TABLE OF CONTENTS ΤΟ REIGN OF KING GEORGE THE FIRST. 461. THE Trial of HUGH REASON and ROBERT TRANTER, at the King's-Bench, for the Murder of Edward Lutterell, esq. 462. The Trial of JOHN WOODBURNE and ARUNDEL COKE, esq. at Suffolk Assizes, for Felony, in wilfully slitting the Nose of Page 464. Proceedings in Parliament against JOHN PLUNKETT, GEORGE KELLY, alias JOHNSON, and Dr. FRANCIS ATTERBURY, Bishop of Rochester, upon Bills of Pains and Penalties for a Trea- 465. The Trial of EDWARD ARNOLD, for Felony (in maliciously and wilfully shooting at, and wounding, the Right Hon. the Lord' ERRATA in this Volume. Page 648, l. 16 of Note, for, viz. to the maintenance of the Dogma, read, to the maintenance, for instance, of the Dogma. Page 649, 1. 4 of Note, for, Pope's sneer, read, the sneer of Atterbury's friend Pope. A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF STATE TRIALS, &c. &c. 461. The Trial of HUGH REASON and ROBERT TRANTER, at the King's-Bench, for the Murder of Edward Lutterell, esq. Hil. 8 GEORGE I. A. D. 1722.* February 3, 1722. In Banco Regis.-DOMINUS REX Der. HUGONEM The Indictment was as follows: "THE Jury present, that Hugh Reason and Robert Tranter, not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, the 17th day of * This Case is reported in 1 Strauge 499, as follows: DOMINUS REX v. REASON and TRANTER. "The defendants being indicted by the grand jury that attends the Court of B. R. for the murder of Mr. Lutterell, were brought up to the bar and arraigned, and pleaded Not Guilty; and upon their request were remanded to Newgate, instead of being turned over to the marshal. "Upon the Trial (which was at bar) we who were counsel for the king offered to give in evidence several declarations made by the deceased on his death-bed, whereby he charged the defendants with barbarously murdering him, and without much hesitation the Court let us into that evidence. Whereupon we called a clergyman who attended him, and he swore that being desired by some friends of the defendants to press Mr. Lutterell to declare what provocation he had given the defendants to use him in that manner; be declared upon his salvation, that as he was a dying man he gave them no provocation, but they barbarously murdered him that in the afternoon of the same day, two justices of the peace being present, and having given him his oath, he made another and more particular declaration to that purpose, which the witness at the desire of the justices took down in writing, but Mr. Lutterell not being able to write, it was not signed by bim, and therefore we did not deliver it in. VOL. XVI. October last, about the hour of ten of the clock in the forenoon of the said day, by force and arms, at the parish of St. Clement Danes, in the county of Middlesex, in and upon one Edward Lutterell, esq. in the peace of God and of our sovereign lord the king, then and there being, feloniously, voluntarily, and of their malice aforethought, did make an assault; and that the said Hugh Reason, with a pistol of the value of 5s. then and there charged with gunAnd the same witness proved, that upon his administering the sacrament to him he exhorted him in the most proper manner to deal ingenuously, and declare once more, whether there was no provocation given by him, and whether he would stand by the account he had before given; upon which the deceased answered, that as he hoped to be judged at the last day, it was every syllable true, and soon after expired. "When this gentleman had finished his evidence, the Court called upon us to produce the paper that had been written from the mouth of the deceased, saying that was better evidence than the memory of the witness; whereupon we acquainted the Court, that we had not the original, it being in the custody of one of the justices, whom going to subpoena we found he was in Wales; but the clergyman said he had a copy of it, which he took for his own satisfaction, before he delivered in the original to the coroner, and he offered to swear this to be a true copy. "Whereupon a debate arose, whether this copy was evidence or not: we who were for the king insisting, that the first paper being only the writing of the witness, not signed by the examinant, this which he now produced, was as much an original as that. But the Court refused to let it be read, unless we could shew the original was lost, whereas it appeared we might have had it to produce, if we had sent after it in time. B powder and leaden bullets; which said pistol there by the force of the said powder, the said the said Hugh Reason in his right hand, then | Edward Lutterell in aud upon the right part of and there had and held into and against the the body of the said Edward Lutterell, under the aforesaid Edward Lutterell, then and there felo- right pap of the said Edward Lutterell, then niously and of his malice aforethought did shoot and there feloniously, voluntarily, and of his off and discharge: And that the said Hugh malice aforethought struck: and that the said Reason with