NO NEW TRIAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 565, 21 July 1909, Page 3

NO NEW TRIAL.

Wl MATUA'S WILL. DECISION OF THE COURT.. The Native Appellate Court ; yesterday afternoon gave its reserved decision on the application for a new trial.of the proceedings relating to the will of Wi Matua, deceased. Mr. C. A. Loughnan was present on behalf of C. W. Reardon (interested in the application), and also received judgment for Mr. P. E. Baldwin (counsel for tho applicants). Mr. C. P.' Skerrettj K.C., and Air. A. L. D. Fraser appeared for different groups of respondents, who are near relatives of the late Wi Matua, and in whose favour succession ordors were made after probate of the will (which - was largely in favour of Reardon) had been refused by the Native Land Court and the Nativo Appellate Court. The Privy Council had been frujtlessly invoked at one stage of the proceedings. The Appellate Court (Judges J ones and Rawson), in its decision yesterday, refused to grant a newttriasl s In regard to the allegations as to improper practices the part of persons who had opposed granting of probate, and as to the condnct of wit-nesses-at the previous proceedings, the Court held thp.t the fresh statements did not show that false evidence bad been given, bnt even putting the worst construction, upon .them, the case could not be reopened on this ground, because ' the evidence ■ complained: of ' , was .not before the Appellate Court, and was. not tested there, except in-testing the veracity of witnesses. Evidence to justify tho granting cif the application must be' such as to make it probable that the applicants would succeed in a new trial, but nothing had been adduced which would have been likely to make aj material alteration in the mind of the Court, or to remove the suspicion which the Court had held was attached to the circumstances under wMch the will was prepared. .The fresh evidence, for the most part, merely corroborated or contradicted the previous evidence, and as the proceedings before the different tribunals had extended from November, 1903, to August, 1906, it Bhould have been possible, in. this much-discussed-case, to discover the additional evidence at an earlier stage. The evidence of. the Hon. Wi Pere seemed worthy of consideration, but it was inconclusive, and could not have removed the' suspicion that was in the mind of the Court. The' application was therefore refused', and no distinction ooold bei inade in favour of those beneficiaries who claimed that' they were not affected by the suspicions attaching to the circumstances surrounding the execution of the will. On Mr. Eraser asking for costs, Mr. Longhrian submitted that as there was doubt as to the jurisdiction.: of the Court, costs could not bo allowed.. , Tie Court, while admitting that the point was open to doubt,'held_ that iit had junsdio tion, and granted 15 guineas costs. :