fur manifestus
fur manifestus (f[schwa]r man-[schwa]-fes-t[schwa]s). [Latin “manifest thief”] Roman law. A thief caught in the act of stealing. • A fur manifestus could be put to death on the spot in either of two circumstances: (1) if the theft occurred at night, or (2) if the thief used a lethal weapon against the person who discovered the crime. Apart from this, the manifest thief was liable to pay the owner four times the value of the stolen property. — Also termed manifest thief.
