SUPREME COURT.

Evening Star, Issue 4088, 3 April 1876, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.

CBUCDTAD SESSION/ . - Monday, April 3ed. ' (Before His Honor Judge Williams.) The quarterly session for the despatch of criminal -business (commerced this moming.His Honor taking his seat on, the Bench at 10 a.m, Tb# following gentlemen having been sworn by the Grand Jury: Messrs E. B. Cargill (foreman), E. H. Leary, T. 3. Graham, P. C. Fulton, John Eva, * J. Edmond; Jasi Davidson, Jas. CUrlo, B. Clayton, J. Collender. J.' L. BUtterworth, C. F. Black, A. C. Begg, Hi; Bastings,.' W. 0. Ball, Wm. Conyers, B. .Burley senr., J. P. Armstrong, J. D. Anderson, , And Si W; Alien. ’ v i His Honor delivered tb® following CHAKGX. - M* Foreman, and .Gentlemen of the J ary,—The Calendar is somewhat heavier than 'on the twoformer occasions I have presided here, but the amount of mime in proportion to the population; Mi remains less than in several other pirts of 'the Colony, and I do not think that the alight increase in the calendar is a matter of much significance. I regret that since the; last sittings there-have been no leak thanthraocases of criminal children. One of these. will. not come before you, as the accused has died. In another the accused is, I understand, stated to he-out of'his mind. The fkist;that\a person' aoonaed w%s[. out. ofhis mind when an offence was. committed, or that ba bas hetoine iqsane atoarivturds, is no ground • tor ignoring’ l a 'bill Against him The : que£ tion of insanity is. disposed of by the Court after his arraignment , There is the usual catalogue of larcenies, one of them being a larceny of goodsat s4a. There are three coses Of forgery, two of aheep-stealing. one of horse-stealing, and oneof arson. Iu some of them the eyideneefor the prosecution is weak; The question for you in each case wfflbe hbtwhether the evidence is strong enough to justify a conviction, but whether you oonsider that it affords a sUfiicient ground for preferring an' accusation. Gentlemen, if you will retire to your room the bills will he laid before you. V- • THE BILLGBOVE 8188. The Grand Jury having retired, the Coroner's Jury, who at Moeratdin the early part of the, year had been ndable to agsee as to the origin of the fire ,on,,Mr Cnjltog’s property at Hillgrove, ,made their ?§HsH6Uojr?Wdressing.tJieforeman, Mr Murdott)' said; I understand the case to be thiat Air''-the OokCtoer’U inquiry which you attended 1 you-did ’not agree upon your verdict, and the Coroner sent fate . here. Now the Coroner is not in attendance. .Mr Mnrcott: Ibelievenot. your Honor. His Honor: Then* nothing can be done without ) the Coroner. I see there ore only eleven of you; • ope appears,to be absent. - (It was explained timt • the twelfth juryman was ill, and ’a medical certffi- * cate was produced;) There being no Coroner here, ■ aBl dan do-is to send you back again—to dismiss ! you. Before Ido so, I shouid say that the Coroner, j - following what is laid ,do wn; in the books, appears > to have been right in bringing you .here, bnt, j he should - 'also have Attended himself. It ;

appears in Mr Justice ’ Johnson’s "On the . . office of CptOUer ” that it is the dutyofths Coroner when his jury do nob agree to luring them to, the ■ 'aroteeai ( '" ! That 'waa, I believe, deriyed originally But 1 strikes me that tlyyagh the. Coroner, appearatohave dbne Hik datyinthe-case, it.is a" great absurd bring yon down;: and’rAally the ends of-justice afro > nobserved in.tbe slightest. And lam happy to he abpf to.bell you that in future I hardly think >ifr will be hecessary for the Coroner to follow the course that '"he" has- adopted- oh the presentocoadiomiw rThere is a recent ' case. in England, before Mr Baron Bramwell, where, the Borne thing occurred. In. that, case, ’ which -'was not an inquest on ” a fire,' but - oh a deathy^<-the-*- jmy- -not"-beiiqf’--able’»-bo' ■ agrees '• were brought to the assizes by the Coroner. The ’ case is the woU«khowh. one of tile Queen’s yacht xtuming down- another near Portsmouth. Baron Bramwell told the Coroner on that occasion that he hadjdbherright ihfOPbwipg what waalaSddowH: attire .time quite within the power of the Coroner,' when a jury had been kept a reason-

