2.34. 24 & 25 Vict. thereof, notwithstanding such principal felon shall die, or be pardoned, or otherwise delivered before attainder; and every such accessory shall upon conviction suffer the same punishment as he would have suffered if the principal had been attainted.” Several acce wries and re- Place of trial Accessories within admiralty jurisdiction. Sect. 9. By sect. 6, "any number of accessories at different times to any felony, and any number of receivers at different times of property stolen at one time, may be charged with substantive felonies in the same indictment, and may be tried together, notwithstanding the principal felon shall not be included in the same indictment, or shall not be in custody or amenable to justice." By sect. 7, "where any felony shall have been wholly committed within England or Ireland, the offence of any person who shall be an accessory either before or after the fact to any such felony may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined and punished by any court which shall have jurisdiction to try the principal felony, or any felonies committed in any county or place in which the act by reason whereof such person shall have become such accessory shall have been committed;-and in every other case the offence of any person who shall be an accessory either before or after the fact to any felony may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined and punished by any court which shall have jurisdiction to try the principal felony or any felonies committed in any county or place in which such person shall be apprehended or be in custody, whether the principal felony shall have been committed on the sea or on the land, or begun on the sea and completed on the land, or begun on the land and completed on the sea, and whether within her Majesty's dominions or without, or partly within her Majesty's dominions and partly without;-provided that no person who shall be once duly tried either as an accessory before or after the fact, or for a substantive felony under the provisions hereinbefore contained, shall be liable to be afterwards prosecuted for the same offence." 15 Accessories within Admiralty Jurisdiction.]—By sect, 9, "where any person shall, within the jurisdiction of the admiralty of England or Ireland, become an accessory to any felony, whether the same be a felony at common law or by virtue of any act passed or to be passed, and whether such felony shall be committed within that jurisdiction or elsewhere, or shall be begun within that jurisdiction and completed elsewhere, or shall be begun elsewhere and completed within that jurisdiction, the offence of such person shall be felony; and in any indictment for any such offence the venue in the margin shall be the same as if the offence had been committed 15 Vide also the 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 64, ss. 12, 13, Vol. I. pp. 22, 23, as to offences on the borders of counties, or begun in one and completed in another, and offences during a journey or voyage. Vide also 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, ss. 9, 10, as to murder and manslaughter, and hurts abroad, pp. 911, 912. in the county or place in which such person shall be indicted, and 24 & 25 Vict. his offence shall be averred to have been committed on the high c. 94. seas;'-16 provided that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect any of the laws relating to the government of her Majesty's land or naval forces." treason and meanors. In high treason, and in all crimes under the degree of Aiders and felony, there are no accessories; but all persons concerned abettors in therein, if guilty at all, are principals; the same rule holding misdewith regard to the highest and lowest offences; to the highest propter odium delicti; to the lowest, because the law, quæ de minimis non curat, does not descend to distinguish the different shades of guilt in petty misdemeanors. 17 This position, as concerns misdemeanors generally, is affirmed by 24 & 25 Vict. c. 94, s. 8, which enacts :— "Whosoever shall aid, abet, counsel or procure the commission Sect. 8. of any misdemeanor, whether the same be a misdemeanor at common law or by virtue of any act passed or to be passed, shall be liable to be tried, indicted, and punished as a principal offender." [The Larceny Act, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 98, the Malicious Injuries Act, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 97, s. 56, the Forgery Act, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 98, 8. 49, and the Offences against the Person Act, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, 8. 