PEINE FORTE ET DURE
peine forte et dure (pen for tay doororpayn fort ay dyoor). [French ¡°strong and hard punishment¡±] Hist. The punishment of an alleged felon who refused to plead, consisting of pressing or crushing the person’s body under heavy weights until the accused either pleaded or died.¡°In all other felonies, however, the punishment of peine forte et dure was, until lately, denounced as the consequence of an obstinate silence. The greatest caution and deliberation were indeed to be exercised before it was resorted to; and the prisoner was not only to have ¡®trina admonitio,¡¯ but a respite of a few hours, and the sentence was to be distinctly read to him, that he might be fully aware of the penalty he was incurring.¡± 1 Joseph Chitty, A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law 425¨C26 (2d ed. 1826).
¡°In old English law, a person charged with felony who, refusing to accept jury trial, was pressed to death (peine forte et dure), was not regarded as committing suicide, so that he did not forfeit his property.¡± Glanville Williams, The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law 270 n.4 (1957).
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