Boston Massacre Trial
October 1770
9 soldiers were charged with a crime of murder. They court decided to try Captain Preston alone first and then the other 8 soldiers together.
Lawyers for the colonists- Sam Adams and Robert Paine
Lawyers for the soldiers- John and Josiah Quincy Adams
Preston’s testimony-Somebody asked me if the guns were fired. I replied yes. They then asked me if I ordered the men to fire. I answered no, by no means, telling them I had positioned myself in front of the muskets so they would not fire or I would be shot. If I had given the word “fire” I would not be fit to be an officer in the British army. While I was speaking, one of the soldiers received a severe blow with a stick, stepped a little to the side and instantly fired. I turned to ask him why he fired without orders and I was struck with a club on my arm. This kept me from using that arm for some time. If that blow would have hit me in the head it probably would have killed me. At this time we were attacked by a great number of men who used heavy clubs and snowballs. All our lives were in imminent danger. I could hear people shouting out, damn you bloods-why don't you fire. Instantly three or four of the soldiers fired, one after another, and directly after three more in the same confusion and hurry.
4 witnesses claimed Preston did give the “fire” command, 3 said he did not.
Daniel Califf’s Testimony (eye witness)- I was present at the firing. I heard one of the Guns rattle. I turned around and looked and heard the officer who stood on the right in a line with the Soldiers give the word fire twice. I looked the Officer in the face when he gave the word and saw his mouth. He had on a red Coat, yellow Jacket and Silver laced hat, no trimming on his Coat. The prisoner is the officer I saw give the orders. I saw his face as plain as the moon shined on it.
The 12 jurors deliberated for 3 hours and acquitted Preston of all charges.
Samuel Hemmingway’s testimony that Private Matthew Killroy was the one who shot and killed John Gray…"Killroy would never miss an opportunity, when he had one, to fire on the citizens. He had wanted to have an opportunity ever since he landed."
Of particular interest in the defense case was testimony concerning the dying statement of Patrick Carr, one of the victims in the massacre. It is the first recorded use of the "dying declaration" exception to the rule that excludes hearsay evidence:
- Were you Patrick Carr's surgeon?
A. I was...
Q. Was he [Carr] apprehensive of his danger?
A. He told me...he was a native of Ireland, that he had frequently seen mobs, and soldiers called upon to stop them. He told me he had seen soldiers often fire on the people in Ireland, but had never seen them bear half as much as the British soldiers did before they fired in his life.
Q. When did you have the last conversation with him?
A. About four o'clock in the afternoon, the night before he died, and at that time he said, he forgave the man who shot him. He was satisfied that the man fired only to defend himself.
The jury deliberated for less than 3 hours and acquitted 6 of the 8 soldiers on all charges. Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Killroy were found guilty of Manslaughter and were branded on the thumbs.