SUPREME COURT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 558, 10 March 1858, Page 5

SUPREME COURT.

Bbfobe Mb. Justice Gkesson.

On Tuesday, a Sitting of the Supreme Court was opened at the Town Hall, Lyttelton, by Mr. Justice Gresson. The judge's commissions and the proclamations appointing the Sittings of the Court having been read, the following" gentlemen were sworn as the Grand Jury :

—Mr. I. T. Cookson, foreman, Messrs. A. J. Alporfc, J. Brittari, J. Bealey, Bridge, Croft, F. N. Campbell, Cridland, Field, P. Thompson, W. Thomson, Worsley, Waitt, C. Ward, and B. Wyatt. His Honor then proceeded to deliver tho following

CJTABOE. Mr. Foreman and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury :—■ I regret that I have been unable to open the Court at the time appointed by the prSJmv tion.which you have just heard read iroclama ihe delay has not been caused by apathy on mjaeM It was found impracticable, except at an extravagant cost, to engage a .teamS for District on hw cirewt; and the consequence of his being dependent for transit on sailing L* sels has been in every instance delay and°public inconvenience. l WU/

I trust, gentlemen, that ere long we shall have the advantage of regular steam communication with the other Provinces of New Zea and, and thus be relieved from what has Ion" been felt, more especially in this province, as I great grievance—the uncertainty of the Sessions of the Supreme Court, Gentlemen, your calendar exhibits a laro-e number of offences, but upon examination \ will be found that most of them are charged to have been committed by two persons, who are old offenders.

' There is one charge of assault of a very grievious nature, but I don't know that there is anything in the case likely to raise a difficulty in your minds. If there should be, I shall be happy to assist you. There is a charge of aiding prisoners to escape, which will require your careful consideration^ The offence is a yery serious oneand it will be for you, gentlemen, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence against the prisoner, prima facie, to justify you Fn putting him upon^his trial. In this, as in other cases', your province is to determine, not whether the prisoner is guilty of the offence wherewith he is charged, but whether the evidence against him as it comes before you, uncontradicted, affords reasonable presumption of his guilt! Your duty to your sovereign and country requires that you should not lightly reject such evidence. On the other hand, your duty to the prisoner requires that before finding a true bill you be convinced of the truth of the charge so far as the evidence before you goes, and° that you do not expose the prisoner to the anxiety and inconvenience of a trial merely upon re- , moteprobabilities. Gentlemen, you will now be so good as to retire to your room, and the bills will be sent be- i fore you with as little delay as possible. lam ! aware that most of you are absent from your homes at much inconvenience, and I hope that the whole of your business may be disposed of to-day, and that I may be able, 'before the; Court rises, to release you from further attendance. The Grand Jury then retired, and in the course of the day sent in true bills against Alfred Eonnage and Samuel Thomas Smith for escape; also against the two prisoners for two cases of larceny and two of robbery; against Mark Turner for assault with intent, &c.; and against Goodeen, a native of India, for larceny. A. bill filed against Joseph -Lorns, for assisting prisoners to escape, was ignored. ESCAPE. Smith pleaded guilty; Ronnage not guilty. The case was proved as stated in this journal at the time (Oct. 21). Itonnage attempted a defence, stating as an extenuation that he was at the time suffering from mental derangement; and alleging that the police had not performed their duty in keeping a sufficiently strict guard over him. He was found guilty. EOBBEEY. To the charge of robbery from the person of Mr. Day, on the road to Sumner, while making the above escape, the same prisoners pleaded guilty; and the remaining charges against them were withdrawn by the Crown Prosecutor (Mr. Duncan). Those against Goodeen and Turner alone remain. The Court then adjourned for the day.

There has been a narrow escape from a casus belli between France and Switzerland. Swiss artillery practising, inadvertently or ignorantly shot a few balls over the frontier, and they fell on French soil. Instantly the susceptibility of the French legation at Berne was aroused; explanations were demanded and given ; and the poor Swiss artillery officer has been duly punished for the insult and injury inflicted upon the French territory,