SUPREME COURT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1897, 4 November 1913, Page 4

SUPREME COURT.

CRIMINAL SESSIONS OPEN, Tho criminal; sessions openod yesterday at tho Supreme; Court,j before His Honour Mr. Justice Chapman. Tho Grand Jury , was composed as follows:—Messrs. H.-, J.-.lvory (foreman), C. 0. Jason, A. T." Bacon, W. J. Beck, M* J7 : M'Leod, W. H. Long, J. E. Fitsgerald, G. F. ( Gibb, Kitson, M. Ellison, SraiC hUw. Littlejohn, H. G. Didsbury,-: W. Turnbull,' J.. J. Mallard, Still, 0. E.' Richardson, H.j.SebastiaWKing, and. G. Frost, W. Platts. John Prouse failed to answer wlron called to serve on the Grand Jury, and proof of servico having been shown, His Honour imposed a fine of £5 on,.the"absentee, but just before the, Court rose this, was remitted, on a plea , that "he had forgotten all about it." Another who was called to serve on the Grand .' Jury pleaded deafness, and was excused. But one who asked to be relieyedbecause; of his having been sworn in as a special constable was not successful. •

> . ' ; Charge to Crantl Jury. His Honour, in'his charge to the Grand. Jury, said that he was very pleased to be able to say that their duties would bo very easily dispatched. The /calendar 'was not a long ono, and the'offences wero in no way of an exceptional kind. About ten bills would bo presonted, most of an ordinary type. There (van one in which a man was chargel with the. attempted murder of his wifb. Undoubtedly sho was struck by a billet from a revolver fired by her husbaiil, 1 arid evidence would show that he■-■'purchased the revolver and .cartridges/ and; had used - threatening langu'a£o;to his wife. . ®iere were several cases/of alleged forgery, the sentences passed-in the past not having apparently bfen successful in stamping out that ' das' of crime.- ;That was not the mpst serflus of crimcs, but it was one which mist bo soverely deatt with. Not many wire dealt with by. probation, but* men sM continued to swindlo storekeepers ji that way, although there was usually io difficulty in investigating such matters. ' f . the forcer. . HIS SERIES OF OPERATIONS. John Henry Hurley, alias F. Wilson, ' pleaded guilty to eight-charges of forgery and uttoring cheques, as follows :— July 5, cheque for £3 18s., drawn on : .' the National Bank, Te Aro, payable to F. Walsh, and signed J. Anderson; July 7,. £4 125., drawn on -the Bank of New Zealand, payable to self, signed by J. Anderson; July 18, 1 £4 155., drawn on tho National Bank, payable to self, signed by. P. -Barrington; July 21, £2 10s., drawn on the Bank of New Zealand, Petone, payable to self, signed by J. Campbell; July 21, -£4 55., drawn on the Bank of New Zealand, Petone, payable to self, signed J. Cockerill, endorsed J. Campbell; July .13, £5 10s., drawn on the Bank of New Zealand, payablerto F. Wilson,'signed by'J. Har-ris,-and'-uttered at "Wanganui; July .26, • . £5 .10s.; drawn on the Bank of New Zealand, Marton, payable to F. Wilson, signed by J. Harris. - /and uttered at Bulls; July 22, £6 7s.'; drawn on tho Balik of New Zealand, Woodville, signed by S..Bolton, and uttered at Palmerstou N'dfth: ' . •" 1 Mr. T. M. "Wilford, who appeared for prisoner, askedior postponement of sentenco until Wednesday. . "Ho had received a communication from Christchurch,' which required an answer before he spoke on behalf of accused. He'realised that that-was,a serious case, but it which showed one of tho disadvantages of education/' ' His .'Honour agreed :to this course.

