ALLEGED LIBEL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 117, 14 November 1939, Page 11

ALLEGED LIBEL

EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENCE

: Today -Was the third day of the hearing of. the claim for £1000 damages for. alleged libel, brought .in the Supreme Court by John,, Robertson, M.P., secretary of the New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association and -editor of. the association's weekly bulletin, against Garnet Hornby Saun-. ders, of New Plymouth, and Harry Thompson,'. of Napier, motion picture exhibitors. The claim arose from an open letter' sent to. exhibitors by the defendants before the election of repre- j sentatives to the Film Control Board, j after,their names had been missed out of a list of candidates.published in the; bulletin. .: . ■ The case is being heard by Mr. Justice Johnston and a jury of twelve. Mr. J. S. Hanna is appearing for the plaintiff, Mr. O. C. Mazengarb for Saun-. ■ders, and Mr. John Mason (Napier) for Thompson. ' " , ; ' Giving evidence today, Saundei'S said he wrote the open letter and read it to Thompson ,over the telephone on Saturday, July 1, the day the bulletin containing the inaccurate list of candidates was published. He did not intend the letter to be a reflection on the plaintiff* whom he did not believe was a party to the,"filthy intrigue" mentioned in the letter. He did not applogise tp the plaintiff 1 because he did not think the letter, reflected on him in .any way. He did not remember #ie plaintiff saying he was a public man and ought to clear himself, but he,did remember Robertson saying that the letter might be used against him at a j political meeting. The . first intimation he had of-.the..omission of the names from the bulletin was a telephone call from; Thompson; who was disturbed, but riot angry. ; He himself was riot angry, but amazed. He assumed -that >an Auckland man had been responsible for writing the notes, and was the man who had left out the two: names. ..He- thought that doublercrossing had. been going on, which was the. same, as. filthy intrigue; . •; : . . .:• •Opening: the;case. for Thompson just before the luncheon adjournment, Mr. Mason said that,if. the ;letter= were referable to Robertson-—which was denied —it had been written without malice. (Proceeding.)- .