SUPREME COURT.

Auckland Star, Volume III, Issue 617, 3 January 1872, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

CRIMINAL SESSIONS.—TUESDAY,

JANUARY 2nd.

Before His Honor Sir G. A. Arney, Chief

Justice.

After we went to press yesterday the following cases were disposed of: —

FOEGEEY,

Geo. Bull, alias Waters, alias Williams, clerk, pleaded guilt^ ' o three separate indictments of f-: / .. id uttering in pay*

ment r> r

cheques, for £24, entence deferred. • ENT.

1-i.yj., b was arraigned , r ,i . :!•.■'- ■. ■j'tH.n ig him with two ~:,.., ~■-:,„ nent, viz: Of ... ; i.>' • iron. Mrs Owen, of '.;.!.': . [ ; v■.'•..>', i■.■; *anor Rogers, . enry Jackson, ;■ ";..' . ... • ■ Boad. The prosecutor's .'■•:;:-;■;; i ■ to deliver , : si:?/. Ms in payir-.-.;. of 1 i.! '.;, ••> = • them over, ~. . - ' • ~*ae was proved !•;, r'" j, and the jury found . guilty. The prisoner was _.*ued to imprisonment for eight calendar months, FOBGEEY. Thomas Keohan, alias McKeown, shoemaker, was charged with forging a cheque in the name of his employer. He pleaded guilty. The amount was exceedingly small. He called Constable Brennan and his employer to give him a character. Both knew him three years, and the latter found him always honest. His Honor said he would treat the charge as one of the lightest of the kind brought before him, and pass upon him a lenient sentence. There was reason to believe the act was done in a moment of surprise at some instant emergency. Sentenced to fiftoen months' imprisonment with hard labor. STEALING FEOM THE PERSON Patrick Shine was arraigned upon an indictment charging him with stealing from the person, to which he pleaded not guilty. William Stevens was arraigned upon a charge of stealing from the person; he asked that his trial should be adjourned. TEUE BILLS. True bills were found in the case of Gibbons (assault with intent to do bodily harm), Pratt (breach of Arms Act), Anderton (perjury), and Andrew McGill; also, against Corliss and V-. an (stealing from Caledonian mine &nH against Crombie, ¥.:\ •, •■ :;d Qmr'hx. tealing a wei^b i•■ i g JM aeh. ne . ! THIS DkY., i'OBOTSSY AND TTTEHry<>. G-. 'Jialljaliits Waters,Jilias: Williams, was i brought ■'■■■ fiiy ;i .' tenet;, Ho urged that "u< l'U'.& already been ia^&rcer&ted for sererai mouTlis, His Honor 'hongui >t wks evident prisoner, bad beou praciidiug tits art of forgery, and vras he* ■ -nr<'•■;.: an n 1 in it; he. therefore, tbotigiit i Lis duty to sentence him to foer years1 r ;e:-iai servitude. T r.f:' !• ; r .-.•■■■ cook,andE.Courliss were iadietud on a charge of stealing two • <' -i oi gold ore, the property of the . uedonian Gold Mining Company. The:e were several counts in the indictment.

Mr Joy, L.L.B:, appeared for the

prisoners. [ The Crown Prosecutor, in laying the J case before the court, said that the matter ought to have been settled by the magistrates. However, it seemed that they thought it of sufficient importance to send it to a higher tribunal, as crimes of this description were believed to be of too frequent occurrenceThe papers of Incorporation were then ' putin as evidence, and Constable Samuel Brennan deposed, . that he had seen certain auriferous specimens taken from the prisoners. The specimens produced were those taken from them. Prisoner Donovan told him they were only passing the place, and picked up the stone from mere curiosity. 11 ticket (produced) he said he had found in a plant of specimens at the back of the Caledonian office. S. E. Richards, manager of the Caledonian mine, gave evidence as to the abstraction of stone from the mine, and to h&Tui^ aeon prison :-:is.c sione front j I their ;oekeis and ihso - ...a* it away. Tldn j ! stcae b? believed belonged, "-o this Gale- : [ don?.-i.n mine, He jjave them in elinrge \ .' One of fclie sp^iiinaeiis bow produced -,-a- I I one of fchosa picked up. There w&s so I \ «<y&'ri':ihh : although theiw srao ia sojiie 1 of.tho others whjob. he couitl hoc iiieatifv \ William Sandorson fcad iseu prisoners l j ■:■ th<s cud of the shoot the drays ! ■|w. : 'f* iosdbd. They weve 'pickiag tip | 1 3pUiSthiag. Witnesa iafomwi O^pfetaj! 'ifci^yds, and tbe ii«v> pjp^ouerg v?afu *

arrested. On« was jasfc rising from?, stooping position, and the other we examining something thit he had pickd up, Witness had one prisoner in oie hand, and ihe other in his other hanl. The stone which Donovan had, fell dowi. On taking prisoners to the lock-up, boh took stones out of their pockets and threw them on the road. Captain Richards and others picked them up, and they were taken to the police station. GEAND JTJEY. The grand jury then appeared, and true bills were given in every case except that of perjury preferred against G Spray by J Crosbie. The case of specimen stealing was then proceeded with. William Rowe, lately in connection with the Caledonian claim, deposed that for the last two years he had seen prisoners ping about the claim picking up stone. 0a the 4th December he saw them both sitting under the shoot picking up quartz. In other respects this witaess corroborated the evidence of Sanderon He said that stone of the kind produceo in which no gold was visible, has yielded as much as from 1| to 14 ounces to the tn. Peter Iverson gave corroborative eidence. Mr Joy argued that there was no eidence of criminal intent in picking uja few stones lying outside this claim. le also brought under the notice of the Cout the fact that prisoners had already bea incarcerated for more than three week. He urged also that the pieces of stoo said to have been picked up by prisonei could not in any sense be looked upon a " specimens " from the Caledonian mine His Honor summed up the evidenct with great elaborateness; and, after a retirement of about a quarter of an hour, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. His Honor, however, found it necessary; to caution the prisoners as to their future conduct before discharging them.