SUPREME COURT.—CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5239, 8 January 1878, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.—CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

The quarterly Wellington circuit sittings of ’theSupreme Court commenced yesterday before his Honor Chief Justice Prendergast. There were twelve names on the list, four however being concerned in two cases. They were as follows ;—Daniel Burke, larceny ; Edward Tyler, false pretences ; Arthur Barnsley, forgery ; James McDougall, assault with intent; Thomas Keenan and Edward Hughes, robbery with violence ; Richard Ross, horse-stealing ; H. Cape Williamson, obtaining goods by a valueless cheque ; Thomas Williams and Thomas Preeman, stealing money ; and W. J. Lawrence, obtaining goods by means of false pretences. True bills were returned in all the cases except that of McDougall, the depositions in whose case had not yet been received. The following gentlemen were empanelled as the Grand Jury ; Lipman Levy (foreman!, Samuel Wesley, Joseph McGiffert Cleland, Thomas John Mountain, Ebenezer Henry Hunt, John Matthew Taylor, Herbert Gaby, Edward Toomath, Thomas Kennedy Macdonald, Arthur Baker, William Henry Meek, Archibald Paisley Stuart, Charles John Johnston, Isaac Plimmer, James Billings, John Rutherford Blair, John William Stevenson, John Watt, George Smytlie Sellar, Thomas McKenzie, Joseph Edward Nathan, Benjamin Levy, and Thomas Mason. Joseph Burne was excused from serving on the ground that he was too deaf to hear what might be said. Samuel Kent had a fine of 40s. remitted, as it appeared that he was an officer in the Customs. J. Hutchings, Captain of the Wellington Eire Brigade, claimed exemption from serving under the Act of 1874. He was directed to produce a certificate from his commanding officer. William George Ohatfield, a defaulting Grand Juror, was £5. Joseph Dixon was excused from attendance on the strength of a certificate of ill-health. THE JUDGE’S CHARGE. His Honor addressed to the jury the following charge;—Gentlemen of the Jury,—l have but few words to say to you. The cases which are to come before you appear to be of an ordinary kind, and none of them will present any difficulties to you. There is a class of cases about which I may say a few words. There are several cases on this calendar of obtaining money under false pretences by passing valueless cheques. You have been told before, I dare say—that false pretences may be made without any words being uttered. False pretences may be made simply by the doing of an act. Now, it may appear to you that in some of these cases there have been no false pretences, as no words have passed on the part of the person who is accused to induce the parson who parted with his property to believe that the cheque issued was a goodone by verbal representation. It is quite sufficient for the purpose if the accused, by an act, put forward a bad cheque as a good one. Tills is the only caution I have to give you with regard to the cases before you ; none of the others seem to require any comment from me. I have, therefore, simply to ask you to retire to your room and consider the cases which will be sent to you for your consideration. ABSENTEE COMMON JUROR. George Knight and James Sims, who failed to appear, or present a certificate concerning their absence, were each fined 40s. UTTERING A VALUELESS CHEQUE. ’ William John Lawrence was indicted for having on the 21st December obtained from Horace Ames, at the. Hutt, the sum of £3 by means of a valueless cheque. Mr. Hutchison, counsel for prisoner, explained that he had only been instructed on the previous evening, and as desirable witnesses had not yet arrived in Wellington, lie asked that the hearing should be postponed until the following day. He also complained that as the amount involved was only £3, the case was one for jurisdiction in a summary manner. His Honor : Do you take a demurrer, or what ? Mr. Hutchison : I take a demurrer, I presume. His Honor : There is nothing that excludes the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Mr. Hutchison : Prisoner of course is at a disadvantage. If we were in the Resident Magistrate’s Court his evidence could bo taken. ’ His Honor ; No ; certainly not. Accused was remanded until to-morrow, after having been indicted on a further charge of defrauding Charles James Hughes, of the Melbourne Hotel, by means of a valueless cheque. FALSE PRETENCES. Edward Tyler was indicted for having, on the 10th November, obtained from Benjamin Cohen, jeweller, Willis-street, by means of a valueless cheque' for £3 155., a set of studs, a solitaire, and a collar button.

Prisoner, who pleaded not guilty, expressed a wish to communicate with Dr. Buffer, whom he would ask to defend him. His Honor : The last prisoner, John Lawrence, who was committed on the 3rd of January, asks his case to be postponed until to-morrow, because he wants to get a person in attendance. His counsel asked for an adjournment, and I acceded to it. Now the very next prisoner appears before the Court and makes an application of a similar kind ; certainly not under the same circumstances, because he was committed in November. If this sort of thing continue, we will have to adjourn the whole Court for a week. lam most unwilling that prisoner should take his trial without counsel if there is any prospect of his getting counsel, and however inconvenient it may be, I suppose I must adjourn the hearing. Accused was remanded accordingly. STABBING WITH A KNIFE. Thomas Keenan pleaded not guilty to a charge of having, on the 20th October, inflicted several stabs on Alfred King by means of a knife, thereby doing him grievous bodily harm. The Crown Prosecutor having related the circumstances of the case, Alfred King, who described himself as a musician, stated that he was walking along Conr-tenay-placa about midnight of the 20th October, when prisoner, whom he identified, ran behind him and made one or two blows with his fist. He then ran away. Another man, apparently a mate of prisoner’s, also assaulted witness at the same time by hutting him with his head. About au hour after the occurrence, witness met and accosted prisoner, who admitted having struck him. Witness hit him with his fist, and accused thereupon stabbed him in the left side and head. The other witness for the prosecution. did not obey his subpcena, and his Honor having directed the jury, they without retiring returned a verdict of not guilty. Thomas Keenan was then further arraigned jointly with Edward Hughes, for having, on the 28th October, violently assaulted William Robert Overton, and stolen from his person a gold watch. Hughes asked for a demand until the next day, in order that his counsel (Mr. Barton) might be in attendance. His Honor, after remarking upon the interference with the Court business in such applications, postponed the hearing. LABCENT. Daniel Burke pleaded not guilty to a charge of having, on the 9th, 10th, and 12th of October, at Glenburn station, near Masterton, stolen from Daniel Cross, hawker, £2O, in onepound bank notes, and a quantity of clothing. Prosecutor deposed that he was a commercial traveller, and resided at Touro, On the 9th October witness reached Glenburn station with his pack-horse, and slept in the men’s wbare that night. Accused slept at the end of the same bed, and in the morning witness discovered that the purse in his coat pocket had been ' rifled. He subsequently kept a watch, and had stolen from his haversack two pair of trowsers, two Crimean shirts, a vest, a pair of braces, and two meerschaum pipes. Prisoner was afterwards discharged from the station, and was searched by witness, who found the stolen articles in his possession. He at first alleged having found the articles, but subsequently admitted having stolen them. Prisoner made a statement, and asked the Court to deal leniently with him, and to take into consideration the fact that he was already undergoing a sentence. The jury without quitting the box found the accused guilty, and his Honor remanded him for sentence until the following morning. ROBBERY FROM A TENT. Thomas Freeman was indicted for having, on the 11th December, stolen from a tent at Mnngaroa £lB in bank notes and a money order for £2 10s., the property of George Holoroft. The evidence was a recapitulation of what has already been published in the Times. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty, and prisoner was remanded for sentence until the following morning. The Court rose at 5 p,m.