67, contain a precisely similar provision as the last clause.] A receiver of property stolen, taken, obtained, converted, or Receivers of disposed of may, whether charged as an accessory after the stolen, &c. property fact to the felony, or with a substantive felony [under sect. 91], or with a misdemeanor only, be dealt with, indicted, tried and punished, in the place in which he shall have had the property in his possession, or where he received it, or where the principal felon or misdemeanant may be tried (24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 96); and the same where the principal felony was committed in another part of the kingdom (Id. s. 114). See also the provisions of ss. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of 24 & 25 Vict. c. 94, which relate to receivers, who are in fact accessories after the fact. In the indictment a count may be added for feloniously stealing the property (24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 92), and separate receivers may be included in the same indictment in the absence of the principal (Id. s. 93), as well as joint receivers, and they may 16 For the other enactments in the Criminal Law and other acts as to principal offenders, see post, pp. 903, 904. 17 4 Bla. Com. 36; 1 Hale, 613; Reg. v. Greenwood, 2 Den. C. C. 453; 21 L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 127. Offences in different parts of the kingdom. Offences out of the kingdom. Dying decla ration may be made and re ceived in evidence, upon certain conditions. be separately convicted (Id. s. 94; see Reg. v. Reardon & Bloor, 35 L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 171; 1 L. Rep., C. C. R. 31). In these cases, and also in cases where the stealing, taking, &c. by the principal is a misdemeanor only, the receiver may be indicted and convicted whether the principal "shall or shall not have "been previously convicted, or shall or shall not be amenable "to justice" (Id. ss. 91, 95). The offence of having possession of stolen property in one part of the kingdom [i. e. in England] which has been stolen in another part [i. e. Scotland or Ireland], can be dealt with in that part where the offender is found with the property (24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 114); but this is not applicable to goods obtained by false pretences and carried into another country (Reg. v. Stanbury, 31 L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 88; 5 Law T., N. S. 686), as where a person received or had possession in England of goods stolen in Guernsey (Reg. v. Debruiel, 11 Cox, C. C. 207, Byles J.). See 24 & 25 Vict. c. 94, ss. 7, 9, as to accessories here to offences abroad; and see post, p. 907. The declaration of a person who is dying in consequence of injuries received from another, may be made orally or in writing to a magistrate, a surgeon, a superintendent of police or other competent person, and, after the death of the dying person, proved by the person who heard the expressions used. Although no particular form of the declaration is necessary, there are certain material ingredients required in order to its admissibility in evidence against an accused, viz.-1, the cause of the death of the declarant must be the subject of inquiry; 2. the circumstances of the death the subject of the declaration; and 3, it must appear to have been made at a time when the deceased was perfectly aware of his danger, and entertained no hope of recovery; 18 but it is only in cases where the deceased, if he had lived, could be a witness, that this evidence is receivable (R. v. Pike, 3 C. & P. 598); and that is a question for the judge at the trial (Reg. v. Smith, 34 18 R. v. Mead, 2 B. & C. 605; R. v. Hutchinson, Id. 608, n.; R. v. Lloyd and others, 4 C. & P. 233; R. v. Crockett, Id. 544; R. v. Bonner, 6 C. & P. 386; R. v. Foster, Id. 325; R. v. Spilsbury, 7 C. & P. 187; R. v. Fagent, Id. 238; R. v. Woodcock, 1 Leach, 500; Reg. v. Taylor, 3 Cox, C. C. 84; Reg. v. Reany, 26 L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 43; 1 Dears, & Bell, C. C. 151; Reg. v. Whitworth, 1 F. & F. 382; Reg. v. Hind, 29 L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 147; 2 Law T., N. S. 253; Reg. v. Clarke, 2 F. & F. 2: see 3 Russell on Cr., 4th ed. p. 250, &c.; Reg. v. Mackay, 11 Cox, C. C. 148; Reg. v. Jenkins, 38 L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 82; 20 Law T., N. S. 372. L. J. (N. S.) M. C. 153; 1 Leigh & Cave, C. C. 607). Whether this declaration is in writing or not, it should not be upon oath when taken in the accused's absence by a magistrate, and it has no greater weight if made upon oath, although one upon oath, embodied in a written information for the injury to the declarant under the 11 & 12 Vict. c. 42, s. 8, ante, p. 881, would possibly be admissible in evidence. The principle upon which these dying declarations are receivable in evidence is founded on the situation of the dying person, which is considered as powerful over his conscience as the obligation of an oath (1 Taylor on Evid. 4th ed. p. 616). If taken on oath in the presence of the accused, it then becomes a deposition, and may be used, under 11 & 12 Vict. c. 42, s. 17, post, p. 946, in the event of the party's death, without the necessity of proving that it was made in anticipation of death. 