WESTLAND SUPREME COURT.

Hokitika Guardian, 31 March 1921, Page 3

WESTLAND SUPREME COURT.

SITTINGS AT HOKITIKA. THURSDAY, MARCH 31st. J. . (Befor o bis Honour, Mr Justice Herdmaii). Mis Honour took bis seat at 11 a.m. GRAND JURY. , The following Grand Jury were emj panelledA- B. Boyd, W. J. Butler, , W. (I. Keller, T. Keown, A. W. Yarrall, B. Tliicm, J. C. Alacfarhme, J. J. Mclntosh, A. Aitken, W. E. Perry, J. King, J. T. TJoyd, E. J. Andrews, (J. 11. Blank, V. M. ]Sonar, W. F. Warren, E. AVethey, J. li. Wilson, P. Step- . hens, D. Stevenson, W. S. Stewart, P. : H. Renton, S. C. Preston. Mr W. [ J. Butler was appointed foreman. Messrs W. Jeffries and T. R. Hickson were excused and the remainder summoned were discharged. E. A. Appleton failed to answer his name and was fined £3 for non-attend , ance. HIS HONOUR’S CHARGE. His Honour addressed the Grand Jury, stating it was with plesnure lie had to announce that duties were light on this occasion. Only one charge was j to be dealt with, a charge against a young girl of theft of £lB from her employer in an hotel. His Honour outlined the charge and said the jury’s duty was to decide whether the case for the Crown was a. prima facie one, and not to actually decide whether the j accused was guilty or not. j_ Their function as Grand Jurymen | was to decide whether there was any evidence art all to go before a jury. He j considered there was prima facie evi- ! donee against the girl that she had com ! mitted the offence. It would be the' ' duty of the Grand Jury to decide on the evidence brought before them by j the Crown, whether there was a prima ! facie case. I' The Grand Jury retired at 11.20 a.m. COMMON JURY. | The members of the Common Jury were called and duty sworn. | The following were excused attendance:—John Findlay (fireman), Herbert Fitzgerald (attendant, Mental Has pitnl), 11. A- Thompson (fireman), Jas Williams (fireman), J. B. Ward (hank clerk). E. J. TJoyd, who did not appear was fined £3. (E. J. Lloyd appeared and explained that h 0 had thought he was on the i grand jury, not the common jury, and | had gone away. The fine was remitted), j The Grand Jury returned at 11.35 ! a.m. with a true bill against Isabella Agnes Muir. His Honour thanked the Grand Jury for their attendance and discharged them 1 CHARGE OF THEFT, j Isabella Agnes .Muir was charged with theft of £lB the property of Hannah Maria Hall, and further with theft of £ls (a £lO note a £5 note) and a cheque for £3. the property of the same person. The accused pleaded “not guilty”. Mr J. Hannan appeared for the Crown and Mr J. A. Murdoch for thc accused. i The following jury was empanelled- i AI. H. Houston, F. I. Willoughby, J. ( A. Kidd. P. Millett, W. Millner. IT. , Smith, T. Movnihan, O. Pfahlert, ('. , W. Stoop, A. Brooks, O. Robinson, O. J. Fowler. Mr M. Houston was chosen j foreman. , Air Hannan ordered th,. tel- | lowing to stand aside I). Lincoln C. Kcogan, T. Ileenan. | Air Murdoch challenged.—G. Dela- , mare, J. McGuigan. Air Hannan the case tor the Crown, outlining the evidence to he j brought forward by tin* Crown. j Hannah Maria Hall deposed she was j the owner of the Occidental Hotel. On f December 18th., she had £lB in her pos- _ session (a £lO note 1 , a £5 note and ( cheque for £3, drawn by Air Paine). The cheqiq. was drawn on the Bank ot . A.S. (Vales at Hokitika. Carried the } money inside her blouse. Had thc money at 10 p.m. on the Saturday night. Retired at 11.20 p m. T)id not j remember seeing the money when she undressed. Usually put her money un- . der the pillow or in a drawer alongside. Missed the money next morning when she got up. Made a search and then went downstairs and spoke to .Miss Muir who was a maid in the witness employ. ’Fold accused she had lost hei money and to keep an eye about and j, sh L > might possibly pick it up. Mas not sure whether she told her ol what the money consisted of. Later on in the day mentioned the cheqtq. and said she would get it stopped at bank. \\ hen witness spoke to accused on the Sunday morning, she said that there was a man lip before her and he may possibly have picked it up. Mentioned the loss to her son later in the day when nocused was present. Did not speak to accused on the Alonday about the money. Alnde enquiries during the day and found accused had paid away 912. and that she had changed t £lO note j at the National Bank,. When sh ( . went homo she asked accused if she had changed a £lO note and accused said no. AVitness then said that she had found out that she had done so and paid away £l2, and in face of these facts she' should admit it. The girl said she never had a £lO note, that she had got £8 from her mother and 94 j from her sister which was owing to her. Rut the matter in the hands of th e police on the Alonday evening. , Just before the Sergeant, came in, the j accused sent for witness and told her she had picked the money up. That sh,, j would have liked to have admitted i before but she could not muster up courage. The accused paid her hack by cheque on the Hokitika Savings Hank, the next morning. Gave no reason for not paying back the notes or cheque, instead of th,, cheque. To Air Murdoch—She was of opinion \ she had mentioned the bogus numbers of the notes on both occasions in the lower Court. Tuesday was the day that sho„ found out the money was spent, and the police sent for. Air Hall was away at the time and his return was indefinite. Accused had been in the employ of witness for 8 months, and she trusted her. Kept her on in I employ for a fortnight when Miss Muir | left on her own accord. Ft was possible that she may have dropped the money at the back door. I Reexamined—-Her husband went away to Wellington a week before the trouble. Op occasions when the ac-

