SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 180, 1 August 1871, Page 2

SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

FBeforov'^ 8 ' 'H° nor Mr* Justice ■;: ;V;:S V "'"V.' This' Day.v ■ ■ ■•- ■ Riyinav. Annie Fallahee. Pjrisondr %^B 'charged with stealing, £l3 in notes fromMhe person of a man named O'Connori > t ,".'■. . <v y..'' 7..... |( . ; .... \ ; . • .

There being no means of identifying the notes stolen* his Honor directed the jury to return a verdict of Not Guilty which was done accordingly, and the prisoner discharged. Regina v. John Bauchope. Prisoner was accused of setting fire to a house at Pokororo, the property of Mr John Salisbury. Ou being asked to plead to the charge, he said thut he was at the time suffering from unsoundness of mind. In the course of the evidence the following statement made by the prisoner before the committing Magistrate was read : — "I confess to having burned the house down. I was then in a state of great excitement. I was under the impression that somebody was coming to kill me, and I put the house on fire that I might see to cross the river." In accordance with the Judge's directions, the jury returned a verdict of acquittal, at the iarae time stating as their reason for doing so that the prisoner was laboring under temporary insanity at the time of committing the act. His Honor then ordered him to be committed to the custody of the keeper of the Nelson Lunatic Asylum, there to remain until the pleasure of the Colonial Secretary regarding him should be ascertained. SENTENCE. Bartholomew Murphy was brought up for sentence aud on his being asked if he had auything to say why sentence should not he passed upon him, Mr. Fell pleaded in mitigation that the prisoner had a large family of seven children, that his wife had just given ] birth to twins, and that the whole family were entirely dependent upon their father's exertious for their living. Hitherto he had borne adiunimpeachable character, and had taken a , prominent part in the Maungatapu murder case, at which time he was a member of the police force. On the present occasion, there was no doubt that the crime was committed by the prisoner when under 'the influence of driuk. * ) His Honor said: Prisoner at the bar,, the statement just made! by your counsel is one which no one coujd have heard without great pain. Jndeed, it is one of the most painful of features in the administration of criminal law that the punishment so frequently falls not only on the guilty but on the innocent as well, but judges canuot take such circumstances into consideration. In the present instance it will fall with by far the greatest weight upon your wife and helpless children. The statement mude by your counsel only aggravates your moral guilt. That you, with so many depend iug upon you should .seek,\i relaxation iu debauchery, is quite indefensible. Moreover, the nature of your offence is one which all must admit to be mean iu the extreme; that you should stoop to rob the woman with whom you were keeping company was both shocking and mean. I trust that in your confinement you may think over all that . has taken place and believe_ that you will learn to look upon; ,'yourself in the same degraded light that I do. What your counsel has pleaded in mitigar tion is nothing in your favor, but rather makes your offence the graver, while it grieves me to have to pass on you the sentence of the law, which is that you be committed to gaol for twelve months with hard labor. Regina v. Benjamin Harris. Prisoner was charged with having committed an indecent assault upon Elizabeth Caroline Cochrane, a little girl of nine years of age, on the passage of the Gothenburg from Melbourne to Nelson in March last. Mr. Adams appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Fell for the prisouer. After an hour's absence the jury returned with a verdict of guilty. . j His Honor, in passing sentence, said, Prisoner at the bar, you have been convicted by -a jury who, from the time they have. occupied in arriving, at a verdict, have clearly given your case their fullest' consideration. They have arrived at the"conclusion that you are guilty- of -:4b e" loffence with which you are charged, a conclusion with which I entirely agree. Very little physical injury has been inflicted upon your victim, but that is no sort of index to the evil of which you have been the occasion, an evil which is not confined to the girl herself, but is one of the grossest that can be committed against society. Crimes of this nature are becoming only too prevalent, and it is necessary to increase the severity of the punishment awarded it. I might make flogging with the cat-o'-nine tails part of your punishment, aod I must say that you have fully deserved it, but I shall not inflict that upon you, but shall make your sentence as heavy 1 as I can as to the term of your imprisonment. Without casting any; reflection upon .the. owners of steamers,' .• vkmusfaTemark^that? ifr appears fromUhe' evidence adduced -ia ; 'th'is : base, that'the 10 .steerage cabin of is" team 1 era is no place for decent women. You were there as