leaden bullets aforesaid issuing Hugh Reason then and there feloniously, voand shot off out of the pistol aforesaid, then and luntarily, and of his malice aforesaid, gave to out for help, and immediately heard one of the pistols go off, and presently after the second, which a woman looking out at window on the other side the way proved to be fired by Reason; and several people upon the alarm of the maid coming into the room found Mr. Luttercll upon the ground where the maid left him, without any sword or pistol near him. "It was then objected by the chief justice, that since the written evidence was not produced, the whole evidence of the deceased's declarations ought to be rejected, for the first, second and third being all to the same effect, are but one fact of which the best evidence was not produced; and therefore he was of opinion, that we could not be let in to give any account of the first and third conference. "But the other judges were of opinion we might, saying they were three distinct facts, and there was no reason to exclude the evidence as to the first and third declaration, merely because we were disabled to give an account of the second. "Thereupon the witness was directed to repeat his evidence, laying the examination before the justices out of the case, which he did accordingly. "And upon the whole evidence the fact (upon which the question of law arose) was this: "The defendants were officers of the sheriff of Middlesex, and had a warrant to arrest Mr. Lutterell for 10l. they arrested him coming out of his lodgings, whereupon he desired them to go back with him to his lodgings, and he would pay the money. They complied with this, and Reason went up with him into the dining-room, having sent Tranter to the attorney's for a bill of the charges. Whilst Reason and the deceased continued together, some words passed between them in relation to civility-money, which Mr. Lutterell refused to give, and thereupon went up another pair of stairs to order his lady to tell out the money, and then returned to Reason with two pistols in his breast, which upon the importunity of the maid he laid down upon the table, and retired to the fire which was at the other end of the room, declaring he did not design to hurt the defendants, but he would not be ill used. "By this time Tranter returned from the attorney's with the bill, and being let in by the boy went directly up stairs to his partner, being followed by the boy, who swore, that as he was upon the stairs (Tranter being that minute gone into the dining-room) he heard a blow given, but could not tell by whom, and thereupon hastening into the room he found Tranter-had run the deceased up against the closet door, and Reason with his sword stabbing him. Mr. Lutterell soon sunk down upon the ground, and begged for mercy; but Reason standing over him continued to stab him, till he had wounded him in nine places. "By this time the maid came in, and seeing ker master in that posture, she and the boy run "Upon the defendants' evidence it appeared, that Mr. Lutterell had a walking-cane in his hand, and that Tranter had a scratch in his forehead, which might be probably a blow with the cane, and the blow heard by the boy upon Tranter's first going into the room. And one of the surgeons deposed, that the deceased had made such declarations to the clergyman, but this witness afterwards being alone with Mr. Lutterell pressed him very earnestly to discover the truth, upon which Mr. Lutterell did say, that he believed he might strike one of them with his cane, before they run him through. "Upon this the question arose; whether Mr. Lutterell's striking one of the bailiffs first, would reduce the subsequent killing to be manslaughter only? "For the king it was argued, that notwithstanding such stroke the defendants would be guilty of murder, that not being a sufficient provocation for giving the death's wound with the pistol: and for this Holloway's case, Cro. Car. 139, and Kelying 127, were cited, where the woodward finding a boy in the park who came to steal wood, tied him to a horse's tail in order to correct him, the horse run away and the boy was killed: and this was adjudged to be murder, because the tying him to the horse's tail, being an act of cruelty, for which no sufficient provocation had been given, he was answerable for all the consequences of it. "The defendants insisted, that the bringing down the pistols was a sufficient alarm to them to be upon their guard; and then when he struck one of them, it was reasonable for them to apprehend themselves to be in danger; and in such case a prudent man would not leave it any longer in the power of his adversary to do him any further mischief. "To this it was answered by the counsel for the king, that if Mr. Lutterell had continued to keep the pistols in his bosom, there might be some colour for an apprehension of danger; but the contrary appearing, viz. that he was at a distance from the pistols, with the defendants between him and them; they had no ground