The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 83, 27 July 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1878.

Peehajps m the whole criminal history of the Colony there has been no case m, which public opinion has been so much divided, as with regard to the charge against William O'Connor, recently sentenced to ten'years' imprisoinent foranattempt to poison. As a rule colonists may feel proud at the manner m which law and order is preserved," public safety guarded, crime sheeted home to the offender, and the integrity with which the laws of the country are administered^.an&> their," majesty vindicated. Few transgressors are allowed to escape scatheless, ;f and notwithstanding the comparative infancy of our Police Departments, it has hitherto been conducted m such a manner aa not only to engender a feeling, of protection and; safety m the public mind, but .also to act as a wholesome deterrent upon the evil-doer. Occasionally, however, there' are cases m which Jhe- Department is at fault, either through the ill-judgment or inefficiency of those to whom their conduct has been deputed, and certainly the one referred to above is notably a case m point. Whether William O'Connor be really guilty of the dastardly crime imputed to him, and for which he has been consigned to a felon's cell for ten years, is a secret which" lies between himself and his prosecutor, and can never become a. certainty unless by the confession of one or other. O'Connor has been tried by a jury of his fellows, has been adjudged a criminal, is .now paying the penatty of the crime, and con- ; sequently, according to custom and usage the verdict recorded against him Bhould be accepted as just and deserved; but there are circumstances m connection not only with thealleged offence, butalso inthesub- \ mission and non-production of certain, evidence, which would warrant us m receiving such verdict with reservation. Three great points m O'Connor's favor were : the total absence of motive, the absence of strychnine either on his person or iv his possession, arid the failure to prove the purchase by the prisoner at any time of the poisonous drug. Thoseare three weighty arguments to establish a presumptive innocence, m the absence of" either direct or circumstantial evidence of his guilt; but when m addition, to those material points, it is remembered that the invitation to drink upon the^ night on which the liquor was tampered with, came, not from the prisoner to the prosecutor, but vice versa, the fact remains that not only are we unable to imagine a motive for the action, hut by that circumstance the idea of intention or premeditation is altogether set aside. It is true that since public meetings have been called to show the very slender evidence upon which the unfortunate man has been branded as a criminal of the deepest dye, deprived of his liberty, and lost to his family by. a means worse than death, the police have retraced their steps, and succeeded m ri vetting another; nail m the coffin of his liberty.. Convinced by public" opinion, that" the case submitted for the Conviction of the prisoner was 'weak and wanting m many material points, hia clothes were reproduced, subjected to aualysis, and the strorigest of thes missing links m the chain of evidence manufactured to order. Poison was. found m the clothing of the accused, and the following damning proof of. guilt procured from ~D.r; Hector : — " Results of analysis of articles forwarded ! 'by the Commissioner of Police, per Sergeant Smithi Wellington. Received, 19th July, 1878. Kepofted on, 20fch I July. - » "I. Folded paper containing fragments tobacco, buttons, &c., and a pocket lining, stated to be taken from a light-colored waist-coat belonging to O'Connor. "11, A -black waistcoat, stated to bolong to O'Connor, was shown to. me, and marked by me, and from the pocket I removed some dirt and. a few crystalline grains that wero.adhering to the lining. ; " 111. Folded paper containing tobacco, a nail, and buttons, stafxd to be from the pocket of a drab tweed coul beloniug to O'Connor. " In articles I and TT I found strychnine, hiit could nofc detect it, infill. Wp do not say that the strychnine testified to by the G-overnment analyst ,as being m the clothes worn by O'Connor before the alleged

offence was not tlio<e; neither' do we assert that the crystals discovered were placed where found by the police ; but we do hold that as such damning evidence was not produced before the trial, its production at this late stage should not have one pin's point weight m Bhakiug the belief m the prisoner's innocence with those who previously held such an opinion. In cases involving life 'ana I liberty, too much care cannot be taken .to keep inviolate from all Tpossibij^ty of being tampered with, . article^%hich may prove the keystone A to a conviction ; arid if is rather too much for the police to ask that theV' slightest value should be ■placed^upbri the contents of clothing which has^ passed through so many hands since worn by the prisoner. That Btrychnine should be concealed m the pockets of the accused, and that the proof of Buch an important fact should have been overlooked by the prosecution, is the most withering condemnation which could be urged "upon their conduct of the case; and their disgraceful attempt to bolster up, what we may characterise m the mildest terms as their stupid blundering, is a piece of coolness w-hfehshpuld produce no effect, other than contempt. Even ' taking it .for granted that O'Connor be guilty, had he been diabolical enough when he found r his scheme frustrated^ and hfs detected by his victim, to have gone straight, to the police, and saddle the charge upon Light, the latter would have been placed m a worse predicament, inasmuch as O.Conner' exposing his, money when paying his bill, andvthe "landloril'sinvitalion to drink^ would suggest same. m Stive for the crimef audit is just possible the public would not be* so divided on the matter of guilt. "Jf great deal' has been made out of the prisoner's conduct m the box, and the incoherent and rambling nature of his statements m defence ; but it is well known that even the most astute lawyers are unablo to plead their own cases, and although O'Connor may have had some experience m. conducting small criminal cases* while, m the Force, the gravity of the dharge which ho was called upon to. answer,- would far outweijrh such an advantage. Had he been acquitted of the crime, we ask of jwhat avail would be this newly-found evidence of his guilt, or could it lead to , his re-arrest ? Certainly np^ ; ;. and it is but just and; fair to ask^tiiat upon the evidence by which he was consigned to a long term of imprisonment the case should again be reviewed, and his sentenco dealt with. Everyone must view with horror disgust the cowardly I crime of secret assassination, but it is equally repugnant to the feelings of Englishmen that a man's life and liberty .shqulb!.' be jeopardised or -ijpr,^6al»d:'w.^ere ; ' ; the- : sfi3ddw"of a doubt exists. "'."'■ ' ,-■ * ...