, 1873-10-10
PERJURY.
It Is "tht Att Of False Swearing In Respect to
a hattcr Material TO tho Point
Of Inquiry"

Special Correspondence u The Chteaqo Tribune.
OTTAWA, Oct. 8, 1879
Tho following important opinion by nlr.
Justice MoAllla.or WAS f1lod OF tho Goth ult.,
and as the position held by tho learned Judge
may be found Of frequent application, send tho
full text Of tho opinion:
nouben D. Pollard " Tho People, &c. Error to Cir
9en 9. GoTs I'LL 81 En- En- g oont on0 by oaLts-
Th!s was All Indictment for perjury returned To The
Court Of Common Pleas Of thu City Of Aurora, and
the venus changed to the Circuit Court Of Kae Conty
whore trial was had, terminating IN tho conviction Of
tho plaintiff IN error by tho Jury. motion for now
tenced to priaanment in hepenitenary for ono year.
10 brings ho record to this Court by writ Of error sud
assgns vasieas The cath aon Which perjury
bail for one Clay who was under indictment for for
tndtstmsnt Il .hnt Pollard iia then and thero feon
shnss II :Ss
the effect following, that Is to Soy "that he, the said
Rsss s i a. ons "a @ lay # Il IL 2ss Il @
to:wit: th9 sun q g pr ion; thst hs w. 81
State Of Illinois, sud that hc, ut that tne worth
StoSSo property over and above a' Just deea and
In tho second count II ID alleged that ho testified In
abbtaaee and TO- tue eject IT, mthat be- eafd roIlard
Fl b md ebss aa as s sna
Of 100 tons Of ay then sucked in tic Village Of Cin.
tonyc worth *S per tom md that said hay wss free
.asted e ina sass sf q es sfs '0"''' 0'
VIA had, touching tho aaaineatons q tho acoussd,
was called as witness, but waA unable to testify any
specific staement made The state'a Attorney at TINT
tmo was then introduced, and hc tcatAcd that tho ac-
eaed stated that hc was worth $4,000. The brother
Of stato'a Attorney and Clerk Of he Court, also Wit.
sse it sss Tas sr C. n9 or . g.
Mr Gardner, who was Juror ut that term, tion
t hst q sn If tue na e
Co., and this witness Ia corroborated by Graves and
Warner, who were also present Mt the tttlo.
derance of svfience that the accused did, fn fact
n tho time tho quantity which ho stated at he owned.
accused sae On @ bis sat thsre was sns' no
mortgage or othor incunabranco upon It, This witness
Is ss,npostsd II th!s particular ny 10 other eydonco
fess to gve the substance and effect Of a tho accused
sal. s.i1 upoa ;o tue matters n question The sconssd
form, showing the absence, on account Of
M VIM necessary and material r Wv hwtns
tton, and that accused expected to provo BY this w.t.
stated That he bay alluded 10 vas subject to m iucs.
hrnnce Of $780, To aTold a continuance the counsel
for tho people admitted the Affidavit, aud TINT parka
It also appears, from tho records, that tho Court por
nitted Metznes ga{ns tho objections Of tho counsel
in respect 10 large amounts Of supposed indebtedness
against accscd that he was naotyent, and that thcro
M 10 1e
tho Jury the following Instructions:
~ The Jury believe, from the evidence, beyond =
reasonable doubt, that the l7th day of June 1870,
there was pending in the Court Of Common Pleas of
The City Of Aurora, An indictment against Moses Y.
n IN sader M
dictmen and WAS endeayorng to relieve himself from
a s asa :s and hs 5
the1eupon said defendant, Pollard, presented himsef
6ffore sad o9 as ono Of hs ress t. a s
administered to said Pollnrd IN oath touching ha
ability to become ball for said Clay satd ndict-
upon said detendant At and within said City
Of Anfesa k, while 80 under 9sh was examined
bail Tor said henand there wfuy and falso-
eworc and stated that ho was the owner Of 400 tons
of hay, situated in thu village Of ononvillc, worth
worth from s3s 600 to $4,000 il property, osor and
faet be owned no hay IN sud viilage Of cintonvie,
e. 4 ;, BE- d1d na own any, the same wsH inebered Of
not worth or SO but, on tue contrary was
iaolven and at the tno said Pollard mnde such state
mcnts he knew the to bo fa1se, and he made the
nnd the defendant guilty. provided the Jury further
believe from tile evidence. that he accepted by
sad Court as bail for said Clay, on tho strength Of
"rhe Jury tnntructea that, II they believe, from
The evidences that Of tho Witnesses who have testi
fed on the part Of the defense haye falsely
entirely 's1sgara tasF uness o0rFo66rasd
The foregoing statement OF tho presents ali the
questions made which We deem necessary to DO con-
First, then. to the hearsay evidence. Tint It ia
incompetent IL Obvious. The admission Of incomps-
tent ten evidence Is not always ground Of reversal +
tue Court can see, from th8 whole cAae that could
not have pre5udiced the party against whom t was
given, ts improper adnltsston may be disrcgarded.
h
fed taa: It might hsyo been very prejudiciai. Tits
IT. perjury ss.gnsa upon p az esgea oah BY accused
owned was free from tnoumbEance. The prosecution
waa required to the asity Of TINT oath by what
heArsay evidence had direct tendency to ahow that
the alleged aateuents Of the accused to what be
vas worth and shst tho hay was free from neum
the persons from whom Mszner recetved his infora-
ton wcse also to be regarded as Witnesses Tho ad-
cainot ho iisrsgardcd.
The no1t question ariscs upon the propriety Of the
nst nst nsttraetion above quoted T. T. Me settled
forth In the Indictment that The matter to, and
upon which the perjury is unsigned, material,
pend upon tthe state Of the cause, and The
~, 1851: The material point Of inquiry, upon the
examination Of tho acoBed, to his qualifications to
e. e. Sa t Se q sno ssr
ho fully able to respond to the Of s3 ooo II
TINT amount with costs aud interest," could readily DO
made OUT Of his property, it waa wholly inuaterial
whether ten times the amount could could not. So
aao to the aay. Ne 1aye said that It was shown by
clear preponderance Of the evidence that the nc
cnsed, at tue time OF Ills OATH owned about 400 tens
OF hay but y was not dcnn!tsy shown TINT this hay
waB within the yiago Of Cltntonville or worth
precisely s. ton. Nov this 1rat instruction conta!pa
no declaration from tho Court "a 10 the matar4ay Of
any Of the matters upon which perjury was assigned.
nor doea y submit that question to the jury and,
while the Indictment alleges that he that be was
worth $4,000, the instruction authorizes the jury to
find him guilty If no swore that 10 waH worth $33, 600
81, ,o00 and not worth either Of those sums,
bat va. insoyent II virtually d1eeta the Jury to ud
him guilty. II the hay not siuated ia the Village
Of Clntoavilie, although ho might hsve owned i iii,
but 1t waa situated Just on. Of te village; 1t author
buy was worth ANYTHING lssa ! than. g
single dollar This rls Of criuinali.y ia subject to
the condition. In tho instruction. that the Jury ahoud
also and from tho evidence, TINT tho accused WAS
certed BY the Court bal for Clay, on the atrength
OF such Statements"
II IL the act Of false swearing In respect to matter
material to The point Of Inquiry which conat!tutca tho
hnvh