to fear any harm upon that account: and the death's wound was given after Mr. Lutterell was fallen down with the wounds he had received with the sword, and was entirely 2. William Pannell, jur. 3. Thomas Beckington, jur. Clerk of the Crown. Cryer, make Proclamation. the said Edward Lutterell, with the leaden bullets aforesaid, out of the said pistol then and there by force of the said powder shot off and discharged in and against the right part of the body of the said Edward Lutterell, under the right pap of the said Edward Lutterell, one mortal wound of the breadth of one inch, and the depth of nine inches, of which said mortal wound the said Edward Lutterell, from the said 10th hour of the said 17th day of October, until the 10th hour in the afternoon of the said day he languished, and languishing lived, at which said hour the said Edward Lutterell, at the parish aforesaid, of the wound aforesaid, died: And that the said Robert Tranter at the time of the felony and murder aforesaid, by the said Hugh Reason in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, voluntarily, and of his malice aforesaid, committed and perpetrated, feloniously, voluntarily, and of his malice aforesaid there was present, aiding, abetting, assisting, comforting and maintaining the said Hugh Reason to commit the aforesaid felony and murder in manner and form aforesaid. And the jury say, that the said Hugh Reason and Robert Tranter the said Edward Lutterell in manner and form aforesaid, at the parish and county aforesaid, feloniously, voluntarily, and of their malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against his majesty's peace," &c. To this Indictment they severally pleaded, Not Guilty, and on February 3, were brought to the King's-bench bar to receive their Trial, which proceeded in the following manner: Clerk of the Crown. You the prisoners at the bar, these men which you shall hear called and personally appear, are to pass between our sovereign lord the king and you upon the trial of your several lives and deaths; if you will challenge them or any of them, you must do it as they come to the book to be sworn, before they are sworn. Cryer. O Yes, &c. If any one can inform our sovereign lord the king's justices, the king's serjeants, or the king's attorney, of the felony and murder whereof the prisoners stand indicted before this inquest be taken between our sovereign lord the king, and the prisoners at the bar, let them come forth and they shall be heard, for the prisoners now stand at the bar upon their deliverance. Clerk of the Crown. Hugh Reason, hold up your hand; Robert Tranter, hold up your hand. Gentlemen of the jury, look upon the prisoners and hearken to their cause; they stand indicted, for that they not having the fear of seduced by the instigation of the devil, the 17th God before their eyes, but being moved and day of October last, about the hour of ten of the clock in the forenoon of the said day, by force and arms, at the parish of St. Clement Danes in the county of Middlesex, in and upon one Edward Lutterell, esq. in the peace of God and of our sovereign lord the king, then and there being feloniously, voluntarily, and of their malice aforethought, did make an assault; and that the said Hugh Reason, with a pistol of the value of 5s. then and there charged with gunpowder and leaden bullets; which said pistol the said Hugh Reason in his right hand then and there had and held into and against the aforesaid Edward Lutterell, then and there feloniously, and of his malice aforethought, did shoot off and discharge: And that the said Hugh Reason with the leaden bullets aforesaid, issuing and shot off out of the pistol aforesaid, then and there by the force of the said powder, the said Edward Lutterell in and upon the right part of the body of the said Edward Lutterell, under the right pap of the said Edward Lutterell, then and there feloniously, voluntarily, and of his malice aforethought struck; And that the said Hugh Rea"But the Court in the direction of the jury son then and there feloniously, voluntarily, and did positively declare, that if they believed Mr. of his malice aforesaid, gave to the said EdLatterell made the first assault upon the bailiffs, ward Lutterell, with the leaden bullets afore. the killing with the pistol after he was down said, out of the said pistol then and there by would be but manslaughter; and the jury upon force of the said powder shot off and discharged that direction found them guilty of manslaugh-in and against the right part of the body of the ter only, though otherwise they were disposed to have hanged them for the barbarity of the fact, Robert Dennes, esq. challenged. in the power of the defendants: so that what "The defendants prayed the benefit of the statute, and were burnt in the hand. said Edward Lutterell, one mortal wound of the breadth of one inch, and the depth of nine inches, of which said mortal wound the said Edward Lutterell, from the said 10th hour of the said 17th day of October, until the 10th |