The Coroner wished to know whether any of the Jury required an adjournment of the inquest; if they did, he would willingly attend to their request. The Jury unanimously declared that they were satisfied; and the Coroner, in a formal manner, asked, “Is Arthur Thistlewood guilty or not guilty of murder?”
Foreman.—Guilty.
Coroner.—Is William Davidson guilty of murder or manslaughter?
Foreman.—Guilty of murder.
One of the Jury wished to ask a question, which he thought of some importance, before the verdict was pronounced upon all the prisoners. He wished to know whether those who might have met for a different purpose were equally guilty of the murder with Thistlewood?
The Coroner replied, that there could be no doubt that they were implicated in the murder as much as Thistlewood himself, for whatever illegal purpose they might have met. They had impeded the officer in the execution of his duty, and one of them had killed him.
A Juryman.—If any of the prisoners had been put in the same situation as Thistlewood, they would probably have acted in the same manner.
Another Juryman.—But are those who surrendered themselves equally guilty?
Coroner.—There can be no doubt of it. They were all assembled for one common purpose, and the act of one is the act of the whole. It is clearly murder in them all. If a man intends to do a mischief to another, and, instead of killing him, happens to kill a second, it is equally murder, as if he had killed the man he intended.
A Juryman.—Another doubt arises in my mind. Had not these men a right to defend themselves, after the pistol had been fired by the officer Ellis?