Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-12-13
supreme Court Decision in the suieidc

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supreme judicial court, comprising its decision
in the case of commonwealth VS.. John c. DEN
mis-, for attcmptngi!to commit suicide, which
was argued at the law term in October, 1870
The court sustain the exceptions taken by the
counsel for the defence at the trial at the prev-
GUS May criminal term of the superior court, on
the ground, as stated in the rescript, that "thc
provisions of the general statutes, in section s
Of chapter 16S, which are revision of the whole
law on the subject Of attempts, do not include
attempts TO commit suicide This case will be
well rerollected as having originated nearly two
years ago in the municipal court o tins city,
where the defendant was arraigned on COM
plant charging him with the "attemptto kill aud
murder himself" In the superior court a pro
torma verdict of guilty was rendered, by dhecs
ton of the court Judge Dewey, there being
no contest as TO the facts, and the case went up
on exceptions, based on the legal point raised
by the defence, that "the indictment did not set
forth any crime or OffenSe known to, or punish
able by, the laws of this commonwealth" As
the case is novel one without precedent iii our
courts, brief statement of some of the facts
concerning it, and of the arguments of the
counsel at the hearing, may be of interest
The defendant was a resident of this city,
married. but not living with his wife at the
time. She was at work at the Oread where he
went to see her, and going into the kitchen
where she was, accostcd her with the expression
of Good bye, Mary" aud then drew pistol
from his pocket and fired it at his own head, in
1icung a severe though (miraculously) not
dangerous wound on his right temple, from
which the ball glanced and lodged in the ceiling,
AT the hearing before the supreme court, who
have had the case under consideration for over Il
year, the counsel for the defendant, IL. l.. Parker,
Esq, cited numerous authorities to show that
suicide was undoubtedly crime in England at
common law, although some writer's maintain
ed that to make it a crime is contrary to natural
right, but that the attempt to commit suicide is
held there to he misdcmeanor and not
felony. Whether it is Il crime, and punishable
in this state, admits of doubt, inasnuCh as our
statutes arc silent concerning ii, and 1t does not
appear that the common law punishment was
ever inflicted here. Only that portion Of the
common law which is adapted 20 our new cOun-
try and Institutions has been incorporated into
our law; both the reason of the common law
punishment, and its infection as q punishment,
ceased in our new country. The only recOgn-
ton of suicide as a crime in our statutory
law was an enactment Of 1860; this was repealed
in 1924, but its repeal did not revive the
common law. The language of the enactment
of 1860 does not indicate any recognition of sui
eide as punishable at common law. The records
OF the Massachusetts Bay colony or the
Plymouth colony records do not show any in
stance where 1t was punished as crime, al
though there are cases of self murder as found
by iuries Of inquest, and in one case admnstra-
ton Of the estate of the deceased was granted,
showing that no cOnhscation of goods followed
suicide. The indictment must set forth facts
sufficient to show that any offence was COM
mitted within the provisions of Gen Stat, ch
sec hn clIBpfptfiyD off e 1pf
rndictable if committed, the attempt TO commit
cannot be; to constitute criminal attempt the
intent must be to do something which would be
indictable, if done. He argued that the removal
OF legal punishment from the reputation and
property of the suicide, also repealed all penalty
for the attempt, The idea Of punishment for
this crime originated in the feuial idea that the
sovereign owned an interest in the SUBJECT,
which in our new country and under our new
institutions ceased to exist; this, with laws of
atiaiuder and forfeiture TO the state for crime
have been abolished as inconsistent with repub-
llcan institutions.
Attorney General Allen, for the common
wealth. set forth that the only question at issue
was, whether an indictment could lie for an un-
successful attempt at suicide, and supported the
affirmative in an elaborate argument, OF which
the following are the points:
/. By the common law suicide is felony.
