Mr. Payne, who was retained for the prosecution, had no objection.
Mr. Clarkson then applied to have the trial, both for the felony and the misdemeanor, postponed to the next session.
Mr. Payne consented.
Mr. de Zulueta then entered into the requisite securities.
AFFIDAVIT
OF DEFENDANT AND MR. EDWARD LAWFORD
IN SUPPORT OF
APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI.
| Regina v. Zulueta. | } Sworn, 8th Sept. 1843. |
IN THE QUEEN’S BENCH.
Pedro de Zulueta the younger, of the city of London, merchant, and Edward Lawford, of Drapers Hall, in the same city, gentleman, attorney for the said Pedro de Zulueta the younger, severally make oath and say, And first this deponent, Pedro de Zulueta, for himself, saith, that he, this deponent, is a merchant of London, and has been so for the last eight years, and as such engaged in large mercantile transactions with houses in different parts of the world, but particularly at Cadiz, and the Havannah. And this deponent saith, that he is engaged in such business in partnership with his this deponent’s father and brother, and that this deponent’s said father and grandfather were engaged in such business for seventy years and upwards, and that their said house of business is and always has been of good repute as honourable merchants, and that this deponent has always occupied the rank and station of a gentleman, and has always associated with gentlemen and merchants of the first respectability. And this deponent further saith, that on Wednesday, the 22nd day of August last, while this deponent was sitting in his counting-house in Moorgate street, in the city of London, he was, about three o’clock in the afternoon, to his great surprise taken into custody by a policeman, in consequence, as he was then informed, of a true bill having been then found against him for felony at the sessions then being held of the Central Criminal Court. And this deponent saith, that upon being taken to the said Court, and the said indictment being exhibited to him, he found it to be an indictment against this deponent, and against one Thomas Jennings, mariner, and one Thomas Bernardos, mariner, for illegally and feloniously manning, navigating, equipping, dispatching, using, and employing a certain ship or vessel called the Augusta, in order to accomplish a certain object, which in and by a certain Act of Parliament, made and passed in the 5th year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled “An Act to amend and consolidate the Laws relating to the Abolition of the Slave Trade,” was and is declared unlawful, and for other illegal offences against the said Act of Parliament. And this deponent saith, that he is not guilty of the offences charged against him by the said indictment, or of any or either of them, and that he never did, directly or indirectly, man, navigate, equip, dispatch, use, or employ the said ship, or any other ship, to accomplish any of the objects declared by the said Act to be unlawful, and that he is not, nor ever was, directly or indirectly, in any way or manner interested in the said ship or her earnings, or the profits of any voyage made or to be made by her. And this deponent saith, that when he was so taken into custody he was altogether ignorant that any proceedings whatever had been, or were about to be, taken against him in reference to the said ship, or to the offences charged by the said indictment. And this deponent saith, that there had been no previous examination or inquiry before any magistrate in reference to the said charges, and that he was then, as he is now, altogether ignorant of the evidence upon which such true bill was found, and has no means whatever of ascertaining, except as appears by the said indictment, what facts he is charged with. And this deponent saith, that upon his being so taken into custody and removed to the Central Criminal Court then sitting, upon a representation of the facts made by his counsel to the Recorder of London, then presiding as judge of the Central Criminal Court, it was ordered that he, this deponent, should be admitted to bail himself in the sum of 3000l., with two sureties in the sum of 1000l. each, to take his trial upon the said indictment, and that he forthwith pleaded Not Guilty to the said indictment; and that inasmuch as by reason of the lateness of the hour in the evening at which such order was made, he was unable to procure two sufficient persons as bail, the Recorder permitted him to enter into his own recognizance in 6,000l., with one surety in 2,000l., conditional for his completing the bail on the following morning pursuant to the said order, which this deponent accordingly did. And this deponent saith, that the said indictment now stands for trial at the next session of the Central Criminal Court. And both these deponents say, that they believe that this is the first instance of an indictment for felony preferred in this country under the said statute, and that they believe that questions upon the true meaning and construction of the said statute, and other and difficult questions of law will arise upon the trial thereof. And these deponents say, that in the judgment and belief of these deponents this is a case which ought to be tried by a special jury of merchants. And this deponent, Pedro de Zulueta the younger, saith, that he is desirous of having the assistance of the most eminent counsel upon the trial of this indictment, and that he has retained for that purpose one of the most eminent of Her Majesty’s counsel learned in the law, but that he is informed and believes that such counsel will not attend at the Central Criminal Court. And this deponent saith, that if he shall be permitted to remove this indictment by certiorari into this honourable Court he will have the assistance of such counsel, and he will apply for a special jury, and will take all necessary steps for having the same tried by a special jury, and for being defended therein by such eminent counsel as aforesaid, with the least possible delay. And this deponent, Pedro de Zulueta the younger, further saith, that the facts and circumstances relative to the using and employing the said ship or vessel called the Augusta, upon the occasion to which the said indictment has reference, formed one of the subjects of an inquiry in the year 1842, by a Select Committee of the Honourable House of Commons appointed to inquire into the state of the British possessions on the West Coast of Africa, and that three of the witnesses whose names appeared on the back of this indictment, (that is to say) Captain the Honourable Joseph Denman, Captain Henry Worsley Hill, and Colonel Edward Nicolls, were examined before such Committee. And this deponent saith, that it appears by the printed minutes of the evidence taken before the said Committee, and this deponent believes the fact to be, that the said Henry Worsley Hill captured the ship Augusta off the Gallinas, on the coast of Africa, and that the said Thomas Jennings, then the owner and master of the said ship, was tried in Her Majesty’s Court of Sierra Leone upon a charge similar to that now charged against him and against this deponent, and that the said Thomas Jennings was by such Court on such trial acquitted. And this deponent saith, that he is one of the mercantile correspondents in London of the mercantile house of Pedro Martinez & Co., of Cadiz and the Havannah, and that the nature of his commercial dealings with the said houses of Pedro Martinez & Co. is confined to the usual mercantile business of purchasing and selling, in this country, for the said Pedro Martinez & Co., lawful goods and merchandise, and usual mercantile banking transactions, and that he has no sort of connexion with him or with any other house, either here or abroad, as to any dealings in, or in relation to, slaves or the slave trade.
| Sworn by both the deponents, Pedro de Zulueta the younger, and Edward Lawford, at my Chambers, Rolls Garden, Chancery Lane, this 8th day of September, 1843, Before me, T. Erskine. | } | Pedro de Zulueta, Junior. Edward Lawford. |