试验
尽管卡尔. 托马斯·普雷斯顿, 他指挥下的八名英国士兵, and four civilians were all indicted within weeks of the "Horrid Massacre", 直到1770年9月7日才正式提审. Court schedules, as well as political maneuverings by Acting Gov. 托马斯•哈钦森, further delayed the trials until late October of that year, an unpopular decision among many who already distrusted the governor for his support of British taxation.
的 judges for the trials were Benjamin Lynde, John Cushing, Peter Oliver, and Henry Trowbridge. 的 prosecution lawyers were Robert Treat Paine and Samuel Quincy. 的 defense team included John Adams, Josiah Quincy, Jr. (Samuel Quincy's brother), Sampson Salter Blowers, and Robert Auchmuty. Both trials lasted longer than one day, which was rare at this time for 麻萨诸塞州 courts. Shortly after the trials, on 15 May 1771, the issue of 支付给陪审员的费用和工资 was argued by Adams, both Quincy brothers and James Otis, Jr.
对船长的审判. 普雷斯顿
的 first trial to be held as a consequence of the Boston Massacre was 雷克斯v. 普雷斯顿. 对上校的审判. 普雷斯顿, 谁被关了七个月, began on 24 October 1770 and the verdict of not guilty was issued a week later on 30 October 1770.
Deposition of Joseph Belknap regarding 5 March 1770, manuscript copy by Jeremy ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Captn. 普雷斯顿” ...
约翰·罗日记第8期，1770-1771页，1187-1191页
Minutes of Robert Treat Paine's argument, by unidentified note taker, 29 October ...
"In our last we mentioned that at the Superior Court held here, on Wednesday ..."
审判第29团的8名士兵.
第二次审判， 雷克斯v. Wemms 等., began on 27 November 1770 and was brought against William Wemms and seven other soldiers from the 29th Regiment: James Hartigan, 威廉·麦考利, 休•怀特, 马修热爱旅行的人, 威廉•沃伦, 约翰•卡罗尔, 和休·蒙哥马利. 的 verdict was announced nine months to the day after the Massacre, 12月5日, 被一个不包括波士顿居民的陪审团起诉. Six of the soldiers were acquitted while two (Kilroy and Montgomery) were found guilty, 不是谋杀, 但对较轻的过失杀人罪.
的 two convicted soldiers were able to avoid the death penalty by invoking "benefit of the clergy", a holdover from early English law which held that secular courts had no jurisdiction over clergymen, and which had become a loop-hole for first-time offenders. After "praying the clergy" the soldiers were branded-on the hand where the thumb meets the palm with the letter "M" for manslaughter-insuring that they could only receive the commutation once, and that the mark would be clearly visible during a handshake or while raising their palm on any future oath.
的 Trial of William Wemms, James Hartegan, William M'Cauley..., This pamphlet presents the proceedings of the trial of the soldiers and contains the testimonies and examinations of witnesses, 几位律师的辩论, 两位法官向陪审团提出指控, 以及陪审团对每名士兵的裁决.
Notes on the Boston Massacre trial relating to the trial of the eight soldiers, ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trial relating to the trial of the eight soldiers, ...
Notes on the trial of the British soldiers, circa November 1770, by Peter Oliver ...
Notes at the trial of British soldiers, circa November 1770, by Samuel Quincy ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "seemed to come from ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Prisoners Witnesses. ...
约翰·罗日记第8期，1770-1771页，1210页
Proceedings of His Majesty's 委员会 of the Province on 麻萨诸塞州-Bay, Relative ...
塞缪尔·P. Savage diary, 1 unnumbered page, 30-31 December 1770 and notes about ...
Memorandum from Samuel Adams to Robert Treat Paine, [29 November 1770]
Robert Treat Paine's rough draft of his closing argument
罗伯特·特鲁·潘恩审判笔记
作为两场审判的控方团队的一员, Robert Treat Paine took lengthy notes which were published in the 《og体育平台》第三卷. 的 对潘恩《og体育平台》的描述 from that volume lists (and provides links to) several documents that are fully transcribed. 的 volume also contains many footnotes with references to specific notes kept by Paine. 浏览 or 查询卷的在线版本 找到并阅读潘恩的庭审笔记.
Although many of the courtroom proceedings of the trial of the eight soldiers were transcribed and published, Paine's closing argument as one of the prosecution lawyers for the Wemms trial was not recorded because the stenographer was fatigued. 的 following documents are largely letters from different parties requesting that Paine write out his own closing arguments from his notes and from memory. Also included is a link to transcriptions of rough drafts notes from Paine's closing argument. 没有最终版本被写下来.
Robert Treat Paine's rough draft of his closing argument
Letter from Samuel Fayerweather to Robert Treat Paine, 8 December 1770
Letter from Samuel Quincy to Robert Treat Paine, 16 December 1770
Letter from Sampson Blowers to Robert Treat Paine, 30 December 1770
Letter from Peter Oliver to Robert Treat Paine, 3 January 1771
Letter (draft) from Robert Treat Paine to Sampson Blowers, 7 January 1771
约翰·亚当斯的审判笔记
35岁的约翰·亚当斯, a prominent lawyer in Boston who would go on to become the second president of the United States, was asked to take on the unpopular assignment of defending Capt. 普雷斯顿和八名英国士兵.
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Captn. 普雷斯顿” ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Prisoners Witnesses. ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "seemed to come from ...
额外的资源
波士顿商人小哈伯特·多尔., 收集, 带注释的, and indexed many newspapers during the years leading to the American Revolution. 多尔的报纸收藏 includes many articles written about the Boston Massacre and the trials. 看，比如这个 塞缪尔·亚当斯文章，或者这个 韦姆斯判决后发表的一篇匿名文章. 多尔的收藏还包括 的全部过程的小册子 雷克斯v. Wemms which was printed immediately after the conclusion of the trial and includes many annotations by Dorr.