CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 88, 16 April 1877, Page 2

CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

[Before bjs Honor the Chief Justice.] The sjtl ing of this Court commenced this morning, when the following gentlemen were called upon the Grand Jury £ ~Mes«rs J. W Barnicoal, W. H. Turner, C. Watts, T. Oawthron, Wastney, J. Oldham, Watkins, J R Dodson, Jb\ Kelling, P. Donald, 1L Jiuckeridge, F. IT. Pickering, J. Symons, T. Nicholson, G. Talbot, M. Davis, C. Canning. T. 11. Hodder was called, but did not answer to his name. In reply to a question from h;s Honor the Judge, the Sheriff said that the summonses were served by the district constables, who were not then in Court. His Honor said that in the absence of any evidence of the service of the summons he could not fine Mr Hodd:r The serving officers should always be in attendance at the Cour£. „ .. .. . ; His Honor, in charging the Grand Jury, said that there was but one case for trial, and this must be considered satisfactory, but it was not a matter of unmixed satisfaction that twenty or thirty grand jurors, and thirty or forty petty jurors should be called together to try a very simple case, when there was a District Court sitting periodically, at which •criminal cases could be disposed of. It so happened, however, that the Legislature in 1858 had fixed what he consider an improper and unreasonable rule limiting the jurisdiction of that Court according to the extent of the punishment the law allowed for certain offences. This was manifestly improper, as it did not at all follow that the Court would allow the full extent of punishment permitted. For instance, in the case now to come before them the term of imprisonment "Mgitf be fourteen years, but unless something of a much, grayer character came out than was already known, it was not likely that the sentence would be anything like as

severe as that. It seemed to him that the older rule should have been retained, which exactly followed the English rule, which was fiai all. criminal cases were disposed of at the Quarter Sessions, except such cases as murder, libel, conspiracies, &c, which either irom their hcinousuess or from involving poiuts •■ of law were sent to the higher Court. That rule, he thought, should be established here, and if they agreed with him they might perhaps make a presentment to that effect, which would have some weight with the Legislature. That the jurisdiction of the District Court should be limited by the extent of punishment that might be awarded was, he considered, a most undesirable rule and one that should be altered as speedily as possible. These remarks, of course, were only iutended to apply to those places where there were sittings of the District Court. The Grand Jury having retired, the names of the petty jurors were called, when Mr Acton Adams, on behalf of the railway manager, applied for the exemption of one of the firemea who had been summoned. His Honor said he thought they were specially exempted by Act of the Assembly. Mr Adams said he had been looking the matter up, but could not find any such provision. He trusted that if there were enough jurymen -without Him, the one referred to would be excused. His Honor said he could not allow him to absent himself on that ground as every prisoner had a right to the full number from which to select. I '--' The Grand Jury haying returned with a .true:- bill against Alfred Pond for larceny &om a dwelling, made the following presentment:—'? The Grand Jury beg to present the 4esirabil|ty of such an alteration being made in the criminal law of New Zealand as would I prevent the necessity of criminal cases of a lighter character, such as that now under frial, being brought before the Supreme Court, thus needlessly trespassing oa> the time of the Court itself and of that of alarge number of jurors, but that such cases might as heretofore, be taken cognizance of by the' lower Criminal Court of the country.— J. W Bahnicoat, Foreman." His Honor said that he would forward the presentment to the Colonial Secretary. He had not lost sight of the fact that the' Grand Jury were not only summoned to deal with bills on depositions previously made, but with any other matters that might be brought under their consideration. So very seldom however, were they called iipon to do so in New Zealand that no inconvenience would be likely to arise if, in the event of no case being set down for trial, the Registrar were instructed not to issue a precept to the Sheriff to summon a jury. His Honor then thanked the Grand Jury for their attendance, aud discharged them. LAHCENY PBOM A DWELLING. Alfred Pond was indicted for having stolen a certain sum of money from the Albion Hotel at the Port in February last. Mr H. , Adams appeared for the prosecution, and Mr Bunny for the prisoner. The evidence has already been given in full in our columns at the time the case was heard in the Resident Magistrate's Court. Ultimately the prisoner was found Guilty, with a recommendation to mercy on the ground that he was young, an entire stranger, and there being no evidence to show that he had been a previous offender. His Honor took the recommendation into consideration, aud sentenced the prisoner to six months.