DEATH SENTENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 11 August 1932, Page 5

DEATH SENTENCE

FOR LIVERMORE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIAL, ': ' • • -.'7 1 / ’ 1 .' ? WELLINGTON, August 10.' The trial of Livermore was con-,. A inued in the iSupatime Court this morning., , • A- - :

Counsel for/' the . prisoner, addressing the jury, said- that df the boy actually was the slayer of the .girl, ag he. said v he was, 'there was one circumstance ’that appeared to him (counsel) as very peculiar; i-t was:that .when the girl’s, body was found at ten o’clock it was st/ill iwarm. On the as-/ sumption that the prisoner actually killed the girl,, counsel asked the.'jury to consider whether there could be any doubt 1 that the. boy, wjy> believed that; the.child .\y6uld be better' off ‘dead, and discussed the matter with the' child’s parents, was not .insane, in every sense of the word. / : .■ , * • /

i . At. LivennoreV trial, the Crown Prosecutor said that if Livermore- murdered the girl, of * which were was no doubt,. the question was whether he* was at ,the time suffering from mental disease of such a kind that he revised neither the qtlAlity. of tbfc .act hot whether it wpe right or wrong. On | the question of ! eanity, the/ Crown Prosecutor reminded the Jury that every person was.,presumed;tQ be sane until the. contrary. WW* prpvod.’ , Th*oniu wee on the defence to satisfy the jury that' Livermore'' was* suffering from mental disease. The Crown Prosecutor quoted extensively. from a) judgment of the. J»te Chief Justice, * Sir. Robert ’ Stout, , and . acquainted the jury with the legal die- 1 finition o.f insanity. - A medical witness, for the defence.had, said that'Livermore was suffering fromAlementia praecox,; df schizophreina, which meant really 'early -i insanity or prematufie insanity. Medical witnesses for the Crown, however, had said that was not suffering from disease, but 1 that his actions wete due to an exaggeration of his temperament, which was contributed to, no doubt/ by his ' henedity, ahd . was/tjio outcome df adolescent, instability. /

There was the strongest possible evi-:. dence, according to.' tlio boy’s own ac-. ’ count of the affair, that he, .had known >/&. at the time ,/W,hat /be was doing. . The fact /that 'ho had - hidden a bar there : / for a fortuight beforehand, that: he had • led the girlaway,./'hhd ,: that, having murdered/ heir/ ■ <&>;• should throw jher / down a bank/ pointed only in one di- . : rection—that hq had fully known at ,'/ the time whatKe* wastdoingj Livermore’s subsequent .behaviour, when he returned toT the house/ and took 'part in : the search, was . not the behaviour. of. one / ; suffering dementi* praecox. His Honour said .the defence quite v properly had Said that the Crowtt musk show oh the evidence that the accused wda actually the, person’who'killod tho child. He. went on tb/disNss matter; P, bearing' on fche> duty: of the • jury alAiv :f' considering tlie question of sanity. The position was, he said, that if,the jury found Livermore guilty of murder and . / Bane'at the time that he .committed tbe act, it became His Honor’s duty to .' sentence him to ' : the extreme penalty/ •; If th'ey found him guilty of ■ murder, . with' the qualification that he was in- ; sane, then, formally,, the death , sentence would have to’ ! h&.' pf/moiinced j-; but then it-.became a question for the Governor-General-in-Council.lt -was , put before 'him with the recommendations of the jury. ' / : : ' There was ia great divergence between the evidence of the doctors, said iHis Honor,' It wae that the doctors for the defence set up that definitemental disease' existed whereas the . doctors from the' Mental 'Hospital said/that it . did /not// exist.. / .The iO r own • * nxedioal/witnesses’eaid/ithe accused'was' a youth who'had been .in very. unfortu- ;;. nate circumstances .and he Tiafi' not had /; much of a - His, mother' had [. died early and his father was dead algo,';- / while ,he had .been ,in a hoifie. Right 0 through, he did not' seem' to haVV had/ much of a chauce. They > sadd the; trouble with -Livermore was that he had a preoocious form of wliat was referred/, to as adolescent instability. That had probably been increased by. the fact that he had had many things to' contend with in early life. All that the jury had to oonsider, said His Honor, was - whether the evidence that -was called for <tbe defence showed that he did not understand the quality /of his act, and did not know ithat. H was wrong. § If they decided he did; they had 1 , no option other than to a ver- ~ diet of guilty. The /; open were, three : iNot. guilty ; • guilty, but insane (or not guilty oh the ground of insanity) ; ( and guilty. The: jury, retired at 5.50 p.m., and. returned at 5.22 p.m. with a verdict of “Guilty with a strong recommendation to mercy in'-view of his youth and mental weakness.”' , Asked if' he had anything to eay, Livermore eald in a -firm voice : ‘T... ; - have hothing-> ! td‘' : bajrr ,,: ' : '^ , '’*’''' ,t "'’ ;' • 7 '‘ / His Honor then donned tho black cap, and pronounced the death sentence. /_ \ . Beyond a slight frown, which has often been noticeable during the trial, Livermore listened to th© sentence nn- , •moved. 'He then and disappeared from the dock. ' j The jury were excused from further jury service for a period of;two years.