■ time witteulj meat.drink* or fuel-to dlscbaree them : " and that in ’ future’ that course should be followed. . I think the law, •as thus laid down, is correct; and,, that in future,cases, if 'tiie.'Corohery. after kept a , jqn- a xfeaSonAbletime without meat, drink, dr fuel, finds they cannot agree should discharge them himself. It is obvious tbat the>iehds of justice have not been served in,the slightest by bringing yon ddwn here, and that a great deal of . time has been wasted. On the present occasion, as the Coroner is not here, andas'thereare onlyeleven ofybtuyou can odine tdT mcoudumon/, whatever; todthereforoMlmnSt discharge yon. lam sorry, that yon should have had the trouble to come down,yjfr' Murcdttrepresented to his Honor thatjeach or tbbjUrors bad lost four day s in coming’dowta to tSw&. , -Although the Jurors could nob agree as to the origin of the fitotthey were ■ unanimously of opinion that gomething shoiild be allowed them.—(Laughter.) -.(!■. .... , - His Honor: I have no doubt about that. Ido not think it is in my pdwef to make any order, but if I eon makq any recommendation to the Government fdtydur expenses I shall beveryhappy todo so. lliejarywetethendischarged.* V""’ ’ 'TBPS BILtS. r ' i- The Grand ■Jnry fouud tme bills in thefoUdwing casea-irrGharles O. Robertson, larceny.; Edward Price, horse-stealing; William Yielding, larceny as iPearce,' stealing from 1 an; hotel; Anne Crawley, same.William M'Ghee, forgery; Rankin, larceny ; Peter JBcott, sheep-steal-ing ;Samuel Carswell, larceny as a ballee'j Frankr'ae Flam, robbery from the Corona; Peter Samaris, same; Charles Stephen- Mills, forgery {threechargSbT- ’ ? pleas. I

On being arragned, the, prisoners pleaded thus.:— William Bankin, larceny from a dwelling-house, guilty; William .’ Yielding, larceny of a horse and saddle, as a bailee, not guilty; Hemy Pearce and Aim Crawley, stealing from an hotel, not guilty ; William M'Ghee, forgery and uttering, guilty. Sentence was deferred till to-morrow in those yvhich prisoners pleaded guilty. . . LAECBNY,

Charles 0. Edoertson. was indicted for having, at Kakamii'mouth, on Febrnaty Ist, stolen a cash-box containing £4ftand other yoloables. The prisoner, ■ who' rras'nridefexided, pleaded “ hot guilty. lie facts of tlie case for the prosecution, shortly • .Stated,. ; qre thespOnJannary2Bth theprisoner; .went to the Devonshire Hotel, Kakanni month,. kept by a Mr Stock, and stayed till within a few hqnrs of hk arrest by.Constable! Townsend on the \ eyeuipg Of Febniary Ist. The landlord kept his i nhhey in a cash-box in his bedroom; and the night before the robbery was committed he went over the: box and fbuhd the money all right. Amongst the 1 contents were two cheques, one for £6 75,: drawn by one James Mitchell, on the; 3SjafOfialßahk t }-tho other forlLSby: jt*Mr 'Cndk-? , shank. At. about 3, had occasion to go to ~ f ltis bomrbhnf, and then saw; hireash-box in its nsnal place behind the looking-j glass. At the same time he saw prisoner in the; passage that led‘to the bedroom, bnt saw nothing more of him until he was placed in the lock-up at. H p.m. the.same day. On January 12, eleven days before the robbery, prisoner bad been tried at the District Court at Camara *qr some offence, and acquitted. As he was' leaving the Court, the gaoler gave him 1,5 Is, which was all the money he had bn him at the -time he was arrestedj but when he Svae searched at Kakanni mouth on February 1, after having been attested fori drunkenness, Constable Townsend found on him .lil9 in cash,and a cheque for L 6 7adrawn by James’ 'Mitchell on the NationaTßank. It happened that the constable was at the Camara District Court when theprisoner was discharged, and when be took the! 7 money and cheque from him. after searching him . prisoner said, ‘* That, money k mine.',* ■ > The^constable rejoined, “Ton have made ityory,qnickly-M whereupon prisoner answered, “ Yes, I have brad harvesting following a reaping machine." Ac-i ..cording to prisoner's statement he must have received L2l for eleven days’ harvesting. The prosecutor's cash-box was .found broken to pieces about 400 yards ’from the Kakanni ~bridge, and prisoner j When arrested, was coming from that direction. • Ofl [bbing called on for his- defence, prisoner said he desired to .call witnesses, bnt bad been-unable to obtain' subpoenas because the Clerk of the Court required ten shillings for that purpose. It transpired that the sum wjs demanded, for stamps; the new Stamp Act requiring all to be stamped. : His Honor expressed the opinion that the Legislature had no intention of theprevionely the opfiortunity. of. witnesses. Hitherto, when prisoners had been unable to take out subpoenas the Court had ordered that they should issue.; Kaw.he presumed, theConrt would ha veto request tberCrown to pay tha naccetiry /I he prisoner said nis- witnesses, who lived at Hampden, would prove an alibi. ■His Honor decided that the trial would have to , pifcdeed, and he ootdd consider the matter afterwords. * Prisoner said be knew nothing of the robbery ; ho bad been drinking freely for a day or two before the altered theft; . :/J he Jury, without leaving the box, found the prisoner guilty, and sentence was deferred. HOESE STEAtINO..