cused collected money from boarder she paid it to witness. Philip John AljcCarthy, senior sei geant of police at Greymouth, depose' on 21st. Dec. he was stationed at Hoki tika. Airs Hall complained of Joss o 918. She first spoke about 5 p.m. am telephoned about 7 p.m. He cause' enquiries to he made by a constable a Arahura. On Tuesday evening wen to the hotel and saw Airs Hall, am asked her to send Aliss Muir to him who came in a few minutes later. Sin said you came to see me about tha money Sergeant. I picked it up at tin hack door on Sunday morning, f wa: the first up, and had been to Grey x mouth the previous night. I math three efforts to tell Airs Hall about ii . hut could not pluck up courage to dr J so. Witness asked, “AVhere was tin cheque.” Accused said she tore it up .Miss Aluir said she either said she hat paid or was going to pay Airs Hal hack the £lB. Mrs Hall who had come in said this was so. The girl said she wanted the money to buy clothes as she was getting married. To Air Murdoch—AYhen Aliss Aluii made the statement, it was about thc 918 that was stolen. It was not referring to money spent the previous day. Albert AVoolhouse deposed lie was a son of Airs Hall. Heard of the loss of the money on the Sunday morning. His mother said ♦she had lost £lB. Accused was present. His mother said there was a £3 cheque in it, and that she would stop the cheque and he said it was not worth while, as the cheque would not he presented. On the Tuesday night tlies girl'told him she had the money, and that she had been saving it for Air Hall. Witness said he would go away and see if lie could get it out of tho Sergeant’s hands, but before lie got out tiie l Sergeant came in. The girl j gave him the cheque which he gave to his mother. The Court adjourned at 1 p.m. AFTERNOON SITTING. The Court resumed at 2 p.m. Albert AVoolhouse continued : To Air .Murdoch—He could not say if Aliss Aluir heard the conversation with his mother in the kitchen.' John Paine deposed he was a commercial traveller residing at Hokitika. He cashed a cheque for £3 with Airs Hall on Dec. 18. It was an open cheque made payable to Al. Hall, and was drawn on the Bank of N.S. Wales, Hokitika. At that period his account was in credit to the extent of £lO. This was the case for the Crown. FOR THE DEFENCE. Air .Murdoch asked his Honor to advise the jury that upon the law, there was no case of theft proved. Ilis Honor held against, counsel, slating the case must go to the jury. Air -Murdoch then addressed the jury at some length and called evidence. Isabel Agnes Aluir. the accused gave evidence as follows. She was working at the Occidental hotel tor 7 or 8 months. Air Hall was the licensee. Remembered Saturday IS Dec. AVont to Greymouth and returned hv the lute train, and shortly after retired. Her room was upstairs. (Jot up on Sunday morning about 0.10. Did not go into Airs Hall’s room that day. The first thing she did that morning was to go to kitchen to light the fire. Then went out of the hack door and saw the money by the hack door near the sink. It was rolled up. It was a £lO note a 95 note and cheque for 93. Took it into tip, kitchen and then afterwards up to her bedroom. Had £2O at the time also in her room. It had been sent from Arthur’s Pass. They all knew in the hotel that she had the 920. She also had £33 in the Savings Rank. She put the money she found in a box with her own money She found the money about 10 to 7 and took it upstairs about 7 o’clock. AUs Hall told her of the loss a little after seven, about a quarter of ail hour after