SUPREME COURT SITTINGS, Wednesday, September 1, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 219, 4 September 1847, Page 2

SUPREME COURT SITTINGS, Wednesday, September 1, 1847.

Before Mr. Justice Chapman. The Court was opened with the usual for- I malities : the following gentlemen were sworn in of the Grand Jury : — C. Clifford, Esq., J. P. Foreman ; Major Baker, J. P. ; Messrs. G. Baker, K. Bethune ; J. C. Crawford, J. P. ; E. Catchpool ; Capt. Daniell, J.P. ; Messrs, W. Fitzherbert» W. Hickson, A. Hort. sen.,. G. Hunter^ J. Johnston, J. Kelham, A. Ludlam, N. Levin, ~G. Moore, S. Mocatta ; A. M'Donald, J. P. ; Captain Sharp ; Messrs. R. Stokes, R. Wait*/ and : J. Wallace. Three bills were found against Charles Everard Nicol Wright, for embezzlement and forgery. Charles Everard Nicol Wright stood indicted for' embezzling certain monies belonging to her Majesty, to wit, 300 silver dollars, which he had received in his custody as - Paymaster and Purser of H. M. S. Calliope. There was a second count charging him with having applied and disposed of the same monies to other purposes than the public Service. Mr. Cator and Mr. Halt were engaged for the prosecution and Mr. Ross for the defence. It was proved that at the time the late Purser quitted the vessel, a survey was held, and the 300 dollars amongst other property delivered over to the prisoner, who had signed the survey. It was also shewn that after he had been taken into custody the chest was examined and the dollars were missing. Mr. Flyger was called to prove that he had received from the prisoner a sum of thirty pounds in dollars for candles which he had supplied to H.M.S. Calliope; that he declined to take a bill which the prisoner had offered him to that amount ; and the regulations of the navy were produced to shew that an allowance is made to f Pursers of various ships, according to their rates,, for the supply of various articles among which candles are enumerated. The prisoner when applied to on the subject of his accounts generally had refused to cuter on the subject, his papers having been sealed up by order of Captain Stanley on hoard the vessel. An objection was raised to the indictment that the description of the money, silver dollars, was not sufficient, that where a statute mentioned money generally it was decided to apply to the coin of the realm, and that the dollars in the indictment were not mentioned as coin of any description, and were therefore not money within the meaning of the Act. His Honor held that the description, 300 silver dollars might have been omitted altogether, and in his opinion was unnecessary to the charge which might have been supported upon the charge of embezzling money only without any description. The Jury acquitted the prisoner. The prisoner was then indicted for forging and uttering, with intent to defraud, a certain instrument purporting to be a bill of exchange. The indictment, which was of considerable length, contained fifty-four counts; one set of counts charging the prisoner with forging and uttering tbe bill with intent to defraud the Accountant-General ; another set, r with forging and uttering with intent to delraud Capt.Stanleyß.N. ; anda third set, with forging find uttering with intent to defraud Messrs. J. Smith & Co. Mr. Cator and Mr. Hart conducted the prosecution ; Mr. Ross was engaged for the defence. jR. R. Strang produced the Navy-bill in Court. R. S. Cheesman deposed to having received the bill from Mr. James Smith, as Clerk to the Bench at the Resident Magistrate's Court ; had had the bill in his possession about ten days, and handed it to.Mr. Strang^ /. H. Wallace — Am a merchant, one of the firm of J. Smith & Co. ; I remember the Ist May, it was a Saturday ; I know the prisoner at the bar ; I received from him on that day a set o r f Navy Bills (the bills produced) ; this is oneof the set j I saw the prisoner sign his name as drawer and indorser on the back as well as front ; he wrote his name in our office and in my presence ; I laid them on the table ; I gave them to Mr. Smith, and Mr. Hervey came in about half an hour after ; they were never out of my possession till I gave them to Mr. Smith ; the bills were for pork supplied to H.M.S. Calliope ; I know of no other transaction .before or since ; the bills are filled up in the usual way ;' I only remark that the", ship's name is not filled in ; it is usual for the Purser to give a bill in that state. Cross-examined by Mr. Ross — I saw Mr. Wright sign his name both as drawer and indorser. "" ~ • James Smith — Am .a merchant of Wellington ; about the flatter. £ end,. 4>i April 1 sold some pork to Mr. Wright, \as acting Purser of the Calliope;} it was the join>prpperty.-of myself and "Mr. Hervey ; payment was made in a Navy-bill for, s£211 ( : j8 : 1,. I remember the Ist May, it was Saturday; 1 saw' the prisoner about 9 or 10 o'clock, and asked