steward, holding a position of trust, which you grossly abused, and it now only remains for me to pronounce your sentence, which is that you be imprisoned with hard labor for two years. The case of Regina v. Avery Bros, was being heard when we went to press. Rtgina v. John and William Avery. Prisoners were charged with having fraudulently converted to their own use 5| tons of hay sent to them by Mr. Rout to be cut iuto chaff. Mrf^pton Adams, appeared for the prosecution, stating that he did so at the request of Mr. H. Adams, as being well acquainted with the case from having conducted it for Mr. Rout in the Magistrate's Court. He wished it to bo understood that he was at present in no way retained by Mr. Rout in the matter. j Mr. Fell appeared for John Avery, and Mr. Atkinsou for ~Wm. Avery. Mr/^Adoms having opened the case, in which his Honor remarkod theie appeared to be a hitch to start with, calteg[ ii Robert Pollock;-, who said, \f anhv. Provisional Trusteta in Bankruptcy, j I produce one of the prisoners' books. It contains an entry of weights of hay received from Mr. Rout. John, Nash, sergeant of- police, I remember being sent to prisoners' premises for a slate, which I found hanging over a desk in the store. Mr. Rout was then called, when Mr. Fell requested his Honor to direct him to reply to any questions that might be put to him prior to his being sworn. This having been done Mr. Fell asked, Do you believe in God ? Mr. Rout : I do. Mr. Fell : Do you believe in o state of future rewards or punishment? Mr. Rout : lamin a state' of doubt. Mr. Fell : On that ground, I object to his evidence being received. His Honor : You are not precluded, Mr. Rout, from freely expressing your opiuiou. Mr. Rout : I have not thought the matter of sufficient importance to really study it. ' ' • # Mr. Acton Adams : Do you believe in a Creator ? Mr. Rout : I believe in one first cause. Mr. Acton Adams: Do you believe that there will be any difference after death in the state of those who have com--rnitted moral wrong or otherwise. Mr. Rout : I believe that a mau commits a crime according to his organisation, and that he has no power to alter it. Mr. Acton Adams : Can he not correct that organisation ? Mr. Rout : Just as much as a bull or a cow. "^ -.-, : \ Mr. Acton Adams : Do you believe that punishment, either in this world or the next, awaits the man who does wrong ? Mr. Rout : In this world certainly. I know nothing about the next. I neither know whence. l came or whither I am going. His Honor : Let us in this matter keep as clear as p<fosible of that devil's pandemonium, the 'question of free will. Mr. Fell : iVobject to Mr. Rout's evidence being taken, because he does not believe that perjury is rendered worse than an ordinary lie by the utterer of it haviug invoked the name of the Almighty. His Honor : I must take notice of this objection, however much I may regret that it is allowed by law. If it had been the desire of the prisoners to bring about a great scandal on the law, they could not have succeeded better than by raising this question. (To Mr. Rout) You say you believe that punishment follows wrong doing in this world. , Do you believe that God is the author of that punishment. Mr. Rout : I have not.worked the.matter out sufficiently to make a belief of it. When I see so much virtue left unre-warded-I.can scarcely bring myself to believe that to God only is to be attributed the punishment of evil doing. I think that when a man breaks the natural laws of the uuiverse that breach carries its own punishment with' ifr. I believe in a God, and in the unity of the Godhead, but I am in a state of doubt respecting future rewards or" punishments. Mr. Fell :Is it a" greater sin to perjure yourself than to tell an ordinary lie? Mr. Rout : Certainly not. A lie is a lie, and in moral sense they are both the same. f -\ '■ ■<- k - s . ' '"' '; . Mr. Fell again objected to Mr. Rout's evidence being 1 received, and cited an instance, in; which a Bimilar; course 'hicl been pursued atHj^ome. ,: , v ■!■ i " His Honor : I cannot be guided ;fey the opinion of every Nisi 'Prius Judge. I shall decide against you Mr. Fell, and take the responsiblity of admitting Mr. Rout's, •testimony,., but if, a ..conviction' ensues I may have to reserve the case. This is the jE^rst, and I hope it may be the last, t\m& A of I my '^n^ca^ luflo^ to' matter of this kind, as such a discussion cannot be carried on except ( at the expense of that reverence which is due to the

subject of it. I sincerely trust that the legislature will feel called upon to interfere in the matter. Mr. Rout was then sworn, and the case was proceeding when our reporter left the Court. [Just as we were going to press we learned that the case for the Crown had broken down and the prisoners were consequently discharged.]