[Download] "United States v. William Murphy and William Morgan" by United States Supreme Court * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: United States v. William Murphy and William Morgan
- Author : United States Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 01, 1842
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 74 KB
Description
Nash, of counsel for the defendant, presented a printed argument. 1. The witness, Francis McMahon, the owner of the property charged to have been stolen, was not a competent witness to be examined on the part of the United States, in this cause. The indictment is founded upon the 16th section of the act approved April 30th, 1790, being the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States. (1 U. S. Stat. 116.) The section upon which the indictment is founded, among other things, declares, that 'if any person, upon the high seas, shall take and carry away, with an intent to steal or purloin, the personal goods of another, the person or persons so offending, their counsellors, aiders and abettors, knowing of, and privy to, the offence, shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding fourfold the value of the property so stolen or purloined; the one moiety to be paid to the owner of the goods, and the other moiety to be informer and prosecutor.' In this case, the witness is both the owner of the goods and the informer and prosecutor; upon the conviction of the defendants, the whole fine against them must be paid to the witness direct, without any suit or further proceedings; the court have no power to dispose of the fine, in any other manner, and nothing can be inflicted upon the defendants, on conviction, by way of sentence, but the fine; as whipping is abolished by the act of congress. The witness is directly interested in the sentence, the temptation to false swearing is great–immense; and increases just in proportion to the difficulties that surround the case to detect perjury.