Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-01-07
SOME LEGAL FREAKS
CURIOUS TWISTS THAT OBTAIN IN
ENGLISH CRIMINAL LAW.
A PersOn May De Guilty of Perjury
Though He swcaEs to the Truth-No
Such OtfcnSc I'm Trespass - Points
AhNMt Forgery.

Though He SwcaEs to the Truth-NO
Snch OHensc IN Trespans Points
About Forgery.
In no branch Of the law as it is DIS
rcnsed in Great Britain are such curl
Gus points to he found or greater
number of anomalies to be met with
than in the criminal branch thereof
II may be news to some people, for
instance. to know that there are n num-
Der Of things in existence which can
not lie stolen, such as corpse, animals
ferm naturRi. e., animals wild in
state of nature with certain eXcep-
lions created by statute)-soil Of the
earth. etc. TO attempt to steal nothing
would appear on the face Of it to be
an impossiblity, much less crime,
but a man indicicd for attempting to
pick a ladys pocket which was subse-
quently found to be empty was found
guilty of an "attempt to commit theft"
though in fact, there was nothing in
the pocket to steal.
Any one lucky enough to pick up a
sovereign lying in the road will be glad
to hear that, if at the time Of finding
1t lie 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 "trespassers will be prose-
cutcd,' but few are aware that such
notices are utterly useless and no one
need feel the least alarm thereat, there
being no such oflense known in crimj
nal law as such a trespass, and per
son could never be prosecuted for such
an otTense. They are, in fact, in the
words of that eminent jurist, Sir Fred
erick Pollock. in his well known work,
"Pollock on Torts," a 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
ard uttering any false instrument In
writing with attempt to defraud, TINS
it may be a forgery to omit word
from a document. and it will be a mat
ter of considerable surprise to many to
learn that it is possible for person to
forge his or her own name. A person.
however, who fraudulently inserts an.
others name on picture, thereby sell.
ing it us the work of some other artist,
is not guilty of forgery as a picture is
not an "instrument in writing"
The crime of perjury also does not
quite fit in with the generally ac-
cepted idea. which is that if person,
after being sworn on oath to speak the
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 false ad-
dress on being asked where he lived
this, though untrue. would not amount
TO perjury as the place where the wit
ness lived would be quite immateral.
That 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 person is speak
ing what he believes to be the truth;
so, if witness. for instance on being
asked. What colored tie was the pris-
min, hn, mn him, ~ pa-
piled "red." when in fact he did not
really notice, he would he guilty of
, perjury, even though the prisoner was
In reality wearing 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 out assurances
against burglary might note that this
crime can only be committed between
the hours of 9 r. m. and a. M; that
breaking into a house by 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 t. compNr-
atively recent case in which Il nl:n Not
possessing the means to paN cntNrtd a
restaurant. where he ordered ana -" Il
good dinner. AS. however, he was IN
able to pay for the same he wa gwen
In charge and subsequently l"l.ct> It
for "oDtainina Eo@ds fr ia . PIE
lenses" The case resulted ia The pris
oners acQuittal on the ground that he
/ had not been guilty Of any false pc
lenses.
This Individual therefore had good
meal on the cheap. but we should not
advise any enterprising reader to emu
late his example, as, although he could
not indeed be prosecuted for obtaining
goods by false pretenses, it seems that
/ he will still be criminally liable under
the bankruptcy act for obtaining credit
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