Beschreibung:

CASE LAW] The Report of an Action of Assault, Battery, and Wounding, Tried in the Supreme Court of Judicature for the Province of New-York, in the Term of October, 1764, between Thomas Forsey, Plaintiff, and Waddell Cunningham, Defendant . New-York: John Holt, 1764. First edition. Nineteenth century three-quarters morocco, cloth sides. 7 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches (20 x 15.5 cm); [ii], iv, 68 pp., including half-title and title. Binding rather rubbed, short split at foot of front joint. Early ownership name (Nathan Sanford) on half-title, Bar Association stamp and accession date on margins of title, minor toning, a few leaves erratically trimmed just touching the bracket around the page number, without loss. Bar Association gift bookplate. Complete copies of this book are rather uncommon (we note only one complete copy sold recently, in 1989). The case has significance beyond simple assault and battery, as the altercation (in which Cunningham, a creditor's representative, severely injured Forsey with a sword) led to a challenge to the sanctity of a jury verdict. Cunningham was first charged with criminal assault and was fined 30 pounds. Forsey then filed civil charges, and a jury, after considerable deliberation, awarded him 1,500 pounds. Cunningham then went (upon instructions issued previously from the King) to Acting Governor Cadwallader Colden, asking him to overrule the jury in the civil case. Colden issued a stay, and required the Supreme Court judges to appear before the Provincial Council to defend their denial of the appeal. His action naturally led to controversy, as it was tantamount to the governor overruling a jury verdict. The justices in the case (Chief Justice Daniel Horsmanden, Associate Justices David Jones William Smith [the elder] and Robert Livingston) held, on variety of grounds, that the only appeal was through writ of error, but Colden held that the royal prerogative was without such limits. Ultimately, in 1765 the English Attorney General and Solicitor General issued a joint opinion affirming that, in a jury trial, an appeal could proceed only by writ of error. An important challenge to the jury system in North America was avoided. C The New York City Bar Association