Le Baron v. Crombie
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
This was a writ of error, brought to reverse a judgment of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the county of Plymouth, in an action wherein the plaintiff in error was original defendant, and the said administrators original plaintiffs. The action was commenced and tried before a justice of the peace, and carried to the Circuit Court by appeal. At the trial before the justice, one John Richards was sworn, and testified as a witness for the plaintiff.
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This was a writ of error, brought to reverse a judgment of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the county of Plymouth, in an action wherein the plaintiff in error was original defendant, and the said administrators original plaintiffs. The action was commenced and tried before a justice of the peace, and carried to the Circuit Court by appeal. At the trial before the justice, one John Richards was sworn, and testified as a witness for the plaintiff. After that trial, and before the trial in the Circuit Court, the said Richards was convicted of larceny, and remained incompetent to testify at…
1Opinion of the CourtParker, C. J.
The question distinctly brought before us by this writ of error is, whether the declarations of a witness under oath, competent at the time, but being incompetent by infamy at a subsequent trial, are legal and admissible. We are all of opinion that they are not, and that the opinion of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas cannot be supported, either by authority or upon sound principles of justice or policy.
The general rule, that heresay evidence is inadmissible, cannot be disputed; indeed, it is so clearly established, and uniformly recognized, as to have become a familiar maxim.
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