Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-01-11
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TEsTIMONx OF EXPERTS.
From s paper read before the Amer
can academy Of Arts and Sciences, by
Hon. EMORY WAsHBURN, Professor IN
Harvard Law School, we find some eN-
nositious of the law which we feel conf
dent viii be Of general interest to our
readers.
The ordinary fundamentally with
which a juror has to work in getting at
his facts. or elements of calculation ana
Judgment, is the testimony OF hNlhg
witnesses. and because he was to deal
with facts and facts only, every witness
is ordinarily restricted, in testifying, to
the statement of something which lie
knows. to the exclusion OF what IS mere
Epeculation or opinion. a witness may
have a thorough conviction and belief
that one charged with a crime is inno-
cen and vet he may know, and be able
TO state. an isolated and apparently i'm
material fact which supplies a link in a
chain Of circumstances strong enough TO
convince the most incredUlous OF me
guilt Of the accused.
4 witness. moreover, may not only
know facts obvious to the senses oul
he may be able to combine them Wild
h q known laws OF science so as to make
h result Of the whole a fact propeS' 10
he submitted as such to the consideration
of a Juror. II, for instance, the question
involved the identity Of parcel OF lanu'
or its boundaries or position IN reference
IN 8 description in a deed under which
the same is claimed, the witness may
describe to the jury what he has seen
mon the land answering, or Otherwise
IN what is described as 8 boundary he
NAV admeasure the distances nom one
sunnosed course to another, or take the
hearing of points by a compass, n may
o.mpiete the quantity of land within the
lines Of such admeasurement by the rules
of geometry or t~rigonometry, and may
state sIl these Is facts, though he would
not be at liberty to go further and say
that in his judgment the land did or
did not belong TO the sutton who
claimed it.
The subject under consideration Is
How fsr do courts admit experts TO
testify in mstters of opinion, and how
far Jurors ought TO be bound by such
opinions in coming to results upon mat
ters submitted to them
Unfortunately for the honor Of the
profession, and for the object sought to
be attained by the admission Of experts,
many persons so called to testify appear
TO lose sight OF the fact that they are dis
interested parties, and not the hired ad-
vOcates Of either.
Among the class Of persons whose
opinions, as experts, have been literally
made use Of in the trial Of issues in
courts, are those who profess a knowl-
edge of medical science. Insanity, as
is well known, Is a n1Ost prolific subject
of inquiry in such trials, as it affects the
capacity Of individuals to enter into lega!
obligations, or the extent of their re-
sponsibility for acts done. And, in the
light of the testimony Of some Of these
experts the wonder in some minds has
been, which was the crazed half OF the
world-those inside or those outside Of
the walls Of Bedlam.
Handwriting offers another wide field
for the employment of experts. And
experts are daily called upon to express
opinions, whether q given signature is
the full and natural c~hirography Of an
u-nrestrained hand, or the production Of
pains and skill at initiating the writing
Of another. F.,
But, in all cases Of this nature, if the
so-called man OF science has but imper-
fectly investigated the soundness of his
hypothesis OF, If he has assumed as true
another has recorded, and an error
shall have crept into the elements Of his
calculation, no matter how honestly, his 2
is no longer a safe guide. d
As pertinent to this point we quote
rom MACAULAY, when speaking Of The
philosophy OF government 1.-THE sci 7
OF politics bears, in one respect, a !
lose analogy to the science Of mathe- "
The mathematician can easily D.
demonstrate, that a certain power, APP d
,lied by means Of acertain lever or OF acer- ,
ain system Of pulleys, will suffice to raise b
|. certain weight. But this demOnstra. n
ion proceeds upon the supposition, that a
he machinery is such as no losd will I
END or break. II the engineer who has
aised a great mass Of real granite by the
n~strumentality Of real timber and real
lemp, should absolutely rely on the \
Proposition which he finds in PROPOSE
upon dynamics, and should make
allowance for the imperfection Of his
materials, his whole apparatus Of beams, II
rheels and ropes, would soon come hi
own in ruins and with all his geomet- W
Ical skill he would be found a far inferior oil
uilder TO those painted barbarians who, -
lougb they lever heard Of the parallel Ia
gram ef forces, managed to pile up W
tonehenge." On