State v. Cecil
Superior Court of Louisiana
A woman of colour was offered as a witness, by the attorney-general, and a gentleman swore that she was once a slave, but he had liberated her. She had a copy of the act of liberation; the original of which was in New-York. The Court will not look at the copy, while the original is admitted to exist.
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court.
The woman being of colour, the presumption is that she was born free. Adele vs. Beauregard, 1 Martin 183. But this presumption is destroyed by the declaration of her former master. This declaration, however, must be taken in toto, and it establishes her emancipation. *209in the same breath. Neither are we ready to say that when. in the trail of a cause, a fact comes incidentally and collaterally to be proved, the rules of evidence are as strictly to be insisted on, as when the facts put in issue are to be made out. In the latter case, the party has previous notice and time to procure…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Adelle v. BeauregardSupreme Court of Louisiana · 1810
3Cited by1 opinion
- Miller v. BelmontiSupreme Court of Louisiana · 1845