Justice, 17th century style: Judge publishes book on colonial court

By Alaine Griffin Hartford Courant writer

Posted July 28, 2015 3:31 PM

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — On a farm here in 1642, a piglet with a deformed eye was born, stirring chatter among the townsfolk about whether a farmhand with one good eye fathered the animal.The farmhand denied paternity at first, but changed his story after he was locked up and interrogated. Once found guilty of bestiality at trial, the farmhand and the sow were executed.“We have to pinch ourselves that this really happened and that it happened here in New Haven,” veteran Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue said about the little …

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