Peine

I. fr. Puuisliment. v. Paine.

Fr. Punishment, penance; also, prison (prisone). Peine forte et dure. Punishment severe and hard; or prison hard and strong. The name of the punishment inflicted upon a prisoner who refused to plead to an indictment for felony. ' Exp. Taylor, 68 Miss. 481 (1880). See also 3 Lea, 38; L. R., 8 Q. B. 303; Act of Congress, 1 July, 1862. 2Swink V. French, 11 Lea, 80 (1883): 1 Greenl. Ev. § 104; 1 Whart. Ev. § 208; American Life Ins. & Trust Co. V. Eosenagle, 77 Pa. 516 (1875); 105 id. 577. » Commonwealth v. Felch, 132 Mass. 23 (1882). See generally Fulkerson v. Holmes, 117 U. S. 397 (1886), cases. Woods, J. < F. per, peer: L. parem, par, equal. »2 Bl. Ccm 54, 316; 1 id. 401; 4 id. 260, 348. «3B1. Com. 350-51. The accused, nearly naked, was laid on his back, upon the ground, with arms and feet drawn apart by cords, and with as great a weight of iron or stone placed upon his chest as he could bear. The next day he had three morsels of bread, and the next day three draughts of the stagnant water nearest the prison; and so on, on alternate days, till he died or answered. The practice was abolished in 1772.i The desire probably was to save the accused's property, otherwise forfeited, to his family.'

/r. Punishment, v. Paine.

Punishment. Peine forte et dure. Severe and hard punishment. This was the name of what may be regarded as a punishment for refusing to plead to an indictment for felony, but more probably was a torture employed to coerce a plea. In early English times, conviction for felony involved, as the principal part of the punishment, the forfeiture of lands and goods; and, if attainder might follow, the consequences to the sons of the convict were even more serious. Hence, if a person accused of felony, and apprehending conviction, was owner of any considerable property, and had a family for whom he desired to preserve it, he had a powerful motive to avoid a trial; and this he could do by refusing to plead. -For, by the precedents of the common law, a plea by the accused was an indispensable preliminary to a trial. 'Sh.Q peine forte et dure doubtless originated as a means of compelling an offender to plead who refused to do so, probably from the desire to save his property to his family; though many writers represent it as a punishment for the offence of refusing to plead, considered as refractory conduct, or a species of contempt of court. According to the accounts given, the accused, on persisting in his refusal after admonition and a few hours' delay for reflection, was remanded to prison, and placed in a low, dark chamber, and there laid on his back, on the bare floor, naked, — unless where decency forbade. Upon his body was placed as great a weight of iron as he could bear. He received no sustenance, save three morsels of the worst bread, on the first day, and, on the second day, three draughts oi standing water that should be nearest to the If he answered, he was put on trial; and forfeiture of his estate followed, if a conviction was the result. But if he persevered until death relieved him from his -sufferings, his family were protected from the loss and disgi-ace which a conviction would have brought upon them. Blackstone conjectures that the practice of loading the prisoners with weights was gradually introduced between 31 Edw. III. and 8 Hen. IV., at which last period it first appears upon our books. This coercion of a plea was abolished in 1772, by Stat. 12 Geo. III. ch. 20.