THE DUNPHY TRIAL.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 March 1917, Page 3

THE DUNPHY TRIAL.

Tho Jury Disagree His Honor’s Address. Hia Honor, Mr Jaetice Sim, at the . Supreme Court, Greymouth, yestert day in addressing the jufy x outlined . the counts, which were four in numj ber. There seemed to be no donbt . that someone commuted the assault, aud it was also proved that an assar.lt was committed against Ah Long, aud that a robbery also took place on the night in question. The jury could take that without doubt. They need not tyke into consideration the question of any particular sum having beeD stolen. They also must not have any doubt that both the robbery and the assault were committed by the same man, and the main point was for them to consider whether it had been proved to their sathfaction that it was the accused who had committed crime. Both Chinamen swore to the identification of the accused as the • man. The case for the Crown rested on all the circumstances aud not only that of identification, so that the jury would have to take all the circumstances and add them together, and

ask themselves the question - “ Is the accused the man who committed the crime?” If they thought that the circumstances did not point to the accused, then the Crown hsid not made out its case. They had had the advantage of hearing the evidence, which Hie Honor read over to the jury again. In doing vo, His Honor said that the circumstantial evideuce pointed very strongly indeed that the accused must have been the person. “You have the fact that accused gave up money to Mcßobert?,” continued His Honor, “and that in bis bedroom £4O odd iu silver was fcnud. Of course the man might have come honestly, by that amount, but nsaally when a man has ench a largo amount of silver some rxplanation should be made by the learned counsel as to how the accused came by it, and if he could make such an explanation he would have put it before you ; but he has not dace so. The accused had said when accosted that he knew nothing about the bag with the money in it; but now he called O’Donno!/, who says the accused had the money on the Friday." The evidence of o‘Donneii ” continued His Honour, “ does cot help the accused one particle. How the ( accused came by the money has not , been explained up to the preheat mo- 1 ment. The scrap of paper is identi- 1 fied by Ah Sing as the piece of paper ] on which hs wrote and which waa de- ' positsd in the safe along with the f forty sovereigns, and this very piece )£ paper ia found rolled up in the ac-

cusad’s bedroom. How did it get there p The only other explanation other Ikaa that the accused put it there ia that some wicked person put it there. Ths piece found,” said His Honour “ia only half of the paper that was pat in the sate and the ao* ousod could have blown the evidence of the Chinaman sky-high to-day if he had brought evidence to prove that the writing on the paper waa not what tbs Chinaman said it was. Accused’s counsel had had time to get expert evidence on this and had not done so. Therefoie this was strong evidence against the accused, “Then, gentlemen, you coue to the fact of the blood-stained clothes you have seen here to-day. A man does not usually get blood and dirt od bis clothes ia ordinary circumstances, and if he gets his clothes dirty by some accident ha ia able to state how ue did it. Yet conusel for accused has given the whole question the go-by. The evidence shown waa plaiuly that there waa blood all over the place at Chow Hicg’s, Then, if the accused was the person who committed the crime it wae almost certain that accused mnet get blood on his clothing; but counsel bad been uDuble to formulate any evidence for the accused’s coming of those stains. The sleevelink evidence ia not of much importance. Yet on the floor of the Chinaman’s place where the robbery took place a link is found whioh Miss Blair states ia similar to the accused’s. The tie is the same which another witness identified, and who also swears' that it ia the same tie that was found around the Chinaman’s neck. If you accept the evidence of

Ms Duggan it is not a question of the exact time. It is most difficult for anyone to say the exact time a thing happens. You must look at all the circumstances. “ And I would like to say this, that if any juryman is convinced that the circumstances point to the accused being guilty, let me impress upon you 1 the extreme importance of your position. Jurymen who bring in a verdict ; of not gnilty against the weight of | evidence ara the greatest criminals, i The whole of our social order,” said 1 His Honor, "fully depends, on the honesty and uprightness of jurymen. 1 You have got to see that the accased | gets a fair trial, and any juryman if • he ie convinced that the accused is a guilty man and bi’ings in a verdict of not guilty, must remember that he is the worst criminal, and it goes out to the rest of the world that thieves, r robbers, abortionists and other crimj inals have only to get a common jury r of Westland in the box and they are 1 safe. I sincerely hope that this will l not be said about Westland juries. If e-cilty it is. your duty to the State and tu the public of the West Coast to ) britj; in a true verdict, Consider your verdict gentlemen,”

Th'e jury retired at. 6.5 p rr., but after the full four hours" consideration the foreman was unable to submit a decision to His Honor. There wes no chance of the ;jary arriving at a i decision, “even if it sat for a week.’ His Honor said that he had no desire to keep the jury sitting for that length of time. Mr Hannan asked that His Honor order a new trial, the question of venu to be left with the Department. On Mr Joyce asking for bail for accused, Mr Hannan related the circumstances eurrounding the previous surttiea and the fact that accused had bad his bail increased by the Magistrate after his being brought back from Wellington, whither he had gone while out on bail. His Honor ordered a new tritl for the next sittings of the Supreme Court at Greymouth. Ho fixed bail as follows:—Accused £250, and sureties for £IOOO which could either be two at £SOO each or four at £250 each,