MAU CASE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 212, 2 May 1932, Page 6

MAU CASE

4 1 - : (Continued) was present and witnessed ihe whole incident. Women In Car --Asked what led up to his wife leaving him, Mau said that one night he had been at an hotel, when two men had come into the bar and asked for beer. They had been refused and -when they had gone outside, Mau said "that he saw his wife and Miss Spencer were in the car with them. Witness himself had two women in his car and his wife walkad over to them and " told them they would hear more about it. Good Dressing Down Mau said he followed the other car back to town and went up to see his wife. Her sister answerod the door , , and witness told her that he wanted to see his wife. He banged on the - door and his w:fe got out of a rear window and came round to mxet him * He asked her what she meant by be- • ing out at thg hotel and she replied that she had been looking for him. "I said 'Yes, that's what you always say when I catch you in ho- . tels — that you are looking for me','" .. . said Mau. He denied that he struck her this evening but sa:d he gavc her a "good dressing down." "A species of certain lecture," suggested Mr. Carter. Continuing, Mau said that he received an anonymous letter which he .. 'showed to his wife, but he loved her so much that she succeeded in convincing him that certain allegations contained in it were not correct. ■ ' People also made certain insinuations to him about his wife's behaviour. Manner Changed In an endeavour to regain his wife's affection, Mau said that hi visited her frequently and she gave him a very friendly reception, kissing him goodbye and so on. Then her manner suddenly changed toward him and she would not even stay in the room alone with him. . "It's a lie," suddenly interjected . Mrs Mau bursting into tears when in •reply to a question, from Mr. Carter, • Mau claimed that they had lived as man and wife about this time. In some detail, Mau then described ■ an incident on the n'ght he returned from Hastings. His wife agreed to his suggestion that he should come back the next afternoon and said that she would send her sister out on an errand so that they could be alone However, we arrived late and the sister had returned from the errand. "Half Mad" "I was half mad, I have been half mad, since she left me," said Mau protesting that he wanted h s wife " back. He admitted lifting complainant through a window, but denied that he dragged her through. He also denied that he had struck her on this evening, and said that he had oi.ly given her "a dress'ng down" for going into hotels with a cc-rtain woman "Anyone knows I can't drink. Four .. or five drinks knock me," said defendant when asked about his drinking capacity. He said he had nev Jr drunk whiskey or brandy, although he had tasted cockta'ls and gin. Beer was hi:drink. "I was only drunk on my birthdays and when I married her," he protest- .. ed amid appreciation from the court "But I was not drunk on my own— my wife got drunk with m The Magistrate: Did you say that . . you were drunk when you were married ? Defendant: Not when I was married, sir. Afterwards. Mr. Carter: Your wife says she 's scarad of you? Do you believe i't? — No, I do not. She has never been scared of me in our own horne. Thort is no doubt that she wants me ! or my money and my house and car. She has told people that she is going to have them. Dragged Through Miftl Mr. Potter: Now look, you say you love your wife and that you want her back? — Yes. Did I not tell you that? And yet you will come into court and drag your wife through the mud? — I did not drag her through the mud. You heard the evidence tendered yesterday? — that is not my fault. I handed the case oyer to my lawyer. — I know nothing about Ihe law. ' Mr. Potter: And you supplied the evidence. Mr. Carter. Apparently the wife is allowed to say anything and the husband nothing. The Magistrate' That is usuaily the way, Mr. Carter. Questioned regarding his objection to a certa'n woman with whom his wife had been seen, Mau denied that after forbidding his wife to be seen in the company of this woman he had gone out with her himself. A1I Lying Mau admitted that he had done "everything he could think of to stop his wifa taking the proceedings. He had even threatened her and said he would have a certain woman arrested. Mr. Potter: Mrs Mau and her little sister who could not be shakm ir-cross-examination, are lying are they — they are. And all the rest of the witncssee who came here yesterday? — Yes they are all lying. It is on you to prove that, oi course? — I can prove that, don't yov worry. "A lot of lies," was defendant's -]?- • • scription of the ev'dence given foi .plaintiff. "I ,am here to tell the truth and nothing but the truth," he said. Mau admitted that he had offe"ec to transfer his car to his wife if shc Would come back to him, but also admitted that actually the car was no1 » his — "That was a mix up." He char acter'sed as "all lies" the allegatlor that he habitually returned homa ii the early hours of the morning. Mr. Potter: Now you say that whei you asked your wife to iron you i shirt or make your breakfast, she usec bad language to you ? — Yes. - How often have you ironed a shir' for yourself? — About four times. ! And how often did you make youi own breakfast? — Every morning anc not only that, I got up and made the baby's bottle. "Faith and Hope" Now you say that your wife left you one night when you were out at an hotel. Now you qu:.te openly ad-

