SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SITTINGS. BEFORE MR. JUSTICE STEPHEN. June 2, 1852.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 714, 5 June 1852, Page 2

SUPREME CO UR T. CRIMINAL SITTINGS. BEFORE MR. JUSTICE STEPHEN. June 2, 1852.

A sittings of the Supreme Court was held for the despatch of criminal business. The number of cases, we regret to say, was unusually large, there being five prisoners for trial, and all of them for serious offences. On the names of the Grand Jury being called over, five of them, Messrs. Clifford, Fitzherbert, Hervey, Raymond,.and Stokes, were severally fined Ten Pounds for non attendance, but the three latter gentlemen^ appearing in Court shortly after 'the Judge had commenced his address 'to the Grand Jury, their fines were remitted.' Several of the Petty Jury also were fined for not being in Court when called. The Grand Jury being sworn, Mr. Justice Stephen, who took his seat on the Bench for the first time in this settlement, made a long and very able address to the Grand Jury ; after some general preliminary observations he referred to each case, carefully noting those points which would be brought under the consideration of the Jury, and the law as it applied to the case, particularly that of Brown for murder, in which he explained the operation of the law, distinguishing its effect in constituting the crime of murder, and that of manslaughter. His Honor also referred at some length to the case of Duffy, and explained the law as affecting that case. The Grand Jury then retired and found true bills against all the prisoners. William Thomas Sounders, labourer, formerly in the employ of the Hon. H. Petre, was indicted for having forged a cheque or order for the payment of £10 10s., with intent to defraud Henry Knowles ; a second count charged him with having uttered the order. The following was the case for the prosecution :—: — Nicholas Oxenham, private in the Police Force. — I apprehended the prisoner on the 51st May ; I searched him and found these three pieces of paper (paper produced) on his person, a knife, two half-crowns, and five single shillings ; I got this piece of paper from Mr. Ludlam : I made this indorsement on that piece of paper the same evening — "Friday, May 21," 1852. Susannah Knowles. — I live at the Hutt, I am the wife' of Henry Knowles who keeps a store at the Hutt, I serve, in it ; I know the prisoner, on the 21st of last month he came to my shop, he said he wanted a blanket and shirt ; I supplied him ; he asked me to cash a cheque on Mrs. Petre, saying, will you cash this cheque ; I cashed it ; I gave him a blanket and shirt, four £1 notes, five sovereigns, and nine shillings and sixpence in silver ; the prisoner went away, and I went into the inner room ; I shewed the cheque to my husband, and then went to Mrs. Petre with the cheque; I asked her if she had given that cheque to William Sanders on that day, she said no. By the Court. — Prisoner came a little after six o'clock in the evening, he staid about ten minutes. Henry Knowles. — I live at the River Hutt, I am a storekeeper ; I know the prisoner, I saw him in my shop on Friday the 21st of last month about 6 o'clock in the evening ; my wife shewed me this cheque directly after Sanders'left. Ellen Petre. — I am the wife of the Hon. Henry Petre; this is not my handwriting, (looking at the cheque,) I never gave prisoner permission to draw that cheque. By the Court. — The prisoner has been off and on in the service of my husband ; I have no doubt but that I am the person meant by the name of E. Petre, to that cheque. • The Jury found the prisoner guilty of uttering the cheque, and the Foreman called the attention of the Court to the practice of paying by cheques, and on this ;ground recommended the prisoner to mercy. .Hugh Duffy, a discharged soldier of the 65th , regt. was indicted for com raitting a rape on Catherine Howard, a child uader 10 years of age, at Wanganui, on the 24th March last ; a secoud count in the indictment charged him with committing a common assault. The details of this case are unfit for publication. The Jury returned a verdict ' of not guilty on the first count, .but'foan'd the "prisoner guilty of the assault. " : ' Patrick Hayes