FEES, compensation. Certain perquisites1 allowed by law to officers concerned in the administration of justice, or in the performance of duties required by law, as a recompense for their labor2 and trouble. Bac. Ab. h. t.; Latch3, 18.
2. The term fees differs from costs in this, that the former are, as above mentioned, a recompense to the officer for his services, and the latter, an indemnification to the, party for money laid out and expended4 in his suit. 11 S. & R. 248; 9 Wheat. 262; See 4 Binn. 267. Vide Costs; Color of office; Exaction5; Extortion.
FEIGNED6 ACTION, practice. An action brought on a pretended right, when the plaintiff has no true cause of action, for some illegal purpose. In a feigned action the words of the writ7 are true; it differs from false action, in which case the words of the writ are false. Co. Litt. 361, sect8. 689. Vide Fictitious9 action.
FEIGNED issue, pract. An issue brought by consent of the parties, or the direction of a court of equity10, or such courts as possess equitable11 powers, to determine before a jury some disputed matter of fact, which the court has not the power or is unwilling12 to decide. 3 Bl. Com. 452; Bouv. Inst. Index, h. t
FELO DE SE, criminal law. A felon13 of himself; a self-murderer.
2. To be guilty of this offence, the deceased must have had the will and intention of committing it, or else be committed no crime. As he is beyond the reach of human laws, he cannot be punished; the English law, indeed, attempts to inflict14 a punishment by a barbarous burial of his body, and by forfeiting15 to the king the property which he owned, and which would belong to his relations. Hawk16. P. C. c. 9; 4 Bl. Com. 189. The charter of privileges granted by William Penn to the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, contains the following clause: "If any person, through temptation or melancholy17, shall destroy himself, his estate, real and personal, shall, notwithstanding, (descend to his wife and children, or relations, as if he had died a natural death."
FELON, crimes. One convicted and sentenced for a felony.
2. A felon is infamous18, and cannot fill any office, or become a witness in any case, unless pardoned, except in cases of absolute necessity, for his own preservation19, and defence; as, for example, an affidavit20 in relation to the irregularity of a judgment21 in a cause in which he is a party. 2 Salk. R. 461; 2 Str. 1148;. Martin s R. 25; Stark22. Ev. part 2, tit. Infamy23. As to the effect of a conviction in one state, where the witness is offered in another, see 17 Mass. R. 515 2 Harr. & McHen. R. 120, 378; 1 Harr. & Johns. R. 572. As to the effect upon a copartnership by one of the partners becoming a felon, see 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1493.
FELONIOUSLY, pleadings. This is a technical word which must be introduced into every indictment25 for a felony, charging the offence to have been committed feloniously; no other word, nor any circumlocution26, will supply its place. Com. Dig. Indictment, G 6; Bac. Ab. Indictment, G 1; 2 Hale, 172, 184; Hawk. B. 2. c. 25, s. 55 Cro. C. C. 37; Burn s Just. Indict24. ix.; Williams Just. Indict. iv.-, Cro. Eliz. 193; 5 Co. 121; 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 242.
