JURY DISAGREES

Hokitika Guardian, 8 March 1933, Page 3

JURY DISAGREES

IN NURSE’S TRIAL.

NEW TRIAL iFOR MARCH 27.

(Per Press Association— Copyright.} AUCKLAND, March 7. Dealing wun rue case or tiie late Aas* lAtj, Mr Singer said that there no* no adapt tliwo site was in bad lieu; id. and suffered a Astroke.' Two powders,'each containing seven grains of. veronal, had been prescribed for nOi* live weeks before ahe uied. In tnis connection counsel asserted that tne Crown had suppressed part of tlie evKiaito of the cliemist, and that it was he (Mr Singer), \v>,o had drawn the fact from witness that tlie veronal had been ■preucriced. In fact of that suppression, all; adjagaticuvs concerning Mrs Day. should be withdrawn.

Regarding accused’s husband, Cctinr;cl said that lie died on January 10. On January 5, accused went to t-e hojpital ill, and on returning on Janil ry 8, 'she 'went straight to bed. Her husband, meanwhile, had been alone in. the‘house, and there was definite evidence that he was worried and peculiar. I’.ic /ext day Kerf lapsed into a ecnia and accuued, though ill, left her bed and called the doctor, who said that Kerr had had a 'stroke. When the body was exhumed in October veronal had been discovered. Nobody could say that the discovery was inconsistent With the theory that Kerr took it himself.' The Crown, he said, had' tried l in vain to show a motive. Referring to the insurance on Kerr, Coursell said, that it was a paltry sum due on a premium of 1931..

While Mrs Day vvas in accused’s home she was paying accused £4 4,s weexly. Why should she murder'Mri Day ? Counsel 'sa’id that t 1 ’ere was no evidence that accused herself was addicted to drugs. If she had beeau •)lie effects of the sudden cutting off of the supply would have been .notice) iii o-aol, hut there was no evidence of. that.

■ With reference to the cliild, Rettv, Counsel said that accused worshipped her. Why had 'not the <3rowU prodiire the child an ,a. witness? Why fihould accused to' ipuire Betty? There was. not. a b‘t of .evidence to, show thifft acenspd had the iptejit to injure the child. Who'?. the child fell ill accused did everything; possible Jar her.

At the trial of N.ur?e Kerr Mr Singer, her counsel, said Nurse K,err’s aiixiety to.kpow of the child’s progress vvas not compatible with the allegation of ',9s' attempt tQ pm s pn. hi the hpspital yeronaT ivas not locked upon .as-poisrin, bivt -it vvas. on,tep .of the poison cupboard, open in a box. Unless the Crown co.uld eliminate the possibility of/ administration 'inside the hospital, there should he no verdict against tbd accused. There , may have been c.n internal mistake in the hospital of which the Court knew nothing, and never would. The defence had been faced with many , difficulties, and the jury was called upon to consider charges which had never been considered- before by a New Zealand jury. ...

Judge Herd man,' summing up, said that in New Zealand these charges were unprecedented, but it must.be obvious that verohai was poison, and if it were administered as alleged, the jury was entitled to consider the charges, it had been said that motive should be. proved, but the law was that the motive was not absolutely 1 essential.' If the jury conclude' - ! thq act was committed, it was entitled, without considering the motive to bring a verdict against the accused. Referring to the illnesses of the child, Hi? Honour saj.d she had been out. ,or the hospital only a short time after lieir first treatment when the doctors thouc'ht it necessary to send her hack p . v .... again.’ The doctors were mystified abmt her condition. When the child was admitted on April 10, she was treated for pyelitis. Some timo on the afternoon of April 18, accused visited the hospital, and some time after she left, the child was again ill. These were remarkable facts. More Veronal was found in subsequent tests. Nurse Kerr admitted 1 in her statement she gave the child , a tablet oi medinal, which was SO per cent veronal. Did the. tablet account for the serious condition of the child P She was so deeply in a comatose condition’ that she Could not be roused, and it appeared this was caused by the administration of drugs. The - chihl continued iu a ,state-of coma for 24; hours after admission..to the hospital. On the 16th the .doctor was summoned and found the child, again in a condition of coma. Specimens had been taken bv nurses and,- analysed. Veronal was found to be present. His Honour rea'd from Doctor Gilmour’s evidence, quoting passages relating to the recovery of veronal from the organs of Kerr and Mrs Day. Doctor Gilmour had given it as his opinion that both Kerr and Mrs Day had had lethal doses of vero-nal.

The jury after a retirement of four hours,’ disagreed. ...■ : ’ , .... , A new trial was ordered, to start on March 27. Accused was granted bail at five, hunclrqcl