Molyneux (pronounced mol-un-ewe)
(1)
A habitational surname of Norman origin, almost certainly from the town of Moulineaux-sur-Seine,
in Normandy.
(2)
A variant of the Old French Molineaux (an occupational surname for a miller).
(3)
An Anglicized form of the Irish Ó Maol an
Mhuaidh (descendant of the follower of the noble).
(4)
In law in the state of New York, as the “Molineux Rule”, an evidentiary rule
which defines the extent to which a prosecutor may introduce evidence of a
defendant’s prior bad acts or crimes, not to show criminal propensity, but to
“establish motive, opportunity, intent, common scheme or plan, knowledge,
identity or absence of mistake or accident.”
(5)
In philosophy, as the “Molyneux Problem”, a thought experiment which asks:”If
someone born blind, who has learned to distinguish between a sphere and a cube
by touch alone, upon suddenly gaining the power of sight, would they be able to
distinguish those objects by sight alone, based on memory of tactile experience?”
Pre
900: The French surname Molyneux was from the Old French and is thought to have
been a variant of De Molines or De Moulins, both linked to "Mill" (Molineaux
the occupational surname for a miller) although the name is believed to have
been habitation and form an unidentified place in France although some genealogists
have concluded the de Moulins came from Moulineaux-sur-Seine, near Rouen,
Normandy. Despite the continental
origin, the name is also much associated with various branches of the family in
England and Ireland, the earliest known references pre-dating the Norman Conquest
(1066). The alternative spelling is Molineux.
The
"Molyneux Problem" is named after Irish scientist and politician
William Molyneux (1656–1698) who in 1688 sent a letter to the English physician
& philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), asking: Could someone who was born
blind, and able to distinguish a globe and a cube by touch, be able to
immediately distinguish and name these shapes by sight if given the ability to
see? Obviously difficult to test
experimentally, the problem prompted one memorable dialogue between Locke and Bishop
George Berkeley (1685–1753 (who lent his name, pronounced
phonetically to the US university) but it has long intrigued those from many
disciplines, notably neurology and psychology, because sight is such a special
attribute, the eyes being an outgrowth of the brain; the experience of an adult
brain suddenly being required to interpret visual input would be profound and certainly
impossible to imagine. Philosophers since
Locke have also pondered the problem because it raises issues such as the relationship between vision and
touch and the extent to which some of the most basic components of knowledge (such
as shape) can exist at birth or need entirely to be learned or experienced.
The Molineux Rule in the the adversarial system
The
Molineux Rule comes from a decision handed down by the Court of Appeals of New
York in the case of People v Molineux (168 NY 264 (1901)). Molineux had at first instance been convicted
of murder in a trial which included evidence relating to his past conduct. On appeal. the verdict was overturned on the basis that as a general principle: “…in both civil and criminal proceedings, that
when evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts committed by a person is offered
for the purpose of raising an inference that the person is likely to have
committed the crime charged or the act in issue, the evidence is inadmissible.” The rationale for that is it creates a constitutional
safeguard which acts to protect a defendant from members of a jury forming an
assumption the accused had committed the offence with which they were charged because
of past conduct which might have included being accused of similar crimes. Modified sometimes by other precedent or statutes,
similar rules of evidentiary exclusion operate in many common law
jurisdictions. It was the Molineux Rule lawyers
for former film producer Harvey Weinstein (b 1952) used to have overturned his
2020 conviction for third degree rape.
In a 4:3 ruling, the court held the trial judge made fundamental errors
in having “…erroneously admitted
testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than
the complainants of the underlying crimes because that testimony served no
material non-propensity purpose.” and therefore the only “...remedy for these egregious errors is a
new trial.”
Harvey Weinstein and others.
Reaction
to the decision of the appellate judges was of course swift and the opinion of
the “black letter” lawyers was the court was correct because “…we don't want a
court system convicting people based on testimony about allegations with which
they’ve not been charged.”, added to which such evidence might induce a
defendant not to submit to the cross-examination they’d have been prepared to
undergo if only matters directly relevant to the charge(s) had been mentioned
in court. Although the Molineux Rule has
been operative for well over a century, some did thing it surprising the trial
judge was prepare to afford the prosecution such a generous latitude in its
interpretation but it should be noted the Court of Appeal divided 4:3 so there
was substantial support from the bench that what was admitted as evidence did
fall within what are known as the “Molineux exceptions” which permit certain
classes of testimony in what is known as “character evidence”. That relies on the discretion of the judge
who must weigh the value of the testimony versus the prejudicial effect it will
have on the defendant. In the majority judgment,
the Court of Appeal made clear that in the common law system (so much of which
is based on legal precedent), if the trial judge’s decision on admissibility
was allowed to stand, there could (and likely would) be far-reaching
consequences and their ruling was based on upholding the foundations of our
criminal justice system in the opening paragraphs: "Under our system of justice, the accused has a right to be held to
account only for the crime charged and, thus, allegations of prior bad acts may
not be admitted against them for the sole purpose of establishing their
propensity for criminality. It is our solemn duty to diligently guard these
rights regardless of the crime charged, the reputation of the accused, or the
pressure to convict."
The strict operation of the Molineux Rule (which this ruling will ensure is observed more carefully) does encapsulate much of the core objection to the way courts operate in common law jurisdictions. The common law first evolved into something recognizable as such in England & Wales after the thirteenth century and it spread around the world as the British Empire grew and that included the American colonies which, after achieving independence in the late eighteenth century as the United States of America, retained the legal inheritance. The common law courts operate on what is known as the “adversarial system” as opposed to the “inquisitorial system” of the civil system based on the Code Napoléon, introduced in 1804 by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; leader of the French Republic 1799-1804 & Emperor of the French from 1804-1814 & 1815) and widely used in Europe and the countries of the old French Empire. The criticism of the adversarial system is that the rules are based on the same principle as many adversarial contests such as football matches where the point of the rules is to ensure the game is decided on the pitch and neither team has any advantage beyond their own skill and application.
That’s
admirable in sport but many do criticize court cases being conducted thus, the
result at least sometimes being decided by the skill of the advocate and their
ability to persuade. Unlike the
inquisitorial system where the object is supposed to be the determination of the
truth, in the adversarial system, the truth can be something of an abstraction,
the point being to win the case. In that
vein, many find the Molineux Rule strange, based on experience in just about
every other aspect of life. Someone
choosing a new car, a bar of chocolate or a box of laundry detergent is likely
to base their decision from their knowledge of other products from the same
manufacturer, either from personal experience or the result of their
research. Most consumer organizations strongly
would advise doing exactly that yet when the same person is sitting on a jury
and being asked to decide if an accused is guilty of murder, rape or some other
heinous offence, the rules don’t allow them to be told the accused has a history
of doing exactly that. All the jury is
allowed to hear is evidence relating only to the matter to be adjudicated. Under the Molineux Rule there are exceptions
which allow “evidence of character” to be introduced but as a general principle,
the past is hidden and that does suit the legal industry which is about winning
cases. The legal theorists are of course
correct that the restrictions do ensure an accused can’t unfairly be judged by
past conduct but for many, rules which seem to put a premium on the contest
rather than the truth must seem strange.
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