Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1902-02-02
SOME LEGAL FREAKS
CURIOUS TWISTS THAT OBTAIN
IN ENGLISH CRIMINAL LAW.
A Person May Be Guilty of Perjury
Though He SWears to the
Truth.

IN no branch of the law as it is dis
pensed in Grcat Britain are such curl
Gus points to be found or n greater
number OF anomalies to be met with
than in the criminal branch thereof.
1t may be news to some people, for
instance. to know that there are a num-
ber of things in existence which can
not be stolen, such as a corpse, animals
fern naturr-l. e., animals wild in
state of nature with certain cXcep-
fions created 10y Statute)- soil of the
earth, etc. 10 attempt to steal nothing
would appear on the face of it to be
IN impossibility, much less Il crime
but a man indicted for attempting To
pick a lady'S pocket which was SubSc-
Quently found to be empty was found
guilty of an ''attcmpt to commit theft,
though. in fact. there was nothing in
the pocket to steal.
Any one lucky enough to pick up q
sovereign lying i'll the road will be glad
TO hear that if at the time of finding
1t he had no reasonable means of dis
covering the owner of it, and also if he
did not at the same time conceive the
idea of appropriating it to himself, he
will not be guilty of stealing if he
keeps his lucky find. even if the right
full owner discovers and claims it.
Most people walking in the country
must have noticed on numerous occa-
sions boards or placards posted up in
woods, fields, etc, notifying in large
letters that "trespa ssers will be prose-
cuted," but few are aware that such
notices are utterly useless and no one
need feel the least alarm thereat, there
being no such offense known in crimi
nal law as such trespass, and a per-
son could never be prosecuted for such
an offense. They are in fact. in the
words of that eminent jurist, Sir Fred
erick Pollock. in his we'll known work.
"PolIock on Torts,'' "wooden false
hood"
1t is a common fallacy to imagine
that the crime of forgery consists in
signing another'S name, though in fact
committing forgery consists in making
and uttering any false instrument il
writing with attempt to defraud; thus
it may be forgery to omit word
from a document. and it will be mat
ter of considerable surprise to many to
learn that 1t is possible for person to
forge his or her own name. A person.
however. who fraudu!ently inserts an
others name on picture. thereby sell
In. it as the work Of some other artist.
Is not guilty Of forgery, as a p;eture Is
not an 'anstrument in writing
The crime Of perjury also does not
quite fit in" With the generally &C
cepted idea, which is that if person.
after being sworn on cath to speak TIE
truth, swears falsely, he is guilty Of
such offense. This is correct with the
important qualification that the fact
the witness has sworn to must be ma
terial to the case. Thus If witness
on being duly sworn gave a false ad.
dress OH being asked where he Hved.
this. though untrue. would rot amount
to perjury as the place where the wit
ness lived would be quite imlnaterial.
That a person may be guilty Of per.
jury though speaking the truth may
seem curious anomaly. but such new
ertheless is the fact. as the test of per
jury is not whether a person is speak
ing what he believes to be the truth;
SO, if Il witness. for instance. on being
asked. What colored tie was the priS
encr wearing when YOU met him." re
piled red" when in fact he did not
really notice. he would be guilty Gf
perjury. even though the prisoner was
in reality wearing Il red tie when the
witness met him.
Numerous other instances of crimes
which present similar curious points to
the above might be given. and in pass
ing. persons taking ont insurance.
against burglary might noto that this
crime can only be committed bctwc
the hours of 9 y. IN. and G a. m; that
breaking into a house Ivy means of an
open door or window is not burglary.
although entering a house by sliding
down the chimney is
We must not conclude this article
without short reference to q compAr-
atvely recent case in which 4 man not
possessing the means to pay entered a
restaurant where he ordered and ate Il
good dinner. As. however, he was un-
able to pay for the same he was given
in charge and subsequently indict2 ID
for "ohtairin% goods hy false pre-
lenses" Tie case resulted in the pris-
oncr's acquittal on the ground tNHt he
had not been guilty Of any false pre-
lenses.
This individual therefore had a good
meal on the cheap hut we should not
advise any enterpri~ine reader to emu-
late his example. as although lie could
not lniepd be prosecuted for obtaining
goods hy false pretenSes, it seems that
lie viii still hc >,riminaily liable under
the bankruptcy act fer obtaining credit
by fraudulVut means London Ti;-B.tS
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st;:;te EouG.
Tudor Harris gets All his clothes
ready m&Gr ROM
Sutton So he tald You too?