In 1802, Vincent Fortune was summoned as a witness in a trial against William Scott, "a negro Criminal charged with petty-Larceny." On the day of the trial, as he was preparing to go to court, Fortune was informed by William Duncan, "a Man of respectable Character in whose service he then was an overseer," that no "Criminal Business would come on the first day" of court. He therefore did not go to court that day. The next day, as he again prepared to go to court, he learned that the trial had taken place and the accused had been convicted. He later moved from the county of Transylvania to the county of Louisa, and while there he was served with an execution against him by the sheriff, for the sum of one hundred dollars which represented the sum he had signed on for his recognizance to appear in court. Fortune claims that he did intend to appear in court but failed to do so due to misinformation regarding the trial. He asks the legislature to extricate him from the "wretched situation" in which he and his family will be placed if the execution is enforced.
Result: Reasonable, reported.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
