SUPREME COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 232, 1 October 1877, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

[Before His Honor the Chief Justice.! The criminal sittings of this Court commenced this morning. Thß following gentlemen were sworn as the Grand Jury: — C. B. Wither (foreman), A- Elliott, W. Wastney, C, Canuing, A. B. Monro, John Gully, C. S. Saxtou, E. Everett, W. S. Mortimer, J. Syruons, A. R. Oliver, 11. Go_lstone, R. Levien, B. Short, J. Moutray, J, Scotland, J. Marsden, A. W. Scaife, C. Jones, J. R. Dodson, S. Pike, and T. R. Hodder. His Honor charged the Grand Jury as follows: — Mr Foreman, and gentlemen of the Grand Jury,— There are three cases on the calendar, on two of which I have uothing to say, the charges being of larceny. The third, however, may be either for murder or manslaughter, according as it is represented to you. A young woman had a child, an illegitimate one as it appears, and the charge against her is the neglect of that duty which a mother owes to her child if she has the means of performing it, whereby it is saidj that the death of the child was brought about. If a mother omits to perform her duty wilfully and knowing that the result will probably be death, then she is guilty of murder. If, o i the other hand, the evidence shows that there is nothing more than negligence, then the charge would be manslaughter. There may aiso be in this case gome question as to the cause of death, whether it was neglect or disease, and with regard to this I must tell you that should a person be afflicted with a disease that might lead to death, etill, if by a criminal act on the part of another death should be accelerated, he who had been guilty of such criminal act would be held responsible for the result. 1 have no further observations to make, and you may now retire to your room. The Grand Jury having retired, Mr H. Adams, the Crown Prosecutor, stated that he was unable to proceed with the case of

Regina v. Wan for manslaughter, iv consequence of the inability of Dr Thorpe, one of the principal witnesses, to attend. Mr Adams then read an affidavit by Dr Thorpe stating that he was the ouly medical practitioner in Westport, and in addition to being the surgeon to the Hospital, he had private patients to attend to, and had several serious cases ou hand, in some of which he had reason to believe that the results would be fatal if they were not attended by a medical man. Ever since he was bound over to appear he had been endeavoring to obtain a locum tenens, bui had been unsuccessful. Under these circumstances Mr Adams asked for a postponement until next session. His Honor: When did the prosecutiou become aware that Dr Thorpe could not come? Mr Adams: A few days ago I received a telegram from him informing me of the state of affairs, to which I replied that he must come if he possibly could, and that if nofc he must aend an affidavit to that effect. His Honor: If Dr Thorpe had been physically incapable ... of attending I should have had no hesitation in allowing the case to be postponed, but I think that the prisoner should have been made aware of Dr Thorpe's inability to attend, as she might have taken means to procure a substitute *or him. Ido not think I can accept the excuse as sufficient to justify a postpone rtient. Mr Adams: Dr Thorpe states that his absence might have caused tha death of some of his patients. His Honor: Aud possibly the death of his practice. The same excuse that he urges row may ijpply sir months hence. The question of whether his recognizances should be estreated or not is a very simple one, but what I feel a difficulty in is with regard to the prisoner, for I doubt whether tha police have done their duty with regard to the prosecution. They shonld have been aware of the circumstances, and should have been able to show that (they had made efforts to secure a locum tenens for Dr. Thorpe. There ie no authority, that I am aware of] for such an application, for it seems to me that the prosecution have not taken such means as they might have done to ensure the case being proceeded with. Mr Bunny : On behalf of the prisoner I must object to the case being postponed. She ha 3 already been two months in gaol, and this would involve an additional six months, as she is not in a position to procure bail. His Honor: New Zealand is not so bare of medical men but that one might have been procured, and I don't think it can be esblished that it was impossible to supply his place. There is no precedent for a case of this sort, and I don't think I can make one. Under the circumstances I shall discharge he prisoner, and the prosecution can, if they think