The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-22 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—LEWES, March 21.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Justice Erle.)
Caroline Martin, 28, an unmarried woman, was
charged with the wilful murder of her female ille-
gitimate child.
The coroner's jury returned a verdict of man-
slaughter only against the prisoner, but she was
subsequently committed by the magistrates upon
the charge of wilful murder, and the grand jury
having returned a true bill, she was put upon her
trial for the more serious offence.

Mr. Attree and Mr. Hurst conducted the prosecu-
tion ; Mr. Roupell was counsel for the defence.
It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner
was in the service of a lady, named Payne, residing
at Carlisle-parade, Hastings and in the beginning
of February last she was discovered to be in the
family way, and her mistress made an arrangement
that she should go home to her friends at Hawk-
hurst, to lie in, on the 10th of that month. During
the night of the 9th the prisoner was taken very
ill, and in consequence of what was observed by a
fellow-servant, she made a communication to the
prisoner's mistress on the following morning, and
she put some questions to the prisoner, who ad-
mitted that she had been delivered of a child during
the night, but said that it was dead. A medical
gentleman, named Savery, was then sent for, and
he asked the prisoner what had become of the child,
and she told him it was in a box at the foot of her
bed, and he there found a newly-born female child,
apparently of full growth. The child was at this
time alive, but in a very weakly state, and notwith-
standing every endeavour was made to restore it,
the child died in the course of the same day. Upon
a post-mortem examination all the vital organs were
discovered to be healthy, and there were appear-
ances of slight wounds upon the neck and cheek of
the child. These injuries were suggested to have
been caused by a broken steel petticoat-hoop,
which was found in a drawer in the prisoner's
bedroom, with blood upon it, but there was consi-
derable doubt upon this point, and it also ap-
peared that they were not of a natare likely to
have caused death, and the evidence appeared
rather to show that the fatal result was the conse-
quence of the neglect the child had sustained after
its birth, through the prisoner not having made
any attempt to obtain assistance.
Mr. Roupell made a very feeling address to the
jury on behalf of the prisoner, and he urged that
she really believed the child was dead when she
placed it in the box, and that in ber distress and
agony at the moment she could hardly be held re-
sponsible for her actions.

- The learned judge having summed up,
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and in
about half an hour they returned into court and
found the prisoner guilty of manslaughter.
Harriet Moore, 20, a diminutive girl, was placed
at the bar to plead to an indictment, which charged
her with the wilful murder of her illegitimate
child, Alfred James Moore.
There was a second indictment against the pri-
soner, which charged her with the capital offence
of feloniously administering to the same child a
large quantity of deadly poison, called white preci-
pitate, with intent to murder it.
When the prisoner was first called upon to say
whether she was guilty or not guilty, she replied
in a low voice, " Guilty."
Lord Chief Justice Erie told the prisoner that if
she would take his advice, she would plead not
guilty, and he gave her the advice, because he
thought it probable that she did not understand the
precise nature
Theprisonerotf thehen pc
lhe areadge
ds
notn i adagainst
guilty
iltyt
to
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h the
charges.
The indictment for murder was not proceeded
with, but the prisoner was given in charge to the
jury for the offence of feloniously administering poi-
son to the deceased child with intent to murder. _ _

Sergeant Ballantine was specially retained, with
the Hon. G. Denman, to conduct the prosecution.
The prisoner had no counsel, but upon an intima-