When a slave was guilty of murder, he was arrested by the sheriff of the county in which the felony had occurred, and thrown into jail, and there he remained in irons until his case was brought to trial. The first step to this was the transmission of information to the Governor that the crime had been committed; upon the reception of this information, that official directed that an oyer and terminer be issued to such persons residing in the county where the slave was held, whom he considered to be fit to determine the guilt or innocence of the prisoner. In the inquiry which they at once instituted, the accused could be convicted on the testimony of himself or two reputable witnesses, or one witness whose testimony was supported by strong circumstantial evidence. He could not claim the privilege of a trial by jury.[1] The expenses entailed in supporting the slave during the time of his stay in jail were provided for in the public levy.[2] If he was hung, the justices decided upon his value and returned a certificate embodying their estimate to the General Assembly, who made an appropriation to the master equal to the stated amount.[3] Rape of white women, which has become the most characteristic crime of the African since his emancipation in the nineteenth century, was also committed by him in the seventeenth.[4] An ordinary assault by a slave even upon a white man was punished by a severe whipping only.[5] When the offence was attended by aggravated circumstances and the person guilty of it was a free negro, male or female, the infliction of stripes
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. III, p. 103.
- ↑ Records of Henrico County, vol. 1688-1697, p. 16, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Hening’s Statutes, vol. III, p. 270.
- ↑ Nov. 25, 1677, General Court Orders, 1677-1682. “Strong measures to be taken for apprehending Robin, a negro who had ravished a white woman.” Robinson Transcripts, p. 264.
- ↑ Records of York County, vol. 1690-1694, p. 343, Va. State Library.
