The Red Cloud chief., 1893-09-01
pRoeessloNAL WITNESSES.
ONE or Them From England Makes som
Interesting Revelations

liz v
be magistrates, barristers, or solicitors
whose duties cause them to be brought
in constant contact with crime. few
people Know anything Of the career OF
q PROBES 'ional witness. / may 90
further. and say that few people are
aware of the existence Of men who
gain a livelihood by giving evidence in
the witDess-boy. Yet not only do they
exist, but they derive a substantial i'm.
come from their work.
81 would divide them into two
classes. The first class consists of ex.
pert witnesses, whose duty it is to as.
sist justice by giving evidence OF a
description, which only those
vcrscd In special technicalitics of the
case can give. The second class con-
sists of those witnesses whose business
IL is to defeat the ends of Justice on
behalf of anybody who can afford To
pay them.
'Of the first ella $ there is little to be
SAID. As n rule they are men of ire
proachablc integrity. who have earned
a well-dcservcd reputation in their re-.
spectivc professions or business. Their
evidence is often conflicting, but, as a
rule, it is given in good faith.
Medical evidence is. | believe, al
ways above suspicion. but where the
cause In dispute is merely one of dam
ages, and expert witnesses have to be
called to give evidence as To valuation.
then the professional witness has his
chance. IL the question relates To the
value of property his mind Is as elastic
rs fhnf lf t1,., " "
dispute b. over the value Of a horse it
would appear that no two dealers in
the Kingdom hold the same opinion.
1T has never beer my lot To be en-
gagged in a horse case. but I know one
dealer who has u regular scale OF pay
1nent for his evidence. I would not
accuse him of perjury, but the variety
OF his opinions on horselesh is certain
ly remarkable. have known him To
value the same horse Mt tive different
times at two hundred guineas and
twenty-five pounds.
but IL is amongst the criminal
classes that the professional witness
reaps the richest harvest. OF these
classes have had large experience
both in London and in the provinces.
and venture to say that I am the cause
OF many n man being at liberty. Yeti
have never been reprimandcd either by
a judge or II magistrate. Cases where
the defense is an alibi, and eases of as.
sault form my chief stock in trade.
1.-The defence of an alibi is always
viewed with suspicion, and therefore
requires the exercise of considerable
ingenuity. 1t must be remembered
that the first object of the professional
witness is not tn commit perjury. or
rather not to say anything which a
jury would consider perjury. For this
reason 1t Is best To appear as an indie
pendent witness and not as IA friend Of
the prisoner.
$50 If You swear that you saw q man
ut a certain place at the time when the
offence was committed, and it is proved
that he was not at that place. it is
sufficient to prove hat you were at
that place yourself and SO might have
mistaken somebody else for the pris-
oncr
But the danger Of attempting to
prove an abb without success is so
great in a case of Importance that it Is |
rarely rcsorted To. In cases of common
assault and public-house brawls. where
the offender is not taken red-handed, |
the professional witness can generally |
throw so much doubt on the matter
that an acquittal is the result. Still in
these cases it is best not to depend on
an alibi for the defence. |
THE independent witness who hap
pened to be present at the time, and
who states that the prisoner was the
aggrieved party instead of being the
aggressor, is the most useful man for
the defence. The police stand in awe
of him. How often does a gentleman
voluntarily come forward to say that
the police used unnecessary violence.
lie is not "a volunteer: he Is n profess
ional witness, whose fee ranges from IA
fye-pound note to a quart of beer.
The great drawback to my profess
sion Is that ! am constantly obliged To
change my place of business, else
should become more widely known
would be convenient. At the out
side. | cannot appear before the same
metropolitan magistrate more than six
times in "a year.
IL have IA permanent address which
u hho"h W Sc'crdi pcoplc, Dut most OF
my time is spent in wandering from
police court IL police court, both in
n country. ] loaf about the
~neighboring public houses, and gencr-
ally hear of some business in which my
services would be acceptable. | have
TO exercise great discretion AS to whom
| tender those services, but | do not
often meet with n rebuff. A prisoner
is not generally scrupulous as to the
truth of his defence, though sometimes
he will try to avoid paying for it. /
it a rule to get at least a large
share of my fee in advance.
Giving evidence as to character af-
fords n rich harvest both. at quarter
and at a~ssizcs. The price for
this evidence is high, as ii can only be
given about nee in eighteen months.
at the same court or before the
same Judge. Some briefless barrister
is sure TO recognize US and To tell the
prosecuting counsel.
"Of course the character ! assume in
this evidence varies with the
position Of the prisoner. The charge
ter of the parson of the parish where