MEETING OF JURORS.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 223, 26 September 1870, Page 2

MEETING OF JURORS.

On Saturday morning a meeting of the jury was held respecting the verdict. Mr. .Perston, who was in the chair, said th^ reason why the jury had been convened was that last night several gentlemen of the jury called upon him stuting that the Coroner considered that the verdict they had returned amounted to felo de se, and gave his order to bury the deceased at night, according to the former barbarous law which still existed in England, and which was supposed to extend to New Zealand. He had gone with them to the Coroner, and represented the matter to him, and he consented to extend his warrant for burial of the deceased to forty-eight hours instead of twenty four. He thought if the jury would make a representation that they intended the verdict to show that they believed that deceased's mind was in such a state that he was not responsible for his action, the Coron r would alter the order for burial he had given, allowing deceased to be buried in the daytime in the usual way.— Mr. Tyler, solicitor, appeared, and on behalf of Mr. Harrison contradicted the statements made respecting Mr. Harrison and the other creditors at the meeting. First of all, there was no one hard upon him, and Mr. Harrison w s not wor3t of all. He might state that Mr. Vance, who was the chairman of the meeting, was present, and Mr. Harrison was also present. The creditors were not hard upon Mr. Cassett, because no conclusion was arrived at. The plain fact was this, that Mr. Cassett came up with a statement of his affairs, prepared by himself, in his own handwriting. Thab statement showed on its face a deliciency of about £1400. The consequeuce of that was, that the creditors sisked him to explain the statement. He couid not do so. He did not observe that such a deficiency was apparent till it was pointed out io him. He could not explain the deficiency. The creditors asked him to return to the Thames, ascertain how the matters stood, and come back to Auckland on the following Wednesday, and if that had been done, there was no doubt they would have accepted the assignment of the estate, which Mr. Cassett seemed to wish.'; Mr. Harrison scarcely said a single word to him. (Mr. Tyler proceeded to make further statements in vindication of Mr. Harrison.) —Ultimately two members of the jury waited upon Dr. Kilgour, and stated on their return that he would not reopen the inquest till he received word from the Attorney-General at Wellington. He would, however, make an order for the burial of deceased in the usual way, if the jury wished ir.. The jury then consulted privately, and agreed to the following resolution, to be forwarded to the Coroner : — " We, the undersigned, being the jury who sat in inquest on the body of Eugene Cassett, deceased, hereby inform the Coroner that the verdict returned by us yesterday is not intended to convey the imputation of "felo de se."— signed by all the jurors.—shortlund, September 24,1870.