by John Marshall, Royal Naval Biography — Taylor… (1823)
“ The rule, which is universal in civil actions, that a plaintiff cannot be admitted as a witness in his own cause, does not apply to criminal prosecutions, which are always supposed to be at the suit of the crown, and on behalf of the public. The court afterwards re-assembled, Captain Taylor’s evidence was admitted, and the prisoner was dismissed from the rank of Lieutenant, and adjudged to serve in the navy as a Midshipman. ”