POSTAL NOTES. THE DRINK ASPECT OF CRIME. ; .guilty.', • t0.,, .a, charge pf.-theft", and," forgery, having on. May 1, at'Palmerston North, stolen two postal notes, .value 10s., and Is. Cd. respectively, the property of his emriover. Charles ,"\Vra;. Edmonds, whoso name he forged to thorn, and then cashed them.' '>■ ..v :, .t-' '■■'~v'• ' Mr. H. H. Ostler (Crown-Prosecutor) said that the only conviction against prisoner was one .of a month's imprisonment for disobeying an order of the Court for debt; - :Prisonerpleaded in th&.,JVlßgistrate's Court -that drink was his trouble, though, he had not been in of the police.for that offence. These three' coiirits were all. one transaction. Prisoner had been seven or eight years in Now Zealand, and for the last two years had been at Palmerston North. Prisoner agreed to enter into an obligation to- abstain from drink, and was thereupon bound over for three years. His Honour remarked that ho .was very reluctant to admit to probation men who oommitted that kind of -crime/as in such cases probation had not'proved a success. That was the only kind of case in which ho refused probation, but in this instanco prisoner's physical disabilities would be taken into tion. ;; The periodof probation would be a. long one, ahd prisoner would have to be a total _ abstainer during the three years,!..as if he misbehaved himself in any way ho would bo arrested, and brought before the Court.

"HOOP-LA" SHOWMAN. SI7COUMBED TO TEMPTATION. Another plea'of guilty was entered by George Hurt (24), who was charged with breaking and entering tho du'tllinghouse of George Congdon, at Carterton, and with stealing therefrom a silver: watch; value £3. Mr. P. J. O'ltegan, on behalf of accused, askett that lie bo admitted 'to probation, and that Burt went to Congdon's house to 'borrow somo magazines. Tho house was locked, but he got through a window, presuming on his acquaintance with Congdon. Whilst there he was tempted and took the watch, but at onco admitted tho offence when charged. Mr. Ostler (Crown Prosecutor) said that the police had no report against the accused, who went round with 6hows and ran a small side-show callcd "hoopla." " His Honour, in passing sentence, said: "You havo been a very foolish fellow to do this sort, of thing. I suppose you were tempted by the eighty of tho watch, but you must bear in mind that if you do anything like.this.again you will be treated like a regular criminal. For tho present • I will treat you as 'having made a slip through a slight temptation. I don't think it advisable to admit you to probation, but you will be released on terms requiring you to come up for sontenco when called upon." Accused was then ordered to pay £3 towards the costs, in monthly instalments of 10s., commencing on January 1.

WOMAN BIGAMIST. THE CASE OF ANGEL DOEL. That the passing of years after desertion.vdoes not annul a marriage was onco inonv-shown in ft cmo in which •Wel Millis Doel (25) was chargedwith liaving bigamously married Albert truest l)avis at Wellington on October 2 1912. while her first husband, Alfred

William Doel, to w/hom sho was married at Blenheim, on January 25, lSo4,.was still alive. ■ Mr. M. T. Wilford, on behalf of accused, said that although tho circumstances warranted a plea of not guilty in tho first instance, 'he had since come to the conclusion that it was his client's duty to plead guilty. Shortly after 3ier first marriage sue was separated from her husband on occount of differences, and after they had lived apart for eight years she went through the form of marriago with Davis. There was a common supposition in tho country, if a woman left her husband, or a husband'his wife, and they had lived apart for soven years, t'hat they were ipso 'faoto divorced, and wero able to re-marry. His Honour said ho had heard of stray but ho could not say that tho impression was prevalent. Mr. Wilford submitted' that the idea was prevalent. Under Ecction 20! of tho Act anj'oio committed bigamy by going throusi the form of marriago if he or sho 'had been continually absent for sovon year 3 last past. If the section stopped there it would bo a sufficient foundation for that impression, but another part of tho section read: "and is not proved to havo known that his wife (or her husband) was not-alive during those seven years." In that section, said Mr. Wilford, was tlio foundation of the wrong belief tliat tho parties had a right to marry again. Davis had gone fway, accused waß living with, her mother, and was leading an exemplary life. Her husband had commenced divorce proceedings. Mr. Ostler, on behalf of tho Crown, said that when 15 years old accused was convicted of thoft at Wellington, and a year later was brought up for having no lawful means of-support. Th ree years later, at Palmerston North, she was sentenced to prison for a month for vagrancy, and evidence was given that sho and her husband wero separated a fortnight after marriage. His Honour said he could not treat the cast) as ono for probation, but he i would pass a light sentence. Accused would bo detained for four months for reformative treatment.