1t was formerly punished by ignOminious buri-
al, and by forfeiture of goods. So in Massachu-
sets, from 1860 to 1928 a suicide was punished
by burial in the highway, with a carload of
stones put upon the grave "as brand of in
fanny" An ignominious burial Of the body be-
Ing required by law, was clearly punishment
for the crime; and it has always been rCcOg-
nzed as such. 1t is IN this respect like a judy
ment that the body shall be quartered or deliv-
cred to surgeons for dissection. So also by the
general sense of mankind, in Christian coun-
tries least, suicide is regarded as highly Grim
inal in its naturc-an offence against society and
morals; usually prejudicial TO the public, be-
cause it deprives the state OF citizen; casts new
and unjust pecunlary burdens on the people;
cXciteS, dStulb S and demOraiZes the comnu-
nlty, spreads false aud hurtful notions in socie-
ty, and is of evil example. As a rule, suicide is
a sin against the law Of nature, and accordingly
mUrallsts and other writers have often reCog-
nized its unlawful and immoral character.
,. The ahrogatiOn of the punishment does
not render the act of suicide less criminal in its
| nature, nor show that it is no longer considered
as an offence against the laws; the reasons for
such abrogation rest on different basis The
punishment fell chiefly on the innocent; and
| was therefore abolished Does it therefore fol-
low that one has legal right TO commit suicide.
| BY the common law, and the law of MaSsa-
! chusetts, one who advises another to commit
suicide, is guilty of murder, if his advice is
acted upon in his presence. So the consent or
request of another to kill him does not relieve
| the slayer from guilt as a murderer; because
| no man can legally consent to his own yoluD-
| tary destruction.
8. BY reason of the peculiar nature of the act
| the crlminallty of an attempt TO commit suicide
| does not rest exclusively upon the criminalty of
| the completed act. Ordinarily the attempt is
| held to be criminal if the compile ed act Ould
be criminal, but if the act of suicide is no longer
| visited with legal punishment, and therefore
technically considered is no longer a crime, the
| reason is because punishment cannot efectualy
reach the guilty party; in this case it affects the
| innocent more directly, and in far greater de-
| gree. Therefore, although suicide is not now
punished, this does not show that the act of sui
| eide is not considered to be wrongful, immoral
unlawful, and criminal in its nature. BY the
| common law, suicide was felony, and an at
| tempt was misdemeanor; the statute of 1923
| repealed the punishment for suicide, but it did
| not deal with the offence Of attempting the act !;
and nnder well established rules, did not repeal
| any offence which was not clearly meant to be
| repealed.
4. 1t has been expressly held in England that
| an attempt to commit suicide was punishable as
| a miSdcmeanOr at Il common law. At the time
| of the decisions cited, the laws providing for ig-
nominious burial had been repealed. 1t was to
| be seen, provided by that statute that the inter
ment of suicides should be private, and with no
rites OF Christian burial, but rather as a matter
| OF decorum, than by way of punishment. Such
interment can hardly be thought ignominious
| Ill massachusetts, since our own ancestors IN
carry tunes so buried their dead, with a studi-
| Gus avoidance of religious services.
%. Inns, then, is an offence ut common law.
NO punishment is pro 5ided by statute; it is not
covered by General Statutes, chap 16S sec. s; it
therefore comes within General Statutes, chap
! ia sec. /, and is to be punished according to
the common usage and practice of this state
The offence is misdemeanor; the ordinary and
| appropriate punishment for Inisdcmeanor is by
fne and Imprisonment or either, at the discre-
| ton of the court.
Section of chap. ia, referred to above, pro-
vldes that In cases of legal conviction, where
| no legal punishment is provided by statute the
| court shall award such sentence as is conforma-
| BILE to the common usage aud practice in this
state, according to the nature of the offence, and
not repugnant to the constitution" The attor-
ney general admitted that usually where a com
pleted act is not punishable, the attempt is not
punishable, but argued that suicide rests on
Inherent basis; our lives are not our own; we
re sent here on a mission, and no man ordi-
lrily has right TO surrender his own lite
while under our laws suicide is no longer
Unstable, it is not because il is no longer a
ne, but because the punishment Of the COM
aA 0rt, foil haa.r H.,