mit you were there with two women ? — Yes, I was there with them. And there was liquor in the car? — No there was no liquor in the car. The Magistrate: Then why did you take these girls? — They don't drink. 4 wanted a drink myself. What were their names? — I don't know that was only the second time I had met them. Mr. Potter: Tell us the names they are known by about town? — I don't know anyth'ng about that. Aran't they called Faith and Hope? — I don't know. Mr. Carter: What about charity? Mr. Potter: Yet in spite of this, what was sauce for the goose was apparently not sauce for the gandor, and you took your wife home and gave her a dressing down? — Yes, Pll admit that. It's no good telling a lie about that. The Magistrate: How often in the past year have you picked girls up and taken them out to a hotel? — About four t'mes. Did you tell your wife? — Yes, afterwards. Don't you think you would have been better to take your wife out instead of other women? — Yes I would, but she would not come with me. Questioned regarding the incident when he allegedly dragged his wife through the window, Mau said that he merely l'fted her out. His wife ieaned halfway out of_th i> window. Mr. Potter: So that the wife whc was too frightened to open the door, would lean half out of the window to you ? — How do you know she was scared ? Asked why he remonstrated with his wife in the Majestic ballroom in--stead of doing so quietly at home, Mau said he lost h's head. The Magistrate: Was that before you had some drinks or afterwards ? — Afterwards. How many drinks did you have ihat night? — 14 or 15. And yet you said four or five drinks knocked you out. A Better Example Mr. Potter. Don't you think you might have set your wife a betier example by not going into hotels so much yourself. The Mag'strate: Did you ask ihe hotelkeepers not to supply your wife ? — No. In reply to further questions, Mau said that since Christmas he had stayed at home almost every night. Mr. Potter: Of course you quite openly admit that you have been out with other women since you married? — Yes, with about seven women. But on more than seven occasions? — No, about seven t'mes. In reply to further questions, Mau said that about a week elapsed 'oetween the night his wife's nose was broken and the night his wife discovered him at the hotel with two women. Mr. Potter: Don't you think you are a little inconsistent. You say, when your wife's nose was broken, you apologised, got the doctor, and couldn't do enough for her, and yet within a week, you are at a hotel with two other women? — I don't know what you mean. The Magistrate: What Mr. Potter means is this. It is a peculiar way to make it up with your wife to go to a hotel with other women. Decision Reserved The defendant admitted, when questioned, that his sisters were not very fond of his wife. He agreed that his wife was r'ght in asking for a home of her own. In reply to Mr. Carter in re-e£amin-ation, Mau said that on fous of the occasions ' when he admitted he had been out with women, his wife had been present. He had only been out with women on three occasions when his w fe was not present. Mr. Carter closed his case by calling evidence from a number of wellknown Rotorua business men wtu testified that so far as their knowledge of his habits extended, they did not consider Mau an habitual drunkard or a heavy drnker. After hearing counsel's subm'ssion:: on points of law, his Worship intimatid that he would take time to consider the evdence and would announce his decision this morning.