Attaint

Attainted, stained, or blackened. A writ which lies to inquire whether a jury of twelve men gave a false verdict.

Bracton, 1. 4, tr. 1, c. 134; Fleta, 1. 5, c. 22, § 8.

Formerly the jury were rather witnesses thai judges; a false verdict would be perjury. The aggrieved party procured a writ of attaint. The case was tried before 21 jurors, usually knights. The penalty on conviction was one year's imprisonment, forfeiture of goods, etc. Its origin is uncertain; it appears on the record of the King's Court in 1202. It was limited to the possessory assizes (see Assize of Novel Disseisin), but by 1360 it had been extended to all classes of cases. It came to be the rule that the attaint jury must have before it the evidence on which the first jury founded its verdict, but the first jury could produce new evidence. Before 1565 it was seldom in use; it was abolished in 18^5.

1 Holdsw. Hist. E. L. 161.