England · Legal treatise
The 1791 Lofft edition of Gilbert’s evidence treatise, including rules on confessions, depositions, and statutory exceptions used in Crawford.
Requested text available. Collection target: Capel Lofft edition (1791), Volume I
Geoffrey Gilbert · Volume 1 · 1791
Internet Archive, The Eighteenth Century microfilm collection; digitized from reel IA40310417-35, ESTC T095571. Complete main text of Volume I on sequence review and sampled images. Page 216 requires an unsworn examination of the accused, authentication, voluntariness, and a justice with statutory jurisdiction. Its admission rule applies against the maker and expressly excludes use against others. The passages are intentionally contrasted. Page 65 concerns depositions against nonparties who lacked an opportunity to cross-examine; page 215 recognizes a statutory felony exception while describing exclusion in Paine’s misdemeanor proceeding. They do not uniformly announce one absolute rule. This 1791 edition was considerably enlarged by Capel Lofft. Editorial additions should not automatically be attributed to Gilbert’s original manuscript. The title page, all three cited pages, their context, and the official Crawford reporter pages were visually inspected. Printed pages 65, 215, and 216 correspond to PDF pages 206, 356, and 357.
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Antonin Scalia · Opinion of the Court
Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 45 (2004).
Scalia cites the Lofft edition for the rule that a prisoner’s proved confession can be used against the prisoner, but not against others. The same page requires voluntariness and identifies procedural safeguards; it does not treat every written confession as automatically admissible.
Antonin Scalia · Opinion of the Court
Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 46 (2004).
Scalia contrasts Gilbert’s cross-examination rationale for ordinary depositions with the treatment of examinations admitted by force of the Marian statutes. Page 65 ties exclusion against nonparties to the absence of an opportunity to cross-examine. Page 215 distinguishes Paine’s misdemeanor prosecution from statutory felony proceedings.
Page 216 requires an unsworn examination of the accused, authentication, voluntariness, and a justice with statutory jurisdiction. Its admission rule applies against the maker and expressly excludes use against others.
The passages are intentionally contrasted. Page 65 concerns depositions against nonparties who lacked an opportunity to cross-examine; page 215 recognizes a statutory felony exception while describing exclusion in Paine’s misdemeanor proceeding. They do not uniformly announce one absolute rule.
This 1791 edition was considerably enlarged by Capel Lofft. Editorial additions should not automatically be attributed to Gilbert’s original manuscript.
The title page, all three cited pages, their context, and the official Crawford reporter pages were visually inspected.
Printed pages 65, 215, and 216 correspond to PDF pages 206, 356, and 357.