[15]
At times the character of the
accused may be adduced to prove the fact, and to
make it likely that it was or was not a case of
poisoning because the accused is or is not a likely
person to have committed such an act.
When, on the other hand, the enquiry concerns
both the accused and the act, the natural order for
the accuser to pursue is to commence by proving
that the act has been committed and then to go on
to show that it was committed by the accused. If,
however, proofs of the authorship of the crime are
more in number than the proofs of the commission,
this order may be reversed.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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