The Sun.
London, England, 1810-05-17 00:00:00

_Lill' REPOT

COURT OF KING'S BENCIT. MAY

THE KING V. THOMAS PICTON, ESQ.

'lt Will be recolleaed by our -Readers, that tf;e
defendant was tried some time agO,in thi, Court,. •
upon an indiament, charging him, whilst in the
capacity of his Majesty's Governor of the Island of
Trinidad, with having infllaed, or caused to be in!'
flitted, upon a young woutan Of the name- of Louisg
Caldron, a native inhabitant of that Island, do;
.T
punishment of the torture. They will also recd-
lea, that upon the trial the Jury found a Special,
Verdict, subje& to the opinion of the Court upod.
the law of the case, whether the defendant
guilty Or not. The verdict stated, that the punish-
ment of torture Vas inflided ; that it was inflitied
under and by virtue of the authority and command'
of the defendant; that the punishrrc(nt so inflicted
was a part of the law of the Island, and inflicted
the Constituted Authorities there, before and after
the capture thereof by the British forces; and upolf
this finding of the Jury, it was reseeved for the Court
to say whether the case of the defendant cadid.
within the comprehension of the law, as by the
construe lion the thing was done " maliciously" by
the defendant.

On a former day the, affirmative of - this was con-
tended for by Mr. NOLAN, in support of the prose-
cution ; and this day Mr. STEPHENS, on behalf of
the defendant,, Was heard at considerable length in.
support of the negative. The Learned Gentlervin.
argued the points which he contended fur 1.4'101
great zeal and eloquence, and urged in strong and
impressive terms, that his client was entitled to 3
complete acquittal. He limited the heads of his ar-
gument to three distin& particulars :—First, that
torture did constitute a part of the criminal prom'
dure in the Island of Trinidad, before and atter IL:
Was captured by the British forces. Secondly, that
the infliction of this mode of punishment was 3
judicial proceeding, inflicted by the authority of a
Court having competent jurisdiction ; and, third/Y,
that the thing being done in a judicial capacity, he,
the defendant, could not in law be presumed to have
exercised it " malaciou•ly," and that therefore the
defendant's case was not comprehended within the
indictment, and that consequently he ought to be
acquitted. The observations used in the mainte-
nance of the two first grounds were addressed 0 1111
considerable force both to the feelings and to gld
wisdom of the Court. On his being about to pro-
ceed to the third, he was stopped by the-Court, 3.5
Lord ELLENBOKOUGH had 10 sit at Nisi Prius to
Guildhall ; but he is to resume the subject again
morrow, by his Lordship's appointment.
A Gentleman who had practised as a Spanish Ad'
vocate, stated to their Lordships, as an ormelif
curia?, the particular joricdiction. df .the Courts of
the Caraccas. He spoke in very good English, aud
was habited as an English Barrister. -

EXTIIAORDINAII? ROBBEItY.-011 Tuesday night,
about eleven o'clock, as an old Gentleman, wh°
resides in the neighbobrhood of Manchester-street,
was sitting in his front parlour, no other person be-
ing in the house, he was extremely alarmed by the
sudden appearance of a m in, with a black crape`l
over his face. The terror of the old Gentleman I.o‘
considerably increased by the man not speakirig, 13411
repeatedly making a noise like the barking of a mos'
tiff dog. The robber opened the backparlourdoor,
and beckoned to the old Gentleman to follow him;
which he refused. The robber then shook him by
the shoulders, to induce him to go. The old Gen'
tleman still refusing, the robber forced him into the
back parlour, pointed at an iron safe, and !mid°
signs for him to open it. The old Gentleman 11°.
complying, the robber proceeded to take the keys
from him ; and, in the scuffle, the old Gender/11
fell over a chair, and a table fell upon him, which
cut open his nose, broke his shins, and bruised 101
in other parts of his body in a most shocking wall;
ner. The robber appeared to know the key of th
safe, and proceeded to unlock it, and took out Ogre
gold watches, three gold snuff-boxes, several die
mond and pearl rings, and other trinkets, to 'bee
amount of between 4 and 5001. then, after git
the old Gentleman sevtral Iffy severe blows,
took the candle, left the room, and lock'e
the old Gentleman in. After some time til
old Gentleman recovered himself, opened the
window, and gave an alarm to the neighbour'
hood, no other person being in the house- 5,
neighbours were obliged to have recourse to a 13,,e
der, and got over the yard wall, and then br°l
open the doors. They found that the villains
left the candle in a corner of the front parlour,. ~
such a position, as there was no doubt but he tt
tended it should set fire to the house ; •but
nately the tallow had run. The old Gentleruihy
keeps a carriage, which was out with his niece,
resides with him, and the footman • attending bec j
they did not return till one o'clock. It so happele
that there was no female servant belonging to !1,,
family at the time, the old Gentleman havitii
changed his servants very often lately, and it ot.l,
not be ascertained by what means the robber Obil
ed admittance into the house, but it is supposed
the area ; and it is strongly suspected that tlo
robber was a servant, who had furtnerly lived j
the family. •