MAREO CASE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 172, 23 July 1942, Page 4

MAREO CASE

The Mareo case is in evidence again. In all criminal cases there must exist no reasonable doubt In this particular case, the evidence as to Mareo's guilt was by no means waterproof. However, I have read Dr. Smith's book, "Notes Prom a Backblock Hospital, "especially chapter six, which deals with the Mareo case from a medical viewpoint. The case for the prosecution was built upon the hypothesis formulated by Sir William Wilcox, that the peculiarities of veronal are such that a person who awakens from a coma does not relapse without a further dose, unless the person in question is a heavy drinker and a veronal addict at the same time. Although allegations were made by the defence regarding Mrs. Mareo's alleged drinking habits, and evidence was also called with the object of suggesting she might have taken drugs, the jury accepted the evidence of Freda Stark, that Mrs. Mareo was of sober habits. By so doing the jury automatically endorsed the contention of Wilcox, that- the relapse was the result of a further dose of veronal. So Mareo was condemned upon a so-called axiom, which in turn was grooved into the accepted evidence of Freda Stark. H. WOODRUFFE.