CROSSAN CASE

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 217, 9 June 1943, Page 8

CROSSAN CASE

Leave To Apply For New

Trial Granted An application on behalf of William Alexander Crossan, who*was found guilty by a jury in the Supreme Court, Wellington, on May 7 of rendering a woman incapable of resistance by threats with the object of committing a crime, of abducting nnd detaining a woman with intent to commit a crime, and with intimidating her with a revolver, was made in the Supreme Court, Wellington, yesterday by Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell for leave to apply to the Court of Appeal for a new trial on the grounds that the verdict was against the weight of evidence and that certain counts of the indictment were incorrectly stated. Mr. Justice Smith granted the application. Mr. Treadwell, in support of the. application, submitted that the first count of the indictment alleged that Crossan had rendered the woman “incapable of resistance,” and that the legal meaning of that term implied the denial of use of limbs. He quoted the relevant passages of the criminal code under which the count was framed in support of this. Regarding the second count of the indictment; Mr. Treadwell urged that the evidence in the case fell far short of establishing that there was nny intent to force carnal knowledge, and- that the count was bad in law in that it. alleged two separate crimes, those of abducting and detaining. For the Crown, Mr. W. 11. Cunningham suggested that the woman’s power of resistance was undermined by fear of being shot, but agreed that the point was arguable. The crimes alleged in tlie second count, of the indictment were really a continuous net over a period of eight, or nine hours and for that reason it was correct to associate them in the oue count. He suggested that there had been no miscarriage of justice. Answering his Honour, Mr. Treadwell said he was not raising any point regarding the third count on which Crossan had been convicted.