was indicted for robbing James Shepherd on the highway, and taking from his person the sum of seventeen shillings, and sixpence, a second count charged him with committing an assault. The following .witnesses were examined— James Shepherd — I am a seaman on board the GoVertimenf brig ; I was at Munn's Public House on Monday,' l7th May, about 8 o'clock in the evening ; I saw the prisoner there; I had a glass of grog and treated several there ; the prisoner was at the bar at the time I had the liquor ; I paid 2s. 6d. for it ; I was there about seven or eight minutes ; I left and was going past Government "House when I met the prisoner at the upper part of Government House Domain, on the beach ; the prisoner was standing there ; he said take that you , and he up fist and knocked me down ; when I picked myself up I found that my money and cap was gone ; I had seventeen shillings and sixpence ; I swear positively it was the prisoner who knocked me down ; I 'was quite sober. By- the Court. — I paid the 2s. 6d. by a note which 'the inraiter changed, which he put on the counter close to' where the prisoner stood, he nrght' have seen it ; the money taken was the change I had received "for the note ; -the seven-

teen shillings and sixpence consisted of shillings, half-crowns, and sixpences. Henry Waldy. — I am a seaman on board the Government brig ; I vras at Munn's Public House about 8 o'clock on the evening of Monday, 17th May ; I saw the prosecutor and the prisoner there ; the prosecutor treated me ; he took, a one pound note out of his pocket ; he got seventeen shillings and sixpence change, which he put into his jacket pocket ; the prisoner could have seen him ; prosecutor went out and returned in about twenty minutes ; I remained behind. By the Court. — The prisoner went out a few minutes after prosecutor ; it was a dark "night. Step/ten Ralph Matthews. — I am a barman at Munn's Royal Hotel; I remember the 17th May, prisoner was there about 8 o'clock in the evening; the prosecutor was there also, he treated his messmates, and paid 2s. 6d. by a note which I changedj and gave him seventeen shillings and sixpence ; prosecutor left in about twenty minutes, and prisoner shortly after ; the prisoner might have seen the change given to prosecutor. """ By the prisoner. — Shepherd had been there scmetime before drinking ; I can/iot say whethor prosecutor had. anything, beyond the one glass. y , , William Taylor. — I am barman at Calder's Public House, Kai Warra; ; on 17th May I saw the prisoner there, there v^jere several with him there; I 7I 7 cannot say 1 whether any one came with him ; it was about 9 or 10 o'clock when the prisoner came ; he was not tipsy. Amos Fisher. — I am a sawyer living at Kai . warra ; I know the prisoner ; I was in his company on the evening of the 17th of. May, at Munn's, about 8 o'clock ; this man (pointing to prosecutor) was there that night, he called for grog ; I cannot say whether he paid for it ; I and the prisoner went out together, leaving Shepherd behind at the Public House ; prosecutor came out, and I went down the beach ; prisoner said, " prosecutor deserved a hit on the head " or something like it, I can't exactly say what ; prisoner walked on, Shepherd followed, and I followed about 7 or 8 yards behind Shepherd ; when I got to the end of the Government Domain,. 1 saw two men about a scuffle ; they were standing together, and I saw one man fall ; I could not see who they were. By the Court. — When I saw the one man fall I turned back and ran away ; I and the prisoner were at the time boarding in the same house ; I ran towards Kai warra, prisoner overtook me, we "both went together to Calder's ; I just went to see what o'clock it was and I went away and went to my bed. His Honor strongly animadverted on the conduct of this witness, who, he said, appeared to have acted as an accomplice of the prisoner. John Dun'leary. — I am a private in the Armed Police ; I took the prisoner into custody at Calder's, on Monday night, about 10 o'clock, on the 17th May; I searched the prisoner but found nothing about him. The prisoner was found guilty, on the second count, of an assault. The Attorney-General conducted the prosecution in the above cases; the prisoners were undefended.

