SUPREME COURT.

Southland Times, Issue 698, 19 July 1867, Page 5

SUPREME COURT.

; CRIMINAL JUEISDrOTION.' A session of the Supreme Court washeld on 15th inst., in the Provincial Hall - Kelvin-street commencing at 10 a.m. His Honor Justice Chapman presided. In his charge to the Grand Jury, His. Honor alluded to the absence of crime 1 of serious character as speaking well for the community. True bills were returned by the Grand Jury in the three cases set down for hearing. ... Mr Macdonald officated as Crown Prosecutor. •| " " BeGina v. Brown. ~, , In this case the prisoner : was charged with having fraudulently obtained money by means of a valueless" cheque. From the evidence of J. H. Perkins, draper, it appeared that on the 3rd April last, the prisoner : (who had; on a previous day,

i itfgappaM'fo^c'ash^c^me 'into-' his -.sh'ojM ! about dusk tb buy a hat. Prisoner wished ji j to get oire biL.criEfdit-b'ut; on" bein"g^i?6fusedj| ■tbiewc/dowri ;& Jchequeafara '£25;-'- saying I j It -but of; that.L' i<The r witness' ;bh -looking;; at; thea cheque <; gaijtL'i^ig itffjMOr .Oowatt'o,-' isT'lirPibiiand -wasr> answfetfd,j <' ,I;hatis theaiaime." v - Witness to j jcash the^icheqrae^ut.g^e^Sidn'iaccount Exchanging :ir€ceipfe i vwth^-iihetliTisoiier who^said he: would return^ tjie^iiext^norn^ j ing-" for:a quantity 'bf -goods he "reqtlif ed. ! -He did not return j 'aitd the-* cheque being '.presented iiatiithes Bank qf-New: Zealand, payment was frefused on 'the ground of there being no funds there to the " cred it ofiany . person signing his name like the signature on the cheque — which bore a resemblance only to th& name of Brown or Cawan. When arrested & number of blank' cheques and one 1 pur- 1 porting to be signed -^ Buchanan were found on the -prisoner, ■ who ■ denied all knowledge of ; how he came by them. Prisoner, who was undefended made a statement to the effect that he had come to town with £16 or .£l7 in his possession, and that he had got on the spree — that he made no false representation to induce the prosecutor to take the cheque and that it was not likely- he would if actuated by fraudulent motives have given the receipt spoken of. . - ' , His Honor in summing-up pointed out that it wasxtot necessary that false representation should be made in words to complete the offence. He cited the example, of one who, in Cambridge, put on the hat and gown of a student and going to a place where gownsmen resorted and (it was to be regretted) were in the habit of obtaining, goods on credit, did by this disguise obtain -things he could not otherwise have obtained, and was punished therefor. It .had moreover been established over and over again that the' mere putting, down of' a cheque in payment implied that-it was good— that if not, it was what might be; called a false pretence by way : of demeanour. . : • : The Jury, after a brief deliberation j returned a verdict of Guilty. His Honor in passing sentence,- remarked that prisoner had been found guilty of a very attempt 4o obtain money under false - pretences— an' attempt x>nly equalled -in- its iinpude'nce hycits clumsiness.- It was^' fortunate for ; society that such a degree of folly usually attended the commission' -'of crime, that twenty -four hours seldom '^lap.sed until the perpetrators were in the haii'ds-of the. police.; i He should sentence, the prisoner to imprisonment vmth hard . labor for I twelve-calendar months. : - . - - ; -■ ■ ' ' v ' ; - : ■■"'" EiEGINA- V. WILSSEB. " : ''.'.'[" ' i \., This: case was one of. alleged robbery from the, person, of one William Harrison .at Winton r in ; ; January last^ Plea;not •guilty. The sum,, lost by Harrison was given as. -7s. ■ . Frorn^. his evidence it appeared that he, fell in with the. prisoner when .on the road to , Invercargill^ .that after drinking with him he (Harrison), fell asleep by the : roadside ; that on : awaking he missed his money, which he stated positively; was safe in his pocket when he laid down. He described sever, ral of the £1 notes he. lost as shaving been endorsed by himself when receivedMessrs Bain, JFreeman,. Gralbraith and. Colyer,.hotelkeepers, proved that prisoner. paid: to them, notesj endorsed as described. . [Incidentally,.. Messrs Colyer and Bain; mentioned that prisoner reminded them that they haxi assisted him when "hard up " some time previous, and that he out of the notes repaid .the amounts.] The defence set up by the prisoner — • . who cross-examined the .chief witness, with great tact — was that he found the money, and being in necessitous circumstances he converted it -to his own use.. [We -have not space on the present occasion for his detailed version of the affair.] His Honor, in summing up, characterised the defence as ingenious, but said that it was an admission of larceny, which was committed when the finder of a thing did not use due diligence to discover the owner. Failing to find the owner, however, the finder's claim was good against all but the true owner. Such a line of defence was common enough ; — it was competent for the jury to determine whether they would pronounce the act of the prisoner one of larceny or robbery. The jury returned their verdict, " Guilty," of robbery. His Honor passed sentence of 18 months' imprisonment with hard labor, remarking, that the prisoner's manner of defence led to the suspicion that he was not unacquainted with courts of justice. Prisoner— i( Not as a criminal, your Honor. I have held a very different position." ; . EeginA v. Bbown. _ : Laurence Brown, charged with bezzling the sum of _£4< Us 6d, the property of his employer, John Eoss, a settler at Eosslyn, plead not guilty. The evidence in this case was long and tedious. The defence set up by the prisoner was that wages were due to hini-^-although not to the amount charged in the indictment. ;. ■"..' '.' ..■■";' , ." ..." ■" '}~' :i ■ '"..' . His Honor, in summing up, explained that a servant authorised to receive vpmesz W aoifig^t. te ; se^ q?

: even supp6sing_tliat lie^^lJelieYed iii "en*pr I that he had'-suchW-rigi^'Ke! Should have I [opiepiy-asserted-it -aai^opn s^'g Qss£bleiafter ! irecei^ing t}ie to,QiQey s : , : Itiwo^id bgjAh.t)^& ■e^ev^fqr tlfe jary-.tOiCo^sidpcifhetqiiestijin wThej; ret^rnod g.-j'ReiidiGtosf gi3.iltjv:-v.Sen^iiee, 12 ( ,rnQntbji!; iuiprisoieLineint^TrHisaSp^dr \vaxhing dfebo prisoiwr -thatjif a br.G-ugh;t befpf <3 hipi/iforj^xtthird. .offeiioe. (he^nag beeft convicted nearly threjßj £ y(6a?s -agp far- horse stealings£ths .punishment would-be more; severe^ . : -;;i§