About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

11 Iowa L. Rev. 297 (1925-1926)
Absurdities in Criminal Procedure--Trial by Ordeal

handle is hein.journals/ilr11 and id is 307 raw text is: Iowa Law Review Volume XI JUNE, 1926 Number 4 ABSURDITIES IN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE'* TRIAL BY ORDEAL In ancient times those accused of crime were often tried by ordeal.2 By many of these ordeals the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by assigning to him a task which would be hurtful to him in the ordinary course of event& According to the notion of the time, if the one charged with crime was guilty he would suffer. injury, whereas if he: was innocent Providence would intervene and save him from harm. Perhaps the best known ordeals were those by fire and by water and the trial by battle.8 The trial by the ordeal of fire consisted of having the accused carry in his' hand a red-hot iron weighing one pound, or three pounds, according to the gravity of the offense, or having him walk barefooted over red-hot plowshares or coals of Are, or walk through flames clad in a suit made of wax spread over woolen cloth. The trial by water made use of water either boiling hot or cold. In the trial by boiling water the one charged was required to insert his Copyright 1926 by Rolfin M. Perkins. 'Before the writer ventured to criticise our ,present methods of criminal procedure he spent ten years in the study of criminal procedure in general and of Iowik criminal procedure in particular. During that time his book, Iowa Cases on Criminal Procedure, has appeared in two editions and he was re- tained by the State of Iowa to anotate the penal provisions of the Iowa Code of 1924. 2 Speaking of the trial by ordeal, Thayer has said: Nothing is older. James B. Thayer, The Older Modes of Trial, 5 Harv. L. Rev. 45, 63 (re- printed in 2 Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, 367, 392.) 8This is often classified as an'ordeal, 'a God's judgment.' But in deal- ing with our law it is convenient to discriminate these, for the battle has cer- tainly other aspects than merely that of an appeal to heaven. Moreover it survived the ordeal proper for centuries. Ibi-d. 65. 297

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most