Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield

Grace's death had generally been accepted as natural—the evidence of murder was thin, and Bushen in his defence pointed out that his main accuser was a bitter personal enemy.

[4] Sir Lawrence Parsons, recently appointed second Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland), went on the circuit with him, but seems to have played only a minor role in the proceedings.

[6] The Star Chamber later accepted that he had heard the case in private, refused to let Bushen speak in his own defence or to hear witnesses on his behalf, and intimidated the jury by telling them that a certain "great man" had a strong personal interest in their bringing in a guilty verdict.

The most serious accusation was that Sarsfield had agreed with Sir Henry Bellings, High Sheriff of Kildare, that Bushen's property would be forfeited and shared between them, and the Star Chamber seems to have accepted this charge as proven.

Coventry, the Lord Keeper said: "Justice should be done in open court before the face of the world, and men's lives not to be taken away in private chamber... and I do verily persuade myself that Bushen died innocently.

"[8] At a second hearing on 20 November 1633, Sarsfield was once more found guilty of corruption, deprived of office, fined £5000, ordered to pay £2000 to Bushen's family, and imprisoned in the Fleet.

Wedgwood, on the other hand, accepts that Sarsfield was motivated by greed and argues that his conduct was part of a wider problem of judicial corruption in Ireland, and to some extent in England also.

[12] Crawford also accepts that Sarsfield hoped to gain Bushen's estate for himself, and that such behaviour was only to be expected from a judge who had attracted accusations of corruption throughout his career.