him for the bills. He held up some papers, which appeared to be bills and said he had got them all ready e'xfifept the Captain's signature. I knoff-'tfris djJp' '< cument ; it is the Ist of exchangefof gp^e of them ; Mr. Wright gave me the set atio'fit one o'clock : Messrs. Hervey and Wallace were with me ; Mr. Hervey drew my atttention to the bill and I examined it with others ; after some consultation I suggested .jhe propriety- of seeing Mr:,Wjrght on tfie subject ; we proceeded together in Warctf^of Mr. Wright but could not find him ; it was a i rainy day ; I proposed that Mr. Hervey should write a letter to him, as we heard he had gone to his house ; Sunday intervened ; on Monday I had an auction, and on Tuesday I went to Mr. Hervey and told him-'I was very uneasy; we agreed to consult Mr. M'Donald r .the banker, on the subject, and took the bills with ns ; we shewed him the bills and asked him if he would discount them; he said^yeS'j- in consequence of what took place at the bank we went to Captain Stanley and shewed' him the Lills, and after went to the Resident Magistrate ; I know Captain Stanley's handwriting now ; I remember the Ist May ; it was a wet nasty day. Cross-examined by Mr. Ross — The pork was a joint speculation of our firm with Mr. Hervey ; 1 never saw Capt. Stanley write, and did not know his handwriting at the time of the transaction ; on comparing them with' other bills I observed a difference, and in consequence went to Mr. M'Dpnald ; I expected: to have fallen in with the prisoner ; Saturday was a wet day ; I got a good ducking in searching for Mr. Wright. Captain E. Stanley, R.N. commanding H.M.S. Calliope — I know the prisoner attire bar ; I remember the latter end of last April ; 1 had a communication with the prisoner respecting provisions purchased from James Smith & Co. ; at the request of the prisoner I signed navy bills for the purchase of those* provisions ; the day on which I signed the bill* was Thursday 29th April ; I remember Saturday Ist May ; I did not see the prisoner on that day ; I landed about 9 o'clock opposite Mr, Alzdorf's : I took my man with the coxswain of the boat to Kai warra and went on board from thence ; I did not come on shore again ; .it was a very rough day and no other boat left the ship that day ; the prisoner was not on board ; I remember Tuesday 4th May ; I saw Mr. J. Smith, he produced a document which I should know again ; this is one f of them (examining the bills) ; it is not my handwriting at all ; I never gave authority to the prisoner to sign that document for me, -or to sign my name ; 1 have tried to imitate this and could not do so ; I told Mr. Smith it was not my handwriting or anything like it ; lam positive these are not the documents I signed on Thursday for the prisoner. Cross-examined by Mr. Ross — The provisions were for the use of the ship and a je* gular transaction ; I signed the bills on Thursday 29th April, and left them at the prisoner's office ; I had nothing more to do with them ; at the Police Office I may have said Thursday or Friday or Saturday, but I remember it was Thursday ; I have not the least doubt that it is not my signature ; I have given the prisoner authority on one occasion to sign my name in a private matter but not to bills or to any public document ; when in a hurry to go on shore I have put my name to papers on service not -filled up but they were not of importance ; I never entrusted the prisoner with my signature to official accounts or to bills ; to the best of my recollection^ the papers signed on the Thursday were not filled up ; I cannot recollect all the papers I sign ; I write very quick therefore my hand is always the same ; I got a search warrant at the Police Office ; we examined Mr. Wright's cabin on board but could not find the bill ; I took him in custody on board ; I remember the state of the weather because Mr. Kaiu and my servant were ashore and could not come off; [ had the boats hoisted up. Re-examined by Mr. , Hart— When un- . der examination at the Police Office I may have mentioned Friday or Saturday; itVas Thursday when I signed the bills. '_* P. M. Hervey — deposed to having been shown the bills by, Mr. Wallace, and thinking the signature was not Captain Stanley's, he and Mr. Smith consulted the manager of the Union Bank and afterwards went to Captain ' Stanley. ' [ ' ' „ Cross-examiued — Wrote a letter, to Mr. Wright on that day reque&ting to see him and got a reply in writing ; has seen Captain Stanley sign his name very frequently ; sometimei he writes very full, at other times plain. — A. M' Donald, Manager of the Union' Bank of Australia — I remember Mr. Smith^arid' Mr. Hervey calling on nre at the Bank ; they asked if I would discount a Navy Bil' ; - they produced a set of bills and asked if 1 thought; it was Captain Stanley's signature ; I said it was not his signature ; I have cashed other Navy Bills with Captain Stanleys-s ignature, 1 and if that had been Captain Stanley's Vign«iture v ould have discounted the bill;

Cross-examined — I should require the indorsement of the parties presenting it, and the blanks filled up ; the bill now produced is not complete, it is a blank indorsement. KB. Webber, Clerk of H.M.S. Calliope —l!know Captain Stanley's signature ; I see him write daily ;, the signature to the bills is not Captain Stanley's handwriting. 1 dross-examined — Captain Stanley's signature varies ; still there- is a similarity that I shoald know it at any time. R. B. Graham, Master H.M.S. Calliope —I" have seen Captain Stanley write several times and know his signature ; to the best of my belief the siguature to the bills is Captain Stahley's, it appears like it. Th,e case for the prosecution having closed Mr. Ross for the defence, objected that there was no " evidence of the instrument charged being a warrant for the payment of money, a Voucher or a certificate. He objected that the bill-was^an incomplete instrument, wanting the name of.the payee, and therefore insufficient to support the indictment. His Honor overruled the former objections, and held that the counts (48 in number) affected by the latter objection could flot be sustained. . Mr. Ross farther -objected that the certificate mentioned in the last six counts was not an instrument in legal acceptance as charged. Hi-> Honor reserved his judgment on this point, and stated he should also reserve for his own consideration another pointwhich liadnotbeen taken, whether the joindure of counts in the iudictment was not an objection which could not be cured by a verdict. It was also urged in the prisoners defence that the money (as in the transaction with Mr. Flyger) had been bond fide expended on the ship's account, and although possibly not in the manner directed by the regulations of the Navy, yet not with a fraudulent intent, and his Honor the Judge directed the Jury that if they so considered they would be bound to acquit the prisoner. The case then went to the Jury on the last six counts, and the Jury returned a verdict of Guihy of uttering a certificate purporting to be signed by Captain Stanley, with intent to defraud Messrs J. Smith & Co. _ In the third case of Forgery with intent to defraud the Customs, Mr. Caior the counsel for the prosecution declined calling any evidence, and a verdict of acquittal was recorded by cons»nt.