'‘•Edward Price pleaded not guilty to a change of stealing on December 6 two mores and three coital the property of Mr N. J. B. M'Gregor, of Silver- . .Stream. Prisoner was not defended. v The case was fully reported in our columns at the ‘ prejitainory Investigation at the City Police Court, ind the facta shortly stated are theseOn Decent* i berti prosecutor had In his possession two mares, • one colt,'and two foals. On that day he missed ' them. Mr Robert Goodison, of St. Hilda, purchased two mares ond two fillies fer L2O from prisoner on December 10. He had also a colt with him, which Goodison allowed to remain in .his ‘‘ possession. The colt got away and on December 11 Goodison sold the two foata and mares in the Proytnoiat yards. My Milner being the auctioneer, and IBSrTSfeo. Cooper, of Eoit'Taleri, the-''puichfi3w‘at . 'The Wares ond foalß had sincebeen claimed rigor as bis property. Prisoner, ih s'ell-’,'.ing,-itneia to Goodison, had stated “that 'they tl'Mumgsdto Geo Sutherland, of Tokomairlio.J, ■ teid'bsofi commissioned; by due Sutherland ■ ■ to sen the bones, r r.a ia-t/. \ ■ ' I

The jury, after a BtortMtoament, found the prisoner guilty, and seatenco was deferred. ' STEALING PROSCAN HOTEL. • Henry Pearce and Ann " Crawley were charged with stealing, on March 25, from the Hillside Railway Hotel, .Jouth Dunedin, a cashbox containing cheques and moneys of the value of L 67 6s 3d, the property of Frederick Augustus Naumann. Planners, who were undefended, pleaded Not Guilty, i Prisoners visited prosecutor's hotel together on March 25. They left after being served with drinks, , and returned a few minuteslater, when there was no one in the bar. Prisoner 'then went te the back of the counter and removed the cash-box, giving it te the female prisoner and asking her to take it away, tike remonstrated with Pearce, and, saying she would not be a tbief, placed it ou the counter. Prisonersthen hurried away together. These facts were testified to by a jockey sained Lambert, who overheard the conversation,/ outside the bar-door. The Crown Prosecutor fMr Haggitt) in stating -.the charge, admitted that the case against the woman was a very weak one, and all that could be said about her was that fehe was in the other prisoner's company. Her after conduct showed that she could not nave returned with him to the hotel with the intention of Committing a felony. It .was quite competent for the jury to acquit her and to convict Pearce. ! Prisoner Pearce addressed the jury, and pointed out that none of the witnesses saw him with the cash-box iu his hand. The principal evidence togainst him was the statement of the female prisoner to the police thgjt he bad taken the cash,box and wanted her to carry it away 5 but if the ;woman bftd said L© h&d dopnnittdd ft was fhe to be bum? on ber nniwported statement. F # i Prisoner Crawley sOid tfeat .Pearce went behind -the counter, removed the cash»hoi, and gave it to her, bnt she refused to remove it, saying she would •not become a thief for hiimr ..... The juty, after a few - minutes deliberation, 'found Peatod ,e guilty," amJCrawley. “ not guilty." he latter was dischargecLand Ws Honor stated jhis intention of other to»wprrow. ; the corona jkwbl£eby bobbery. Frank De Flam was indicted for having stolen from the ship At sea/a; quantity of jewelleryi of the the property of Frederidka Helen, Jones.' /Prisoner pleaded " not guilty. - ' " : • f*The facts were fnlly reported in cur report of tho proceedings at the City Police Court the other day, ProSecutrix sant out rrpm •JSngland in the Corona two.boxes containing personal effects. In one of the boxes there wga a raall jewobcaso full of jewellery: Whentoebbxte Reached their destination it was fonnd that the box contnming.the jewellery had been broken open and tho contents of the' jewel-case extracted. Inquiries wero then made among the single girl immigrants by the vessel, and it was fonnd that prisoner, who was a sailor on the Corona, had distribpted partjof the stolen property in presents to two of tnAgirls. ■ Other jewellery, since identified by Miss Jones as her property, was : fonnd in prisoner’s possession when he was arrested. ;