fit, re-commence proceedings. Ellen Wan, the prisoner, was then brought into Court aud discharged. The Grand Jury returned True Bills against William M'Call and Harry Smith for larceny. Mr Guinness asked that Smith's case might be postponed until to-morrow morning as certain papers were in the Charles Edward, expected this afternoon. The application was granted. Larceny. William M'Call was charged with stealing £5 7» 6d and two ounces of gold, the property of Joseph Woolf. Mr H. Adams appeared for the Crown and Mr Pitt for the prisoner. Joseph Woolf: I am a miner on Antonio's Flat. I left home early on the morning of the 29th of May, and went to prisoner's shanty. By "a shanty" I mean a place where grog is sold. I went in and found four men inside. M'Call, Burke, Lee, and Sinclair. The two latter were the worse for liquor. They invited me to have some brandy which I did. They emptied the bottle and proposed to send for another, making a subscription for the purpose, bui not being able to raise enough I gave them two shillings. Lpe went for the grog. I got another and took it to my house, and then returned to M'Call's, having been absent about half-an-hour. The bottle was then half empty, and they asked me to have a little more which I did with a little hot water. Words ensued between me and M'Call about a bet I was sober, and M'Call was not quite drunk. I had my purse in my hand. It contained three £1 notes, two half sovereigns, some silver, and two ounces of gold. After some words prisoner hit me on the eye with his fist and knocked me down, at the same time seizing me by the throat with his left band, and wrenched the purse out of my left hand. Burke sang out " Don't hurt the old man M'Call," and came across and took his hand off my throat, but M'Call held on to my left hand until he got the purse, and then he went out into the back yard. I told Burke M'Call had taken my purse, and he took a candle and went and searched in the kitchen. Prisoner came back and said, " The old rascal's got the purse himself, strip him and search him." I stripped at once and Burke searched my clothes. We then went into the kitchen, and I saw the purse on the floor. I pointed it out to Burke and he picked it up, and opened it, M'Call taking note of the contents which were the money I have mentioned bnt not the gold. I was saving up the gold to get a few pounds to send to the Nelson Hospital where my wife has been for five years. Cross-examined': I have known M'Call several years. I have no ill feeling towards hjip. I have been ten years on Antonio's Flat. I did not state in the Resident Magistrate's Court that I had been paying £ia j week for my wife at the Nelaon Hospital ' I had been at M'Call's before. Sinclair and others were acting a tragedy from Shakspeare, at least that was what they called it. M'Call assaulted me that night. I lost a pound there about that time. Burke did not stand between me and M'Call to prevent my attacking him. What would have been the good when M'Call could take me up between his finger and thumb and put tne in his pocket? I don't remember having & knife iv my hand. I have accused people before of taking money from me. I accused John Fitzgerald of stealing 12s 6d, and I still believe he did. I was once tied up at Johnson's Hotel because I was throwing porter bottles about. At another place I had to be stopped doing tha aame thiug. I never tried to stab M'Call because he interfered when I was beating my wife. He never was there when we had words. He had quite enough to do to look after a woman of his own. I might have beaten my wife occasionally, but that's family business. James Burke: I was at M'Call's on the morning in question. We had some brandy there. I went to bed,* and had been there some time when M'Call roused me up and said that Woolf had charged him with robbing him I got up and saw a row between them, each accusing the other of being a rogue. M'Call went out and then came iv with a broomstick and rushed at Woolf, who caught up a tumbler to throw at M'Call. He also had a knife in his hand, which he said he would put into M'Call. I took the knife from him. By the Court: I was sufficiently sober to know what occurred that morniug. Wolf when he called me, did not tell me the particulars of how he was robbed - This closed the case for the prosecution and Mr Pitt declining to call any more witnesses for the defence, Mr Adams addressed the jury for the Crown. Mr Pitt then addressed the jury for the defence, and His Honor having summed up, the jury retired for a few minutes and returned with a verdict of Not Guilty. The Court then adjourned until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock.