Final statement

When a person accused of a crime is convicted and sentenced to capital punishment, the person can make a final statement, or express their last words, before being executed. The substance of these last words may or may not have anything to do with the crime of which the condemned person has been convicted.

In the mid-1670s there was an explosion of printed materials about trials and executions, addressed to a wide range of people who wanted to know more about these matters. This curiosity was satisfied with regular publications about last dying speeches and the behaviour of prisoners.

The publishing of last dying speeches and confessions started to be common after 1650, at the same time with the rise of newspapers and a several number of political executions. This right to have a public confession of innocence or guilt was one of the unalienable privileges of prisoners. But sometimes officials threatened the martyrs in order to guarantee their silence, or, other times, they were interrupted or silenced at the gallows.

Final statements relevant to the alleged crime in question may run the gamut from maintenance of innocence to self-incrimination, and their tone may likewise be anywhere from conciliatory to provocative. For example, one may

Other subject matters of final statements may include

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