18 Me. 304 | Me. | 1841
The opinion of the Court was drawn up by
Possibly the course of decisions on questions of law, raised in cases of bastardy, may have gone quite as far against the deductions to be made by juries, as they ought to proceed, but probably not further than they should, in order to prevent an undue influence of sympathy with the deserted and unfortunate female.
Whenever exceptions are presented, it is not for the Court to run out in a crusade after any omission of some supposed material
It is true, that courts will take notice of the ordinary course of nature. And so will jurors. But it is peculiarly the duty of the latter, to settle the virtue and extent of seeming exceptions, and one ingredient in coming to a right estimation on this point may be the evidence of the consciousness of the defendant, as demonstrated by his admission, that no injustice was done to him, by the designation of the complainant that he was the man, who had given her occasion to remember him, in this matter, and his willingness to marry her. If inaccurate as to time and place it might be a subject of argument and commentary to the jury and justly, but if the constancy in the accusation as to the man, was maintained, and the jury should be satisfied of its justness, notwithstanding a faintness of disclosure or recollection of the precise day and hour, it would be doing violence to the object of the statute, which is to procure a right application upon the verdict of a jury, for the Court to set the conclusion of the jury all aside, upon such grounds as have been suggested in the argument upon these exceptions. The reason of her mistake seems to be not unnatural, according to the testimony of the physician.
It is objected that there should be a separate paper for the complaint, and examination. The statute makes no such precise provision.
As to the affect of the statute, c. 338, passed March 22, 1838,
Exceptions overruled