. ivsf 3rd, 1.852. \ ,-, William Brown was indicted for the wilful murder of James Meney, at Okiwi, on the 1 lth day of April last. He had committed to take his trial on the Coroner'sVarraut for manslaughter, but the Grand Jury found a true bill for wilful murder which had been preferred against him, and thereupon he was tried. The Attorney General conducted the prosecution, and Mr.^Ktng was engaged by the prisoner for the defence. . ' Patrick Spoliin. — I am a labourer, I live near Kaiwarra; 1 was at Qkiwi on the 11th April, at the prisoner's house, about 10 in the morning ; there was Lecky, Boatswain, the prisoner, and the deceased James Meney ; I called for some rum, the remainder of the party got gin, I called for it; the deceased then called lor another round, after this, we each called for another round ; during the time that we were drinking some words took place between the prisoner and deceased,; the prisoner charged him with having said something at the Hutt against Boatswain; prisoner challenged deceased to fight ; he did not wish to do so ; prisoner caught deceased by the breast of the jacket, pulling him with the intention of making deceased fight ; they did not fight, I separated them ; there was another row between Boatswain and prisoner, in that row I saw Boatswain knock the prisoner down ; deceased had nothing to do with Jhat row ; after this row I saw a rifle in prisoner's hand, 1 don't know how or where he got it ; I can't tell what he was going to do with it, Boatswain took it away and took it outside the room ; I saw it afterwards in the hands of the Maori woman, (who lived with prisoner,) this was about 4 or 5 minutes afterwards ; I wanted to go on. to Port Nicholson, and the Boatswain wanted to go as far as the Hutt, and deceased wanted -to go as far as Jhe Hutt: Lasked deceased to accompany me-^art of the»way, he-did not ;-I tintl - the Boatswaiu went on and when' I went as far as James Lansdale's, Boatswain went on- and" I staid there ; deceased was at prisoner's when I left the house ; this was I think past 3 in the afternoon ; for something more than a quarter of an hour before I left things appeared pretty peaceable ; I saw no other quarrelling between prisoner and deceased than what I mentioned; after I quitted the house I saw no more of prisoner, he did not accompany me, nor did deceased ; I did not see the prisoner throw any stick at or near me and Boatswain when we were going away ; I never saw deceased after that time ; deceased was sober enough when J left to walk without staggering ; he appeared to be a man about 30 years of" age ; I know ! the place called the rock- near- prisoner's house ; the rock is a bluff overhanging the beach ; I went between the rock and the - water well enough, stepping on the rocks in the water close enough to touch the rock;" I think the tide had been going out better than ah hour when I passed; as soon as ever you pasa the rock the prisoner's house cannot be seen. By Mr. King. — I remained in the prisoner's house and about from about 10 in the morning till about 3 ; I was sometitr.es walking about the yard, sometimes smoking; deceased was' at prisoner's before me; we had been together before and were going there ; I had to return for some dogs ; It was three; quarter* of; an

hour after I left deceased before I saw him at prisoner's ; after I was at prisoner's I, went again for the dogs ; I had to go better than half a mile from prisoner's to get them ; the ■ prisoner's house consists of tout one room somewhat bigger than the jury box; there was ' room for some 4 or 5 men at the other end of the room if we were Hard up ; we had to catch hold of the prisoner to pacify him ; I understood that it was owing to deceased having ' said something about Boatswain that the words took place between prisoner and deceased ; sometimes it was peaceable but more times there was quarrelling ; I saw no quarrelling but between Boatswain, prisoner, and deceased , I did not at any time during that day see prisoner strike deceased ; 1 drank only 4 glasses at the house that day ; I was away about three quarters of an hour looking for the dogs ; I did not see the prisoner drink any liquor that day ; he seemed excited, I can't say whether it •was at all from drink ; he did not seem excited till the quarrel with deceased ; I heard no abusive words between prisoner and deceased, no further than prisoner trying to make a quarre! with deceased about some words the deceased had spoken about Boatswain at the Hutt; I turned'rbund after I left the house, looking for deceased ; I did not see deceased ; I did not get 1 wet by the water when going round the rock ; ' I got 'my boots wet;, it would ,b,e hard to go >: round the rocftf without getting wet somewhere or other ; when the Boatswain and I passed round the rock we did not stop but went on ; it