ALLEGED PERJURY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1447, 6 May 1905, Page 3

ALLEGED PERJURY.

:y & A POLICEMAN’S MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

(Per Press Association.) I Wellington, last night. A" charge against John Howley, a police constable, of having committed perjury at the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington on .February 27th, in connection with two charges against one James Kennedy of being an idle and disorderly person, in Sihat be consorted with reputed thieves and prostitutes, and with being the keeper of a was concluded in the Supreme Court before the Chief Jostice. The alleged perjury lay in that Howley had sworn to seeing Kennedy in the company of bad characters on December 26th and S7th, amongst. other dates, and made an entry in his note-book at the time. The evidence for the Grown want to show that Kennedy was at Palmerston on the dates upon which he was alleged to have been in Wellington. For the defence evidence was given by Thomas Fitzsimmons, a second-hand

dealer, and hie wife, who swore they saw Kennedy in their shop on December 27th. Xt was about two- months after Kennedy was first prosecuted that remembered having seen him on the date given. They first mentioned the incident to a detective who was in Howley’s company. Xn summing up His Honor said he thought it had cast a bad flavour over the case to ca!l Fitzsimmons and his wife to give evidence for the aconsed* Xt was for the jury to say whether the evidence of these two should outweigh the evidence of six or seven witoesses for the prosecution. At the same time,whether the jury thought that Fitzsimmons and his wife were swear-

ing falsely or not they must not bring in a verdict of guilty unless they were satisfied that accused had deliberately and designedly sworn falsely -against Kennedy. After half an hour's deliberation the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty, on the grounds of mistaken identity. His T Honor said: “Weil gentlemen, I think it a very proper verdict. lam not going to direct the prosecution against Fitzsimmons and his wife, bot I think it is the duty of the police to make inquiries into their case. This should be a lesson to the police to be very oareful in the evidence they bring beforo the Court.”