SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SESSIONS. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 70, 4 October 1884, Page 6

SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SESSIONS. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4.

(Bolero Jiis Honor Jiul»o Uillies.) Tjiic quarterly sessions of the Supreme Court for gaol delivery were opened at 11 o'clock this morning.

The Grand Jury. The following gentlemen were sworn in as the Grand Jury : — Graves Aickin, Joseph Banks, Wm. Berry, John Waterhouse Buller, John Martin Butt, Joseph Craig, Oliver Mason Croag'h, John Ecl&on, Wm. Ei'iingion, John Gordon, Robert Edward Isaacs, .John Law ford, Chas, Cookman McMillan, Thos. Moiriti, Henry Brookes Morion, Arthur Jfyain Nathan, Malcolm Niccol, George William Owen, Philip Aaron Philips, and Alfred Porter. Thomas 801 l was excused from attendance, and William Cohen did not appear. Mr Aickin was chosen foreman.

The Judge's Charge. His Honor, in dclivoiing his charge to the Grand Jury, said that tho calendar upon the present occasion was an exceptionally heavy one, both in tho number of the offences charged and in the gravity of these offences At the same time it was quite probable that the jury would not have so much trouble with the calendar as he thought, seeing that one of the most serious charges might not require to be dealt with, while most of the others were comparatively simple. There were 30 persons committed, and they were charged with 23 different offences. Of these 30 persons, 13 were Maoris, who had been committed on 4 different charges. Only seven of the 23 offences charged were alleged to hcivo been committed in the outlying districts, the remainder having taken place in the city of Auckland and its neighbourhood, thus, striking a contrast with a recent sitting of the Court, at which the majority ot the offences came from the outlying districts. Thero were five offences against tho person, and the balance were offences against property in one shape or another. Of these five offences against the person, two consisted of the crime of murder, one of stabbing, one of assault and robbery (although he believed it would be placed before the jury in the form of larceny from the person), and one of indecent assault upon a girl. The prisoner in this last case had only been recently committed. The remaining charges, which were odences against property, included some ten thefts of various sorts, from burglary and tjheep-stealing down to simple larceny. There were also 4 cases of forgery, 3 cases of false pretences, and 1 of malicious injury to property. One of the charges of murder was a case against a Maori man for the killing of a Maori woman, but tho prisoner was so manifestly a lunatic that he had been committed to the Asylum upon the order of the Colonial Secretary. He would probably not come before the Court, therefore ; if he recovered his sanity, of course he would be indicted. The other very serious case was one of infanticide. His. Honor went on to point out that a wilful or deliberate intent to take life was of the essence of the crime. If the death of the child resulted merely from neglect or carelessness, or from any similar cause through the agency of the mother, the crime might only be manslaughter. In tliis case, however, the prisoner would be indicted for murder. The jury should disabuse their minds of anything they had hoard or seen of the case in the newspapers, and come to a decision upon the evidence alone. The case ot stabbing arose out of a public-house squabble, and probably provocation would be pleaded. No provocation, however — not even a blow — could excuse the use of such a weapon as a knife, except when used in defence of life, which could not be suggested as the cause in this case. Tho case of the seven Maoris who were to be indicted for larceny from the person was a peculiar one. They knocked down and took from a fellow Maori certain money received by him as the price of land to which they claimed a share of the ownership. If their act was a mere assertion of right, it would not be larceny. The evidence would require- careful attention. The case of indecent assault, of whioh the depositions had only come in this morning, was one committed upon a school-girl. She appeared to have been seized by a man as she was coming from school, thrown down, and ill-used. As, however, she had not been medically examined, and the witnesses were in the country, some slight delay wouldgjensue. In the sheep-stealing case, two of tho four Maoris charged were alleged to have killed the sheep, but as the other and elder two were charged with instigating and commanding the offence, they were rightly coupled with the others as accessories before the act. The forgery cases were of the very simplest kind, while in the charges of obtaining money by false pretences the pretence used would have to be that of an existing fact, and not of something in the future. His Honor concluded by pointing out that malicious injury to property consisted of any wanton or reckless injury without lawful excuse. The Grand Jury then retired. True Bill. — The Grand Jury found a true bill against Thomas Homan, for larceny.

Larceny. — Thomas Homan, 60, fishhawker, was arraigned upon an indictment charging him with stealing, on the 22nd July last, a gold watch and chain, the property of Henry Richmond, and to which pi-isoner pleaded not guilty. — Mr Hudson Williamson, Crown Solicitor, opened the case for the prosecution. — Prisoner was undefended. — Kate Richmond, wife of Henry Richmond, of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, deposed to being engaged in the bar of the hotel on the 22nd July. She was wearing the watch and chain at the time. Sho knew the piisoner, who was in the habit of supplying fish to the family. Missed the watch about 11 o'clock that night. Made a search for the watch and chain, but could not find them. Did not remember seeing prisonor that night. He called early in the morning with fish. — Bernardt Levy, pawnbroker, deposed that the prisoner offered the watch and chain at his office on the Saturday evening (produced). He told prisoner that the watch was stolen property ; detained it, and subsequently handed it to the detective. To His Honor: Prisoner made no statement. — Detective Walker arrested prisoner on the charge. He said he found it outside the Cosmopolitan Hotel early on Thursday morning. — Prisoner addressed the jury, and said he found the watch and chain on the path, and seeing no advertisement in the papers for several days, he took it to Hart and Levy to borrow some money on it, but failed, has had been shown in cA r idence. Had he known that the watch belonged to Harry Richmond he would have taken it back. He might say that he had suffered 11 weeks' imprisonment. — His Honor summarised the evidence with his usual care, and the jury found prisoner not guilty. — His Honor discharged him.

True Bills. —John Brown, inflicting bodily harm ; Robert Recce, larceny ; Aubrey Fitzgerald, breaking and entering j Charles Palmer, forging ana uttering,

Unlawfully Wounding.— John Brown was arraigned upon an indictment charging him with unlawfully wounding Joseph Welling, a fish-hawker, on the 26th June last.— Prisoner pleaded not guilty.— Mr Williamson opened the casje, and enumerated the few facts.— Joseph Welling deposed that he w.is a fish-hawker, and on the night of the 2GMi June he went into the hotel, where a number of persons were drinking together. Prisoner was present, and talking loudly. He called Brown a loafer, when Brown struck him with a stick. Ho got the stick away, and snapped it. On turning round he was stabbed in the breast by Brown. He went into the street and informed Constable Carroll that Brown had stabbed him. Saw the knife in Brown's hand. He was sent to the Hospital. To prisoner : Did not knock you down immediately I entered the hotel.— Dr. Bond, House Surgeon at tho Auckland Hospital, deposed to the arrival of the prosecutor on the night in question, and to tho nature of the wound ; lie was very weak from loss of blood ; it was a dangerous wound. — James Lefevre, barman, and Constable Carroll gave evidence. After His Honor had summed up, the jury iound tho prisoner guilty. — Sentence : Six months' imprisonment.