[ANSTHRLD] trial by combat [was: baronial service awards]

[Diane Rudin]

--- Mike Wyvill <wyvillmike at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
http://home.uchicago.edu/~djm2/archives/sent.1995.10/trial.by.combat
 
However, whoever wrote that snippet doesn't have his facts quite
straight as to the English case.  The case which caused Parliament to
change the law in 1818 (and not in emergency session either, but it
sure was quickly hustled onto the agenda) was 

Ashford v. Thornton (1818), 1 B. and Ald. 405-461, ER CVI, KBD XXXV

I am not unsure about this; this case was the topic of a graduate
term paper in English legal history, Fall 2005.  Modern authors who
have examined the evidentiary reports directly all agree that
Thornton was almost certainly innocent of the charges, which was the
finding of the jury at the local assize court that heard the first
case.  Anybody who really wants more detailed information is welcome
to contact me offlist.

Too bad he didn't give a case citation for the Maryland case; I'd
love to have that info.  Oh well, someday I'll find it; that's what
LexisNexis is for.

--Serena

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