In the late summer of 1629, the local authorities in Coldingham, Berwick, turned their attention to the case of David Nisbett. As a resident of this coastal parish, David became the subject of a formal legal inquiry, designated in the judicial records as case C/EGD/1132. The process began on September 5, 1629, marking the formal initiation of proceedings against him during a period when the Scottish legal system was increasingly preoccupied with the investigation of witchcraft.
Following the initial registration of his case, the matter moved forward to a trial under the classification T/LA/140. For David, this legal process represented a significant shift in his standing within the community of Coldingham. The documentation surrounding his trial reflects the structured, bureaucratic nature of seventeenth-century Scottish justice, where the accusations leveled against an individual were systematically processed through the local courts before being weighed by those tasked with upholding the statutes of the realm.