19 deposition of gerously ill. person dan By 30 & 31 Vict. c. 35, s. 6 (post, p. 947), a justice has Power to take power to take the deposition of a person dangerously ill and unable to travel, and not likely to recover, who can give important information as to an indictable offence, or to a person accused thereof. search war As to the issue of a search warrant (which is often neces- Information sarily dispensed with by the police where persons are already to justices for charged with felony), it may now be authorized by a justice, &c. rant for or chief officer of police (see post, p. 894). By virtue of the stolen goods. commission of the peace, any one justice may grant a search warrant upon an information on oath 20 by the owner of goods stolen, or any person on his behalf, if reasonable grounds for suspecting that such goods are in the house or upon the premises of a particular person situate within the jurisdiction of the justice granting the warrant; but a positive oath that larceny is actually committed is not necessary. 21 The Larceny Consolidation Act, 1861, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 103, provides (inter alia), that "if any credible witness shall prove upon oath before a justice of the peace a reasonable cause "to suspect that any person has in his possession or on his "premises any property whatsoever, on or with respect to "which any offence, punishable either upon indictment or "upon summary conviction by virtue of this act, shall have 19 Vide Form suggested, No. 5, Oke's "Formulist," 6th ed. p. 474. 20 Vide Form of Information, No. 4, Id. 21 See Elsee v. Smith, 1 D. & R. 97; Wyatt v. White, 1 Law T., 617. N. S. 0.8. VOL. II. 3 M "been committed, the justice may grant a warrant to search "for such property, as in the case of stolen goods." 22 This enactment extends to a variety of misdemeanors as well as felonies, and comprehends offences under the following titles of Chapter II. of this part of the Work : There are also clauses in the other Criminal Law Consolidation Acts, 1861, authorizing the issue of search warrants, viz. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 97, s. 55; 24 & 25 Vict. c. 98, s. 46; 24 & 25 Vict. c. 99, s. 27; 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 65. By the Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871, 34 & 35 Vict. c. 112, s. 16, "Any constable may under the circumstances "hereafter in this section mentioned be authorized in writing "by a chief officer of police 23 to enter, and if so authorized 66 may enter, any house, shop, warehouse, yard, or other pre"mises in search of stolen property, and search and seize and secure any property he may believe to have been stolen, in "the same manner as he would be authorized to do if he had a search warrant, and the property seized, if any, corre"sponded to the property described in such search warrant. "In every case in which any property is seized in pursuance "of this section the person on whose premises it was at the "time of seizure, or the person from whom it was taken if "other than the person on whose premises it was, shall, unless "previously charged with receiving the same knowing it to "have been stolen, be summoned before a court of summary jurisdiction 24 to account for his possession of such pro 22 The justice granting this warrant must also be one having jurisdiction in the place where the property is suspected to be, whether the offence was originally committed there or not. There are other special enactments as to search warrants referred to in other titles of Chap. II. 23 The "chief officer of police" is defined by sect. 20 to mean"(1.) In the city of London and the liberties thereof, the commissioner of city police: (2.) In the metropolitan police district, the commissioner of police of the metropolis: (3.) Elsewhere in England, the chief constable, or head constable, or other officer, by whatever name called, having the chief command of the police in the police district in reference to which such expression occurs. Any act or thing by this act authorized to be done by the chief officer of police may be done by any person authorized by him in that behalf." 24 I. e. a police or stipendiary magistrate, the lord mayor or an alder |