was getting dark when we arrived at Lansdale's; to the best of my knowledge I told Mrs. Lansdale that there had been a row at the prisoner's ; I don't know whether I had been first asked about it; I stopped at Lansdale's all night ; I can't say whether I was agitated ; I had no great covering over me all night, I felt cold ; at the time of the inquest I was sent to the Police Barracks, and locked up there one night ; this was after I had heen examined by the Coroner concerning Meney's death ; it was the same evening as the inquest that I was sent to the barracks ; the Boatswain was taken alsc to the Police Barracks the same evening after me; I cannot say when he came there, whether it was dark ; it was getting dark when I was examined before the Coroner; sometimes, on reaching my foot from one rock to another, I had to straddle a little' further than usual ; I .have slipped off the stones before now, but did not get wet. Arthur Edipard M'Donogh. — I am .Inspector of Police ; this is a plan uf the prisoner's house, taken from before the house, (No. 1); this (No. 2) is a plan of the prisoner's house taken from a boat lying about midway between the house and the rock ; this (No. 3) is similar to the last, but with the exact measurement of the distance between the prisoner's house and the Rocky Point as a person would walk ; the distance between the two is about 350 yards, and about 100 yards round the point is where the body was found, which is about 35 feet below high- water- mark : these plans are accurate, and delineate correctly the several places indicated in them. (The plans were prepared by R. Park, Esq., from actual admeasurement.) By Mr. King. — At high tide it would not be a safe passage round an "hour after high- water ; ' If think it would also be dangerous up to a state uf half-tide; the place where the body was found was shown to me by the Coxswain of the Government boat, who brought the body away; I saw the prisoner was about where the inquest was sitting on the second day ; information was given to the Police that the body was found by a person named Wilton I believe ; the prisoner was not in custody when I saw him there ; the prisoner told me that if it was necessary for the woman that was living with him, or the little girl, to be examined he would send for them ; this was on the second day of the inquest ; on the third day of the inquest, and after it was over, I caused the prisoner to be apprehended ; he was at the time waiting outside where the inquest was held. William Leckey. — I am a labourer ; I live at Wairarapa ; I was at the prisoner's house on the I lth April last; I had been there 12 days before ; I was sawing timber for the prisoner ; the 1 lth was on a Sunday ; two men came to the house, one named Jim ; I never saw him alive after that day, but saw him at the Coro-* ner's Inquest dead' ; the other man was named Paddy (the man who has been examined here as a witness to-day) ; these two did not come together, deceased came first, the other man came about ten minutes after ; when they came there were at the house, — myself, the Boatswain of the Agra (George Brown), the prisoner and his wife (a maori woman), and my daughter — a girl about eleven years old ; deceased came in leading a goat ; he asked for a .glass of grog ; he went out looking for Paddy; he saw Paddy on the beach and he called him in ; Paddy said he had no money but if prisoner would let him have it he would stand treat for all round ; after that was drunk the deceased called for another four glasses ; then Paddy called for another, and deceased shortly afterwards fofc~ another fdui-if prisoner threatened to, thrash deceased because he had insultedjhe Boatswain at the Hutt ; high-words passed^ the deceased always wanted to make peace ; I saw no blows pass between them ; prisoner challenged deceased several times out to fight ; the. prisoner swore a good deal at deceased, but deceased paid no attention to him ; I saw the Boatswain stril- ether prisoner; I don't know what caused it ; I did not hear any words between them, it must have .been part of the same quarrel that took place between the prisoner and deceased; I think the Boatswain was taking the deceased's part ; I went to bed about 3 o'clock ; they were then all outside the house, all were then quiet ; I once kept the prisoner from striking the deceased by holding both bis arms,- so that he could not strike ; prisoner frequently challenged the deceased to come out and fight ; I saw the prisoner next day, he was all that day in bed ; the body was found on the Wednesday ;'-the prisoner had a cut on the top of his ' head ; he called me on the Monday evening to cut the hair off the wound ; 1 saw no blow given to the prisoner but by the Boatswain ; I saw a scratch on the cheek bone of the prisoner, as if occasioned bj T a fall or a stone, or by the naih of some person. - „',-■ By Mr. King. — Prisoner, and deceased were not quarrelling all the time, they were quarrell- ! ing. nearly an hour.;- ij did. not begin till they"