Prisoner did not-, question any. of tha witnesses, : and m ’iMclteSsil#' •’fW- ' he'-.-found the jewellery in a long-boat on .the top of the honse. When he learnt that it waa jlissing he gave himself up to the police. ■ His Honor said that, had prisoner found the ; jewellery, he waa still guilty of the offence in not handing it. to the Corona's captain so as to discover | tbq ownership, : t . The jury, without leavingjhe box, found the pri--Boner “gnilty,” kfid sentefitiSwas deferred. • • AHorßfcß'&Bß. Peter Samaria was indicted' for stealing a brooch, the property, of : Fredericks Helen Jones, from the Corona while, at sea. Prisoner pleadod "not guilty.” Prisoner‘in this cose was also-a sailorontbe Corona, On New Tear’s Day he presented a silver amalochite brooch to Maty Jinn Garwood, an immigrant by the Corona. Theßroocb was given by her to a Miss Nntsford, a passenger by the ship, by whom it was handed to the police. The brooch was sworn to by prosecutrix as her property. Prisoner said he picked_up the brooch in the forehold when " slinging”, provisions. He kept it for a fortnight, and finding no owner gave it to Mary Ann fiftrnr/vul. ■ * \ . » I T

i The jury retired, and on returning into Court, the : foreman saidWe find the prisoner guilty of con- > cealment.' ; • 1 His Honor : I can hardly take the-verdict in that ! shape," : , : -The Foreman : We believe his.story that he found the brooch, hut that after doing s8 he concealed it instead of giving it np to tlfe captain. : * ; • His Honor: Well now, will you consider thiq—in the first place,;that having found the brooch, was it bxa,mtention ; to .appropriate it, and then had he reasonable grotmdß for beli«(Hug that he could find | the owner ? ''y The jury again retired, .and on returning into Court his Honor directed them that if they answered both questions in the affirmative, they fonnd him guilty: , •,,••• j The Foreman: We answer both in the affirmative we find him guilty. - -. FOBGEBT ANEUTTEEINO. Cliarles Stephen Mills was charged with uttering, on January 7, a cheque for the payment of LB, purporting to be drawn by Edward Alger on the branch of the Colonial Sank of Kew Zealand at Oamorn. Prisoner pleaded not guilty. The case for the Crown was that prisoner came bo Hampden from Oamaru toopen a ’branch store for Mr Alger, his employer. With the landlord of the Kartigi Hotel he cashed a cheque purporting to be drawn by Mr Alger oh a bank' in which that gentleman had no account. . ..In .answer to his Hono£, Mr Congrove said, he was in the babit of cashing' cheques for strangers. His Honor advised him to cease the practice, saying that hotel-keepers cashing cheques in this way was a fruitful source of, crime throughout the Colony. He only hoped that, if Mr Cosgrove continued to do so, he would lose his money. (Xeft slttlpgj