Trial By Hot Iron Evidence

When woman was in the water “the women usually drowned.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Another tool was the amputation saw. And the body would be in terrible pain because “it was used to remove a limb slowly and painfully.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Beheading was used for the higher-class people, “because it was considered a more honorable way to die.” (Elizabethan Crime and Punishment).

In the article " Trial Lawyers Cater to Jurors' Demands for Visual Evidence" by Sylvia Hsiech, visual evidence can be used very effectively to reach jurors in courtrooms cases, but such evidence must adhere to the rules of evidence and should not be overdone. According to the author, There is a high demand for lawyers to use sound bite-like presentation and hiring visual artists to illustrate piles of documents and basically bringing them to life. For example hiring an visual artist you can keep the jurors entertained and present it visual so they can see and understand it. In the article, the author talks about Brain Carney because according to him every case can be visual. For instance whether you think your case can't be transfer into a

The water trials were that the convicted were thrown into a running body of water, since it was believed that their evil deeds would reject the water, so they would float. They had a rope tied around their waste for those who sank, so they were able to be pulled out. In the case they floated, they were occasionally executed. Even if they did sink and were seen as innocent, it was not uncommon for accidental drowning’s to occur.

The Salem Witch Trials of colonial Massachusetts is infamously known throughout the entirety of the world. This is consequently a result of the unessential executions of a collection of individuals. The bloodshed of the number of citizens is referred to as ‘unessential’ for the reason that the trials were surrounded by paranormal activity. Proof that the accused legitimately participated in demonic activities such as witchcraft was incapable of being found. Although this may be factual, the government still seized the lives of a variety of innocent individuals. The Salem witch trials are considered heinous for reason that 20 innocent individuals were penalized by death for crimes they did not commit.

Gaskill, reported that at his time King James I would also review trials and in some cases he discovered that some trials occurred because of false accusations. Before the Civil War, the trials of accused witches were more or less a fair trial, however, do to the political vacuum caused by King Charles I’s reign and the civil war, the format of the witch trials would also change once again.

They convicted accused persons on the ground of what was known as spectral testimony, unsupported by other evidence. Even if the source of evidence expected as sufficient for conviction, it would be easy for anyone, either out of malice or because of hallucinations, to accuse and obtain the conviction of an innocent person. The Mathers and other ministers were aware of this and cautioned the members of the court privately against placing too great a reliance on this kind of evidence. In any case, it was clear that some more objective evidence ought to be required for conviction, and the members of the court knew this perfectly well. If they had applied such evidence, this could be prevented.

This caused problems for the courts though. The courts knew that witchcraft was a “indisputable crime” but they also knew that these crimes where “difficult to prove” (SP, 11). This is why the evidence used during witchcraft trials varied greatly. The most sought out evidence was always confessions from the accused. This can be seen in the Oyer and Terminer court cases when the magistrates refused to take no for an answer from the accused and persisted on the accused confessing.

The following paper will best explain the judicial system used during the Salem Witch Trials, a series of hearings over a witchcraft scare that took place from June through September of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The writer shall include a brief history of the events, explain the judicial system of the Trials, and give detail to what methods were used to determine fate of a victim. Additionally, the writer will explain how the Trials were based on false views that were not supported.

The idea of torture being an important and commonly used way to question accused witches is also supported by source thirty-four in Witchcraft in Europe, which is The Malleus Maleficarum written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger in 1487. The Malleus Maleficarum is a handbook filled with many different sections covering a variety of witch beliefs, and its ninth action covers the method of sentencing that is to be used on the accused witch during questioning (Kors, 211). “And while she is being questioned about each several point, let her be often and frequently exposed to torture…” (Kors, 213). This source was the first encyclopedia covering witch beliefs that was available during the fifteenth century and was used quite often because of the beliefs it contained, which were held by Catholics and Protestants alike (Kors, 180). With The Malleus Maleficarum being cited often during that time, it is easy to assess that the wide use and acceptance of this handbook points to a time when the torture of accused witches was virtually accepted and pretty much commonplace practice.

The ducking stool was like a teeter totter. The accused person would hang above the local pond while the accusers would watch at the edge of the pond. The victim would be dunked under water and if they happened to float they were believed to be a witch because they supposedly used magic to stay afloat. If they drowned they really were innocent. Either was you were going to die if you were innocent so people pleading guilty most times because they were at least in jail.

The idea of trial by ordeal and its methods are that if an accused can endure the decided ordeal without any injury or with surviving it with minimal injury, it will be concluded that it was a will of God and that the accused is innocent. However, trial by ordeal is said to be the end point of a relatively formal judicial procedure. This formal judicial procedure has several local variations but historical research suggests that it is commonly comprised of four main

When a person was accused, they had a "term of grace" for thirty to forty days where they could voluntarily confess their sin and atone for that sin. After that grace period was used up, they had a trial and if the judges found the accused guilty of the offense, the person was imprisoned. The accused's trial occurred only in the presence of two disinterested priests and the defense was in the hands of a lawyer. Witnesses were sworn in and if one lied they would be seriously punished- death being a possibility. (Blotzer, 1910) If a person was found guilty at the trial they could be burned at the stake. (Madden, 2003) These trials were called auto-da-fé, or Act of Faith, and would happen in a public place such as the main square in a town. After

The punishments in the Middle Ages were severely brutal.For stealing you would get your right hand cut off and for rape you would be quartered. One of the most severe punishments in the middle ages was Impalement. It worked by forcing your victims to sit on a sharp and thick pole. The pole was then raised upright and the victim was left to slide further down the pole by his or her own weight. This was among the most brutal of punishments ever imagined and practiced by humans. Theft was considered a petty crime. But even though it was considered petty your right hand was still chopped off.If you were drunk in public you would get a fine. Victims were sawed in half, they did this because it was a cheap way to torture and kill a victim accused

In order for secondary evidence to be admitted at trial there are three foundational elements that must be shown. First off it must be shown that there has been a writing in existence. Second the secondary evidence must be a authentic copy of the original. The contents must be accurately the same as the original. Third there must be justification for the secondary evidence being introduced in place of the original. Typically secondary evidence is used, because the original evidence has been lost or destroyed, in the custody of a public officer, relates to collateral matters, etc. There are many reasons for why secondary evidence would be

[IMAGE]One of the most famous ways in history to test if one was guilty of witchcraft was the ‘swimming of witches’ method. This type of trial involved attaching a rope around a person’s body and dunking them in the water, if they were to float then they would be considered guilty. The water was supposed to represent purity, anybody who floated was thought to have a pact with Satan and therefore rise to the top. Although this technique was not meant as a punishment many people drowned as a result. This type of trial was later outlawed as a superstitious and disorderly practice.