witness had found it. Airs Hall did not mention what she had lost. She said she had lost a few shillings in the bar. AVitness said she had not been in the bar because it was Sunday morning. Tho reason why she did not ti‘l] M|rs Hall uf 'hep- find was because she had said she had lost a few shillings. Made no reply to Airs Hall because she intended to keep it till Air Hall returned and then tell him about it-and hand him th,, money. Nothing was said about the money on Alonday. On Tuesday evening was in the kitchen when Sergt. McCarthy came. Saw him up stairs in the sitting room. She spoke first. Mrs Hall was not present. She. told the Sergt. that she did not know what had become of,the cheque, she had either mislaid or destroyed it. Between the Sunday and Tuesday night she had moved from her room upstairs to a new room in the cottage in the yard. It was correct wlfat Mr AVoolhouse said about her saying she was keeping the money to give to Air Hall. Site changed one of her own CTO notes at the Bank on Alonday. Had tried to find th<> £3 cheque without avail. The £lO note, and 95 note that she presented at ihn ALigistrate’s Court hearing were tip. same ones that she picked up. She j had never said to anyone, that the ! money she had spent, was part of the money she had found. Did not tell Air Pain ( v that she had burnt the cheque, j Had not been repaid tile money hv Paine. ITe had offered to pay the am- j mint in goods but she had declined and j had then said he would pay her later, hut he had not done so yet. To Air Hannan—Got the £2O money order about 2 to 3 weeks before Xmas. Air AVoolhouse changed it for tier. Sli,. did not know how the amount was made up. Could not say how long it was before the the 18th that she changed the order. Slq. thought that Air Hall was I the right man to hand it on to. i To His Honor—She thought Mr Hall j was the right one to band the money j to. i Cross-examination continued—Mr ! Hall paid the wages when lie was ! there and at other times Airs Hall did so. She cashed a*£lo note! •n the Monday at th,. National Bank. ■ On the Tuesday evening Airs. Hall j stated she had the numbers of the | notes. i To His Honour. She did not deny having picked up the 918 when Airs J Hall said she had the numbers of the ' notes. She did not remember Mrs j Hall saying slio bad paid away £l2 j that day. '• To Mr Hannan.—She told Mrs Hall , that she had got the money from her ' mother and sister. She got £l4 from her sister. This she had banked. She had previously owned up to having

i s picked up the £lB. She told Mr AYool- I house that she had picked it up on the | ■r- Tuesday evening. She then wrote out ?d the cheque and it was given to Mrs J :i- Hall, and almost immediately the serof geant came in. It was after the sorid geant was in the house that she spoke >d to Airs Hall. The reason she wrote | it out the cheque‘was becauso it was the j it safest, to have a check on Mrs Hall. , ■cl That was her only reason, so as to l, have a receipt. ! ic To Mr Alurdocli.—Although she bad : it the £lO note and £5 note, she bad lost j ie the £3 cheque. She bad since loit is Mrs Hall on the best of terms. ’- (Left sitting.) Ie _ , it GREYMOUTH SESSION. b ie GREYMOUTH, March 30. ). Thc Supreme Court Sittings opened d this morning before Mr Justice Herd--11 n an. o On a charge of carnal knowledge of a e girl under 1(5 years, against a young c man, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. r j„ bankruptcy, discharges were c granted, .T. IT. Burley, (Reefton), H. Holmes and P. Mordaunt (Greymouth.) j