There was an original charter in 1629 and criminal law was administered by the Court of Assistants. The Court of Assistants consisted of the Governor, the Deputy Governor, and there were many assistants. The Court of Assistants only judged cases on what they knew and they were not trained lawyers. Paranoia took over and they were charging people as being witches. Later, they were not longer hysterical and realized that they could not prove beyond doubt that someone was an actual witch. The judges were literally told that they could not just make someone guilty because of what someone said. The governor finally pardoned the rest of the people that were on trial.