had had 4 or 5 glasses of grog each.; did not' see prisoner take hold of deceased ; the Boatswain struck the prisoner and I saw him fall ; I can't say where he hit him, or whether, he struck him more than once, the Boatswain : struck me too ; I fell ; I felt it a little the next day ; I had a cold and sorp throat, I can't say whether it was from the blow ; I remember the day the body was found ; the prisoner called to me, say" ing,' that there was a man lying down drowned, and he thought it was Jim ; I had been looking for the cows before the prisoner called me, and before I went for them I saw Wilton going to prisoner's house ; it could no be above half an hour before prisoner called me ; I went with the prisoner ; the body was found just free of the bad rock ; a person is sure to get wet if the tide is three houjs out; it was blowing very hard from the South East on the Sunday; it had been blowing very hard from the North West up to the Saturday evening when it changed suddenly ; when the wind hat been blowing from one quarter and shifts round it occasions a very heavy swell, on such occasions very few people would be able to go round the rock without getting wet up to the neck, they would have to go over the rock ; the deceased did not appear the worse for liquor the last time I saw him that day ; I lent the deceased my jacket, as it was wet, and he was going to the Hutt; th£ room where the parties were drinking' had" betln at three stalled stable 15 feet long by 10 wide. John Patrick Fitzgerald. — I am Colonial Surgeon and Coroner ; these are the proceedings upon the inquest held touching the death of James Meney ; this statement purporting, to be signed with the mark of the prisoner was freely and voluntarily made by him in my presence ; it was read over to him, and he touched the pen in the usual way with marksmen when he was called upon to sign that deposition ; the prisoner was not summoned before me, he came with the body ; being present I called him in and examined him ; I asked him questions, and examined him as other witnesses ; he came perfectly voluntarily; he made no objections to any of the questions ; the signature "J. P. Fitzgerald M.D., Coroner" subjoined to the prisoner's statement is in my handwriting. By Mr. King. — There was no hesitation on the part of the prisoner in answering ; nor any embarrassment. By the Court.-r-The prisoner was not suspected at the time ; he left the room when he was examined, but not by ray ordets, according to the best of my belief; I may have said. that I had done with him, but I cannot be positive / I may have told him to leave. . Mary Leckey. — I am 1 1 years of age ; I live at Mr. Fowler's ; in April Hived at prisoner's ; I was there on Sunday llth April ; some strangers arrived there near dinner time; they came together, one I knew named Jim; prisoner and Mrs k Brown, and myself, and my father were there, also a man called tbe. Boatswain ; they were all in the room., together ; the door was shut ; there was a great deal of quarrelling ; there were high words between prisoner, and Jim ; this lasted a quarter of an hour, they then went outside ; there too they quarrelled ; prisoner knocked Jim down three or four times ; prisoner took a rifle frpoojthe I ed-room and said he would s sliootr-tbe-B^Hts.waTni prisoner* quarrelled with Jim about something Jim said to the Boatswain at the Hutt; the Boatswain and Paddy went away round the point ; Jim staid behind about a quarter of an hour ; then the prisoner took the handle of an axe and went after tbe Boatswain, and Jim went with him ; prisoner went to the point, was not there two minutes, and then he came back ; Jim went round the point ; I looked and saw him ; the prisoner did not come back into the house, but lay down by the side of the creek, and fell asleep ; Mrs. Brown came out and took him to bed : he had a cut on his head ; I saw it when I went to him to the creek ; it was bleeding; he had no cap on then; he had a cap when he went out with him. - By the Court. — I never saw the axe handle again. Nan Brown, (a Native Woman). — I am married to the prisoner. By the Court. — I was mairied by a missionary about the time the Boy was killed, about 5, about 10 years ago ; I don't know the missionary's name ; I don't know whether there was any writing given to me by any missionary to prove my marriage ; there may be some. A question was raised as to the admissibility of the evidence of this witness, and Mr. King examined the following witnesses to shew thut the prisoner and witness were man and wife according to common reputation, — George Waters, storekeeper, Te Aro. I know the prisoner, I have known him