A Point of Law by Bernard Capes

Name: A Point of Law
Author: Bernard Capes

A Deputy Clerk of the Peace recounts a Norwich case to challenge the complacent certainty of lawyers. Old Nicholas Browbody is found dead from a pistol shot in his study, while the fashionable burglar George Hussey stands over the body holding the warm weapon. Browbody’s ward, Ellen, lies unconscious outside the room. The evidence appears conclusive, and Hussey is tried and condemned for burglary and murder. Ellen has fallen into a cataleptic trance brought on by shock, and remains insensible for seven months. Hussey insists that she alone could clear him, but cannot effectively defend himself while she is unable to testify. Before his execution, he escapes from Norwich Jail, injuring a warder in the process. He then goes directly to Ellen and calls upon her to awaken. She recovers at once and accompanies him to an attorney. Their affidavits reveal that Ellen had secretly arranged for Hussey, whom she loved, to enter Browbody’s house through an open window. Browbody, troubled and depressed, unexpectedly entered his study, seized a pistol, and killed himself. Hussey tried to stop him, seized the pistol after the shot, and found Ellen unconscious at the door. The Watch then entered and arrested him. The law accepts the new evidence and admits that Hussey’s conviction was a miscarriage of justice. The Deputy Clerk asks whether Hussey can nevertheless be punished for acts committed while escaping from an unjust imprisonment. Brindley, the Crown Prosecutor, argues that prison-breaking and violence against a warder remain offences, regardless of the wrongful conviction. The Clerk insists that Hussey’s escape resulted directly from the law’s own error. He concludes that Hussey was hanged for his escape, that Ellen attended the scaffold and later died mad, and that the law’s syllogistic logic makes it an ass.

By Bernard Capes · First published 1904 · Genre: Legal Fiction, Crime Fiction, Short Story · 3,252 words

First lines

BY A CAPTIOUS LITIGANT

Given a wet night on circuit, a bar parlour with a chattering fire, a box of tobacco, a china bowl of punch, and a mixed forensic company to discuss the lot, and what odds would you lay for or against the chances of a good story or so?

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Genres

Legal Fiction — The story is structured around a legal debate concerning wrongful conviction, escape from prison, criminal liability, and the law's self-protective logic.
Crime Fiction — Its central incident involves an apparent burglary and murder, the arrest of a supposed housebreaker, prison escape, and the eventual disclosure of the true circumstances.
Short Story — It is a compact framed narrative in which a barrister's legal anecdote develops a single plot, moral problem, and ironic conclusion.
Courtroom Drama — Although the trial is recounted rather than staged in full, the plot turns on evidence, testimony, conviction, judicial error, and legal argument.

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A Point of Law is listed on Textopian as a short story by Bernard Capes, dated 1904 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Bernard Capes
Date: 1904 CE
Language: English
Genres: Legal Fiction, Crime Fiction, Short Story, Courtroom Drama, Mystery
Length: 3,252 words
Structure: 1 section, 62 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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