MAREO APPEAL OPENS

Chronicle (Levin), 30 March 1946, Page 4

MAREO APPEAL OPENS

-Press Association.

Prisoner Seeks to Cdl English Doctors

■By Telegrayh-

WELIilNfJTON, March 29. The Court of Appeai yesterday eomqienced the hearing of applicatioiis on behalf of Eric Mareo for the ealliaig of further witnesses to "produce statements and deolaratiops. The proceedmgs were contin.ued today. Mr. V. R. Mereciitn, on h.ehalf .of thp Crown, stated that the Crown was prepared to put ,in for examination hy the Court statements made to the police hy Freda Starke and Graham Mareo, which, it was alleged on hshajf of the prisoner, were inconsistent with 13xe evidence of these witnesses. The Cr.own was also pr-epared, said Mr. iVieredith, to allow -all the T-elevant documents to he' in- Court, suhject to anything he might have to say as to tehir admissihility in any instance. . . . Mr. A. C. Sexton, on hehalf pf Mareo, submitted that the witnesses be desired to call in England were compellahle witnesses to give evidence .on eommission.

The Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers) : Even supposiag we have the power, the Court will not indulge in What xnight he a futile pr.oceeding. Would tne Court order the taking oi" evidence on eommission which (COitld not he made available in a trlal? Mr. Sexton then stated that if the Court found it had not the power to order a eommission, he should have to ask for the witnesses t.o he brought out from England. The Chief Justice: You might call spirits from the1 vast- deep, b.ut will. they come? — These witnesses ,are not: compellable. - : ' ' • Mr. Sexton went on to" submit that at the time of these trials there was no expert toxicologist in New Zealand,; and quoted the words of Dr. Gilmour, at the second trial, that, up to that cime, he had neither sden nor treated a ease of veronal .poisoning, and -was depending upon the literature and upon his general experience.

CR.UX OF CROWN CASE \ Mr. Sexton contended that the crux of the Crown case had heen that, ae- > cording to the evidence of Miss ireda Btarke, deceased awoke to conscious- 1 pess on Satiuday, April 13, in the even- j ing, and that medical witnesses had j 1 said that, once having regained con- 1 ; sciousness, she could not go intp a t coiua agam without another dose of veronal. "All that evidence ,is fl^tly ' eontrodicted, ' ' contihued Mr,' Sexton, * * hy Dri Roche Lynch and Dr. Barling, of Lqhdon, -and wa's also contradicxed uy the j eviuence of Dr. Giesen, w'hb was called'r for the deience at the second triai.' '' Mr. Meredith, counsel for the Crown, then mentioned that- the def ence- haa called Dr. Paget' as well, on -thei- very question df tne reiapse into a ..coma, . and that they had had'a report from] Dr. Giesen on. this point. after the] Voiice Court hearing. Dr. .Giesen, however, was not caiied for the def ence at the first Supreme Court trial. The Crown had given them every facility, said Mr. Meredith, and they had called witnesses from. as lar as Adelaide. . J These new doctors, eontinued Mr, . Sexton, had a definite experience oi yeronai addicts, aiid had watched' them reiapse into a coma withoUt any further dose, and were forthright in theii evidence as ' to unahsor hed verbnai in the body after recovery from a coma. Mr. Bexton then commenced to read to the Court the statement of Dr. | Roche Lynch. • * This nian carries his advocacy to a considerable length," said Mr. Justice Finlay. The Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers): "A "good deal of what Dr. Roche Lynch says are inferences which inay he drawn hy anyone, and comment which should properiy have heen- pnt to the jury hy counsel. It is comment, not evidence," added his Honour. VERONAL EXPERIENCE j - . Mr. Sexton said. that, even Dr. Giesen, a witness for defence, was not experienced in cases of vbronal poison fng and had had personal experience oi oniy one case, where a person had taKen aoO grains of veronal and recovered. The Chief Justice: Dr. Giesen is a man of considerable standing and an exceedingly good witness. - Mr. Sexton eontinued that Dr. Giesen j had no more authorities to quote than other medical witnesses at the triais, that he was experienced, but not witn veronal cases, and that the conclusioihe came to was the same as that of the London doctors, but that he "did no, nave enough guns. ' ' Mr. Sexton then cited English lega authorities in which new evidence hau been adirfitted hy the Courts. Opening the argument for the Crown, Mr. Meredith submitted that conflact ing medical opinions were not groiuid for granting leave to appeai. '.'The issue in this case," he said, "is one of fact — whether Mareo gave his wif e a dose of veronal with intent to cause death."

The Crown case was that he had given his wife veronal on the Friday night, as he admitted to Mrs. Evans and Miss Bransgrove, and that he admitted giving her another dose on tiu Saturday morning. At midday on Satnrday, when Freda Stark visited her, Mrs. Mareo was then unconscious aua Mareo was staggering ahout with unsteady gait and slurred speech, showing the iiifluence of veronal. Evidence was given that he had purchased a considerable quantity of veronal himseif, and there was no evidqnce that Mrs. Mareo had had any veronal in her possession, and none was found in her room. Shc partly recovered consciousness on that Saturday night, Miss Stark having watched her all day. On Saturday, ahout 7.30 p.m., Miss Stark first heard her move and ahout k or 10 she was definitely conscious and was given water. Later She was given sal volatile and then Marea prepared some hot milk, which was hrought jn for Mrs. Mareo, mbb was sitting up in hed, supported by Miss Stark. She recognised obj'ectg in the room, which in-

dicated that she had wakened up stiid •after drinking half a cup of milk, she showed signs of relaps.'ng into uncpnieiousness and went fast asleep at tlie lavatory, where she had heen assisteil. Mareo himseif could not help them to take her back, but she was put into toed and Miss Stark nursed her through the night, during which, on account of her making " choking sounds, Miss Stark endeavoured to arouse her from her stupor, but could not do so. The Crown 's case was, eontinued Mr. j Meredith, that, in addition to the Friday and Saturday morning doses, Mareo had given his wife veronal on Saturday night in the glass of milk. Counsel for prisoner at the trial had asked the jury for a verdict of murder or acquittal, and did not ask for a Verdict oif manslaughter. On the issue now before the Court of Appeai, as to whether the Court could allow the evidence of Drs. Roche, Lynch and Barling, Mr. Meredith submitted that evidence should not be allowed to he called to holster up evidence already given, nor should the Court hear evidence Which was not new, which was thought of or should have heen thought I of at the trial. All the evidence that it was now suggested should he called was thought of before the first trial and reported on hy Dr. Giesen, and yet no affirmative evidence was called along those lines, but the cross-examination of the Crown witnesses was conducted along those lines. At the second trial, affirmative evidence hr4 been given. by Drs. Giesen and Paget, and had also heen raised in the first trial on the question Qf the theory of the automatic taking of drugs "by 'persons under their inlluence.