seven or eight years ; Nan. (the woman just put into the box) was then living with him ; I believed them to be regularly married to each other. William Luxford, Butcher. I know the prisoner ; have known him from eight to ten years; I have known this woman (Nan. Baown) for the last 4 years, since I- have been going backward and forward to theWairarapa ; I believed them to be man and wife, ; I understood so from what was thought of them generally. Alexander MonJc. lam a slaughterer at the Hutt ; I know Nan. Brown : I have always believed that they were man and wife, and that they were generally thought to be so. The Court overruled the objection, and tbe examination of the witness was resumed. Nan. Brown, recalled. I remember the Sunday when the Boatswain and several other men came to prisoner's house ; Lecky was there ; I remember two men calling, one with a goat, the other a little after : one of these men I have" seen since dead, taken out of the water at Okiwi ; they called for some rum ; there were four of them ; they stopped a short time and Brown gave a second round, and afterwards two other rounds of a glass each ; they stopped in the house some time ; I and Mary Lecky staid on the outside ; the white men in the house were quarrelling ; they shut the door in the inside ; prisoner called to me to bring a hammer and nails to fasten up the door on the inside ; there was quarrelling and swearing in the inside by,the whole four ; as. they were leaving the house prisoner^ took the musket from where it was hanging inside the house and I went in to hide the powder ; prisoner followed me, when the Boatswain took the musket from prisoner ; the one who is dead took a knife which was lying on the table ; prisoner took it from him and threw it away ; Mary Leckey ran

• out of the. house towards the Point ; tKe man who is dead ran after her to bring her back ; Brown was angry with, him for taking hold of the N child, and struck deceased several times and knocked him down ; he then quarrelled with the others ; prisoner was going to t-hoot Boatswain with the gun ; Bqatswain then took it away from him ; I then took it and broke it ■ over a stone ; after the fighting was over Boatswain and Paddy left the house, and soon after prisoner and deceased followed ; prisoner had nothing in his hand, but deceased had a piece of wood belonging to the building called matipo, freshly cut; I saw deceased' strike prisoner on the head with this wood ; the blood flowed from it near the creek ; Boatswain and Paddy were going from the house towards the Point and prisoner followed with the axe handle in his hand for the purpose of beating them ; deceased was then left behind in the house with Leckey ; as prisoner followed Boatswain and Paddy they turned back into the house ; they went together towards the Point; and they were then followed by the prisoner and deceased ; prisoner then had nothing in his hand ; I saw the deceased after he had struck prisoner ; prisoner took the stick from him and struck him on the small of the back, his arms, legs and hips, and deceased cooied and went towards the rocks, where I saw the Boatswain and Paddy take him by the hand and lead v him roiind the rocks leaving the prisoner lyin^tlown by the sideof the creek ; when prisoner returned' to the warre he eaid he was afraid his companion was killed ; he said " I killed one white man" (meaning the deceased ;) the prisoner was crying, both from paiu of body and with remorse at having killed the man ; when prisoner was lying beside the creek he was quite helpless ; 1 thought he was dead ; Leckey was fast asleep" at this time ; I [ did not try to wake him, there was no necessity for it, for I woke prisoner up and made him ' stand upon his legs and walk into the house; prisoner did not say he was in pain, that was my own thought ; prisoner got up in his bed about the middle of Monday, but not out of it ] till Tuesday ; he could not ; he was sore and ill, '' and it was raining. I George Dalrymple Monteith. — I am a surgeon ' at Wellington ; I examined the body of James Meney, deceased, on the 16th April, I think ; ' it was on the Friday after it was found. The ' face was livid and swollen, particularly about ! the upper part ; there was the appearance of 3. ' bruise immediately overjthe left eye ; the eyes ' were sunk in the v socltef.s-; 'the tongue protruded between the teeth ; the humidity of the skia extended to the throat immediately beneath the ' chin ; the body generally was pale ; the insidea of the tips of tlfe 1 fingers were excoriated and lacerated ; the lacerations were jagged cuts, similar to those caused by broken bottles, or other irregular sharp pieces of rock or glass. There were several small abrasions on the right thigh, and tyro much larger on the shins; on the left was much larger than that on the right ; tb\e,y extended