ready, for we are."
There was no answer made. Then Pullen stepped back one step,
and fired at the man with his left hand. I can't ray whether he bad
let the matt go or not, at the time he fired. The man, when seised,
first struggled back. I can't say whether he succeeded. All
men were near, around, behind, and at the side of the man *hes
the pistol was tired. Some were near him when he was first
caught; the men stood and looked back, but I never heard theta
say anything. 1 at close by. After Lieut. Pullen fired, he ordetra
his men (Young and Williams) to tire. I saw Young and
other man with him. I knew Young before that night. Pullet
said fire, that was all. I can't say they tired ; the smoke came ii
my eyes, and I heard a report. I did not hears third pistol tired
till after five minutes, more or less. Williams jumped in with Jar
cutiass, after the second that. One man stood to pick up the ina..
who was shot, and Williams sprang in and chopped at him. Ti e
man drew back. I then went off house. I went as far as the road
with the lot of men, and the other party kept tiring, all the way at
that' went up the field. I saw Lieut. Pullen ono two others, L, t
no more. The night was nottrery dark. I can't 33V whether
was moon.light. Some of the lot of men had a stick, but I saw
nothing else. They made no resistance when Pollen came i.p
first. I was near enough to see or hear any loud words, and I hear*
none. Tae second time Pullen came up. I observed what molt
place; the men did not show their midis. I observed no one wilt
a stick, near Pullcu, whenithe man was shut ; there were some be-
hind, as they stood all in a heap, round the man who was shot.
know Evans; neither of the two men with Pullen was Evans;. tee
was not one of the three.
cmu.ezmnined.-1 can't remember where I was working that
day, but think.l was a: the shot" at Milford. I generally akar rr:
Milford, hut now and then go to my father's. !in SSW,
day and Sunday nights I sleep at Allitor. This was on a Snail
night. I was out walking when I. hea-d the firing. ✓Lobs'ealistie
is nearer to Milton than Milford. It is pretty handy sit *tea