ERRORS OF IDENTITY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 235, 26 May 1932, Page 5

ERRORS OF IDENTITY

' (Press. Assn.-

CASE FOR DEFENCE accused give evidence in aljckland riot trial POLICE STATEMENTS DENIED

— By Telegraph — Copyright).

• AUCKLAND, Wednesday. The case for the defence in the Supreme Court trial of. f ouiffeen men accused of rioting on April 14, opened this morning after fifty. witnesses had been heard for the Crown. The case for eleven of the accused was opened by counsel, who said the prime. pbject of the demonstration on April 14, was to draw attention to the" destitutipri amongst the unemployed and to discuss remedies^ The misguided persons who burst into the .Town Hall were the people responsible for starting the disturbance, and not the men and women who took part in the procession, amongst whom were accused. "Not one of these men participated in the rioting or looting, and evidence will be called to prove it," said counsel. "There were some very | grave errors of identity on the part of the pPlice, due to the difficulty of identifying any particular person." The first witness for the defence was Frederick E. Lark, president of the Auckland P-rovincial Unemployed | Association. He described how the ; procession was marshalled up to the Town Hall, and said the first attack he saw made was immediately after James Edwards had been struck by a police baton. The crowd was a surging. mass, and any man in it had no. chance of getting outWitness, cross-examined. by the Crown Prosecutor, admitted that he had -spoken from the same platform as three of the accused. .. "Humanitarianism" "And the principle of Communism had been enunciated from that platform?"— "If you mean humanitarianism I would say, yes." Witness said he got his position by a democratic election, and it would be very diffieult for one man to obtain single control of the association. He denied having advocated viplence. The Crown Prosecutor: When you were coming. up Queen Street did you notice that a window had been broken? — -Y4SWhat steps did you tak'e? — I took the steps any reasonable man would take. I kept the procession moving. The unemployed were not in any way connected with the window-smashing. Accused said he was not a member of the Communist Party. George Devereaux denied having struck or thrown missiles at any of the police. His Honour: A witness says he saw you near where a constable was lying on the ground and that you shouted: "Kick his d guts in." Accused: I deny it absolutelyDid Not Warn Police Oswald Bourbeau, another of the accused, who took the oath by affirmation, said he was a waterside worker, and denied the statement of the prosecution that he had warned a constable that the demonstrators would be armed. Constable Wilson told him that the police were going to get right into it, and witness told him it would be better to use wisdom and not talk like that. Counsel for the defence: What nationality are you? — I am of French people. Not Russian? — No, and I do not believe in rushing tactics either. • (Laughter) . Some amusement was caused when witness described how he tried to get across the road and was stopped by "a big fat policeman." Not a Communist Replying to the Crown Prosecutor, Bourbeau stated he was formerly a member of the Communist Party, but severed his connection with it in Deeember last. Since then, he said, he had been a member of only two organisations, the Waterside Work-