from above to below about 4 inches, - and 2 inches in breadth is as near as I can state ; I then examined the head ; on reflecting the scalp, I noticed a bruise over the left eye : there was extravasated blood through the substance of the integument called the soajp ; the bone beneath, as also the investing mem--brane was -uninjured ; f'^ffer^ardTopSnTcfthe head ; the brain was of a darker colour than Usual j the vessels tinged with blood, but there were no other marks of injury to the brain, its membraues, or the bone. I next examined the chest ; the lungs were of "a dark colour, and crepitant, and gave a creaking noise like that sf veal when blown out ; I cut into the lungs, and on each of the lungs there ( exuded a frothy mucus ; the left cavities of the heart were empty ; the right contained a small portion of fluid blood. The vessels leading from the heart to the lungs were filled with black blood ; the marks of the shins resembled those called barking the shins, as if Caiused by friction against some hard substance-^certainly not by a blow ; it was not an indentation, but a mere abrasion; the bruise over the left eye might have been caused by a stroke from a ( pietfe-^f-Nrood, such as an axe handle ; drowning was, in my opinion, the immediate cause of death ; I think the blow over the eye must have been given whilst there was life, from the quantity of extravasation ; that blow was nut enough in my opinion to have caused death. William Wilton, butcher. — T found a dead body at Okiwi on the beach, a^little below high water mark, lying on its face ; it had a coat, two shirts,- pair of drawers, pair of trowsers, and pair of boots ; it was lying on the stones, the head betwen them touching against the sand : 1 found it at low water; "the clothes were not dry ; I went to within fifty yards of prisoner's house ; he was in front of .it ; I then told him there was a dead man lying' on the beach ; the Maori woman came out, and held her hand up and said, " I see that ;" prisoner must have heard her ; he told herT to go b ick into the house ; I had dined at p/isoner'sfbefbre I found the body ; he talked of |he bacTVeather the few days before; we went together towards the body ; the prisoner was very jnuch'jigitated andean towards the^'"body ; he* -was^aying something like " God save us ; " I cannot tell exactly what he said ; he turned the body over^^O" see the face, arid in order to get it out^of the water ; we lifted it up some distance above high water mark ; I was examined-as^a witness the day after the discovery *of the' Body at the Inquest ; it was the same~body. By Mr. King. — The prisoner did not desire me to give information, I told him I meant to do so. James Lansdale. — On Sunday evening the 1 lth April, it was near dark when Paddy Spolan came with another man, who appeared to be a seaman, he went towards the Hutt and Paddy towards the house; he seemed very weak and trembling ; he had a goat with him, I took the goat and put it up ; I then went in; he seemed at first as if he had been drinking, but afterwards he seemed sensible ; after he got his shirt off > and dry7~~which was during the night, he seemed better ; I told him to sit near the fire; he seemed rather diffident; where he sat was warm, the trembling did not seem to leave him, as I hoped it would have done; I think I made a remark to him concerning tlie prisoner ; I said" f thought that his feelings -were more tender than his external appearance; he said he was a wicked man ; he spoke of their having had aquarrel ; .Paddy; did say_ how he got wet, it was raining enough to have wet him, and he said he hardly thought he

would get over it ; he complained of the rocks being' bad, and said that he had some difficulty in getting round them. Mr. King for the prisoner addressed the Jury at considerable length, dwelling on those points which were in his client's favour, and concluded by anticipating from them a verdict of ac-quittv-d. His Honor, in a very able address to the Jury of which we regret our limits will not allow us to give an outline, summed up the evidence, bringing clearly before the Jury all the material points affecting the case. The Jury then retired and after an absence of three-quarter's of an hour returned a verdict of Not Guilty. The trial lasted until past eleven o'clock at night. The Court, during the whole of the trial, was quite crowded. We are obliged to defer the dial of T. L. Grimsey, for larceny, to our next number. After the trials were concluded his Honor proceeded to pass sentence on the prisoners. William Thomas Saunders for uttering a forged cheque, was sentenced to two years imprisonment and hard labour. Hugh T>uffy for assault with intent &c, was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Patrick Hayes for assault, was sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour.