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POPSOn this day 1770: The Boston Massacre
"The Boston Massacre" refers to an incident involving the deaths of five civilians at the hands of British troops on 5 March 1770. In the subsequent trial of the soldiers, their lawyer, John Adams, argued that if they were endangered by the mob they had the legal right to fight back, and so were innocent. If they were provoked but not endangered, they were at most guilty of manslaughter. The jury agreed and acquitted six of them. Two were found guilty of murder because there was overwhelming evidence that they fired directly into the crowd. However, Adams used a loophole in British Common Law and by proving to the judge that they could read by having them read from the Bible their crime was reduced to manslaughter. Two were found guilty of manslaughter and punished by branding on their thumbs. The jury's decisions suggest that they believed the soldiers had felt threatened by the crowd. Patrick Carr, the fifth victim, corroborated this with a deathbed testimony delivered to his doctor.
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