Jury Not Punishable for Perverse Verdict
The jury threatened to return a verdict unwelcome to the judge. He threatened to imprison them unless it was changed. Bushell refused, and having been imprisoned, now sought habeas corpus.
Held: Sir John Vaughan CJ said that the writ should not be granted. It was King’s Bench which should issue writs of habeas corpus in ordinary criminal cases and that Common Pleas could issue the writ only on a claim of privilege of the court (eg, if the petitioner were an attorney of Common Pleas). However, once the other justices issued the writ, Vaughan ruled that a jury could not be punished on account of the verdict it returned.
Sir John Vaughan CJ
[1796] EngR 799, (1796) 1 Mod 119, (1796) 86 ER 777 (C)
Commonlii
England and Wales
Contempt of Court, Criminal Practice
Leading Case
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.350504