Worthiness of belief. To entitle a witness to credibility, he must be competent. Vide Competency. 2. Human testimony can seldom acquire the certainty of demonstration. Witnesses not infrequently are mistaken or wish to deceive; the most that can be expected is that moral certainty which arises from analogy. The credibility which is attached to such testimony, arises. from the … [Read more...]

Worthy of belief; entitled to credit. See COMPETENCY. Credible person. One who is trustworthy and entitled to be believed; in law and legal proceedings, one who is entitled to have his oath or affidavit accepted as reliable, not only on account of his good reputation for veracity; but also on account of his intelligence, knowledge of the circumstances, and disinterested … [Read more...]

A contraction, in the old books, of the word "convent." … [Read more...]

A term vulgarly applied to a person of eccentric,, ill-regulated, and unpractical mental habits; a person half-crazed; a monomaniac; not necessarily equivalent to "insane person," "lunatic," or any other term descriptive of complete mental derangement, and not carrying any implication of homicidal mania. Walker v. Tribune Co. (C. C.) 29 Fed. 827. … [Read more...]

criminal law. The common name for the statute 22 and 23 Car. II. c. 1; it having been enacted in consequence of an assault on Sir John Coventry in the street, and slitting his nose, in revenge, as was supposed, for some obnoxious words uttered by him in parliament. 2. By this statute it is enacted, that if any person shall, of malice aforethought, and by laying in wait, … [Read more...]