All articles by James Morton – Page 6
-
NewsWhen Saturday comes for law
My principal Simpson refused to close on a Saturday morning. And I believe he was right.
-
NewsLong and short arm of the law
Henry Rooth delivered such lengthy statements he talked himself into acquitting a man.
-
NewsMcKenzie friends hit a half century
50 years ago this month saw the birth of the McKenzie friend.
-
NewsSolicitor vexed by village venom
Prosecution case that Harold Greenwood murdered his wife by poisoning was not a strong one.
-
NewsLegal lothario’s lethal liaison
One hundred years ago solicitor Harold Greenwood was charged with the murder of his wife.
-
NewsPerjury was only the beginning…
When Arthur Castro aka Orton was sentenced to 14 years for perjury in the Tichborne claim, it wasn’t the end of the case.
-
NewsVexing case of law’s serial suer
While there is doubtless fierce competition for the title of most annoying lawyer, the winner – by a margin – must be one-time Bedford Row solicitor Alexander Chaffers.
-
NewsOut of Africa and back for a coup
I arrived on an overnight plane to observe trials in a country where a coup had been thwarted.
-
NewsBar’s jimmer in the box seat
Jimmering – to get a free or better seat than that paid for – seems to have begun in the 1930s.
-
NewsBench jury trials for the lockdown
The outcry against the idea of three-day jury trials during the lockdown was justified. Would jurors, sitting in what seem generally to be regarded as insanitary conditions, have become vulnerable after only 21 hours in court plus a few hours in their room? With the greatest respect (as we ...
-
NewsTwiss in the tale of criminal libel
In 1871 a Bedford Row solicitor began hounding the wife of an international lawyer.
-
NewsStumped for justice in Africa
Monidipa Fouzder’s summary eviction from a court reminds me of difficulties I encountered when trying to observe trials in an African jurisdiction.
-
NewsThe problem with experts
Some expert witnesses are lured into giving evidence they live to regret. Others simply find themselves in the wrong case.
-
NewsBattle of writs in trial showdown
In 1817, an acquitted man rearrested in connection with a rape and murder elected Trial by Battle.
-
NewsQueen of crime does a runner
The lawyers of New York receiver Marm Mandelbaum weren’t baffled by their client’s disappearance in 1884 - they orchestrated it.
-
NewsStreetwise stipes clubbing together
London magistrates liked their clubs, making sure their lists finished by 12.30.
-
NewsBite mark leaves clue to murder
A half-eaten apple was found in the room of actress and prostitute Clara Buswell, who was stabbed to death on Christmas Eve 1872.
-
-
NewsA tale of two squirrels
How should we react to the suggestion that the dying breed of grey squirrels (‘lay justices’) should be given a transplant by the creation of a sub-breed (‘paid lay justice’)?
-
NewsDown and out at the law crammer
My old alma mater, of which I am apparently one of the oldest living graduates, appears to have moved up in the world.