BRITISHERS v. FOREIGNERS. • FIGHTING ON KUMABA. Three stalwart seamen named Joseph Maynard (58), Florence Allen (35), and William Cleaver, pleaded not guilty to a charge of alleged assault on Louis Anderson (37), so as to cause him actual bodily harm. ■ Mr. H. H. Ostler (Cro.vn Prosecutor) conducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr. P. J. O'Regan ap* peared for the accused. Mr. Ostler, in outlining the case, said that the prosecutor and the three, accused men were engaged on the -p- u " mara, a steamer trading between JMigland and New Zealand. On Wednesday, September 3, the Kumara was 111 the 'Wellington Harbour, and some ol the sailors, firemen, and trimmers cad leave to go ashore. When thoy returned to the boat most of them wore under the influence of liquor. In the forecastle the seamen woro divided from the firemen and trimmers by a partition. A Scandinavian fireman, named Anderson, who had been ashore, was lying on the forecastle when Maynard came in. There had been bad .blood between them, and a quarrel onsued, though the depositions did not show who started it. Anderson jumped out of bed, and grappled with Maynard, both of them falling to the floor. In the centre of the floor Hvas a bogie, or fireplace, and it was for the jury to say whether this had caused the cuts which Anderson received. Anderson, who was a strong man, was getting the best of it, when Allen and Cleaver came round, and attacked Anderson. Except for the cuts found on Anderson when he was taken to the Hospital that caso would not have been heard of. Mr. Ostler added: "Sailors are rough and ready customers, and a fight is quite a usual thing, but it is dangerous to allow a man who uses tt weapon go unpunished. The English nation have a method of settling their quarrels without weapons, their natural weapons being their fists." Mr. Ostler, in conclusion, $aid there was no direct evidence that any of the mon had weapons, but there were marks on Anderson's face, as though caused by sharp weapons. Dr. Eraser stated that Anderson was admitted to the Hospital oh September 4, and discharged on the 16th. When admitted he was in a somewhat dazed condition. Witness described the nature of the wounds. . The depositions of eight members of the crew, who had sailed for England on the Kumara, were then read. The evidence was to the effect that the mon toppled over tlio bogio several times, that Anderson's, face was bleeding, and that thoro were continual fights between the sailors and tho fireman. Anderson then gavo evidence, and bore out the statement of Mr. Ostler. He could not, however, say who or what caused his injuries, though ho stated that lie could not seo because of the blood which covered his face. To Mr! O'Regan: He did not seo anybody use a knife or any other sharp instrument. Maynard, called by Mr. 0 Regan, gave his version of what occurred. Bis ire was roused first by Anderson's contemptuous reference to Britishers, and he said to Anderson, "You shut up about Britishers; they're your equals whatever part of .the world they may bo in." Then the fight followed. _ "Anderson gavo me a vicious kick in the jaw, which will never go back no moro," added Maynard. . Allen, who was next called, said that in. conscquence of Anderson's unfair treatment of Mnynard, ho (Allen) said, "I'll show you how to fight fair," and he did. Cleaver's defence was that all he did was to make Anderson and Allen break away when they had clinched over the stove. Mr. O'Regan addressed the jury, and pointed out that tho prosecution had not shown that any weapons were used. His Honour said that this was, in many respects, a very unsatisfactory caso, and the jury might have a difficulty in fixing the guilt upon any particular man The jury retired, and after half an hour's absence returned with a verdict of not guilty, and prisoners wero discharged. Mlnlfie Cass. The Court then adjourned until 10.30 on Wednesday, when Samuel Charles Minifio will be charged with tho attempted murder of his wife and three charges of false pretences: Harry Somes with carnal knowledge: and Henry Francis Carlton M'Gill with theft.