Supreme Court.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7936, 27 September 1905, Page 2

Supreme Court.

, The Court sal at 10.15 ft.m. on luesday, His Honour the Chief JuSthe (Sir I toijiT!. Sunn) presiding. THIS 11AWKHA. CASK. The hearing itus resumed of the eharge against lteuben White, „„ elderly nmn, ol' having had carnal relations with a gii-1 J5 years of ag\\ v at Te lioti, near. Jlawvrn, on j July 20 last. Additional e\idenee lor the 'defence was tendered by CampbelF, jun., . Agnes While, Janet Campbell (wife of J. Campbell, jun.), and Airs WMt« (Wife of the accused 1 ). ilr Welsh made a leng'thy and fore, ilvlc address to'tile jury.' Jlc pointed out that the mother of Hm girl, in her evidence, swore positively that) the date of the ofionce was July2G, a* she lvad made a diary entry ai the time her daughter'' made th« complaint to her. The evidence for the defence proved conclusively that the accused was never away from his house after Ji.-lo that afternoon, while the girl ami her mothcr.iS'tated the |time of the offence at between •I.JU nr.'.l <> o clock. Counsel criticis-

Ed the tatter's attitude on tile matter. Jt would |ln! natural for ( a mother to examine her ■daughter, anil consult the police straight away, yet she did not take any action whatever until Aug. JB. In sneaking to accused a fortnight after the olTencc was alleged to have taken place, the mother said to him ''You will have to pay for what you have done." Although she denied this, counsel continued that -this.attitude was the whole' crux of the affair. Accused's demeanour in repudiating the accusation had been that of an innocent man. Though it waH the duty of the law to protect women and children, it was also -ita function to protect men from false charges of this nature. Mr Kerr, in the course -of his reply, touched upon the significance of the evidence adduced for the prosecution. In regard to dates, he pointed out. that providing the offence was committed within one month from the date of laying the information, the jury; could return a conviction. The girl herself was not positive of tlve dale, 'although her .mother had

made a diary entry. llis Honour, in summing' up, said th\it (ho question of date was an important one in these cases. If the jury \vero| satisfied that on offence took tylace within one month of laying ; the information' (the date of which wa.s Aug. 22). even though it (Jill not occur on July 2<i, it. was their 'duty, to record a conviction. After referring! to the facts that, would fix thv (kite. His Honour dwelt on the question whether an offence had b«en committed by anyone about that time. Thv; medical testimony was to the efl'ect that the g-irl had been interfered with, -but the doctor wa.s unable to any lvovv long a period had elapsed between the occasion of intercourse and the date on which he had examined, the girl. If the jury concluded that some person had had carnal knowledge of the girl the next question was to 'decide who that person was. The only evidence directl.i bearing on tlvis was that tendered by the g'irl herself. It was, as a' rule, impossible to 'gvt any direct corroberative evidence in these cases, anil the iftw allowed 'a jury to convict on the evidence of one w tness alone, whvn they were satisfied with its straightforwardness. As to the alibi set up regarding July 26, it was l( i' the jury >to ask themselves whether the girl might Hot have been mistaken about the time to the extent of an hour or half nil hour and the oHence still have 'been coinfit ted. The whole of the question ot an alibi revolved on the question of time from half an hour to an hour in duration. On 'tlvis point it must be remembered that the g-ii-J was not even able to lix the date or day of the month. A suggestion had 'been made that the woman sought a private conversation with tile accused and hinted at a money settlement. IVefore the jury could come to that, conclusion, thee would have to say that the girl had told her mother the truth about some < I her person, and that they had plotted together to fix_ the 'accusation on White. U was for the jury u neigh the whole of the evidence on each side. Thv 'questions they had to answer were whether the girl'fi slory was true, and if so, ij-ns the oUcncp committed after July 22. If these questions were answered' in the affirmative n verdict of "fiuilty' must follow. If. on the other hand, the jury jouml that an offence lvad been committed, but, before. July 22, it was their duty to acquit the accused.

At 12.15, the jury retired,, returning into Court at 2.H0, when Hie foreman announced that 'they had not arrived at any agreement and were not likely to. His Honour asked if there was nny point on which lie could enlighten the jury, but was informed that there was not. The question of the jury not having had luncheon was inentioiml. The lleg'istrar (Mr Hanks) explained that Hie jury 'hail expressed a desire not to have luncheon in the small jury room. His Honour mentioned that lie had no power to allow the jury out of Court, oral coukl not 'dismiss them unt'il they hn<J been sitting' | for la period of four hours. The jury again retired, nbd refreshments were sent in. At <1.20 the jury, returned into Court and asked to hear portion of the evi'-i deuce read over, ami to be riMlirected in regard to the relevance of dales.

JVHY FAIJj TO AGHKE. The jury again appenretl at 5.30, when tin- foivman stated that th\?re was not the slightest hope of arriving at k\ unanimous verdict. His Honour sard he regretted, as he had frequently ivmarlud bvfore, that our law was not same as in Scot land, France, and itiermany, which did not require a unanimous verdict. As I-hi' jury had been already_ nearly five hours in consultation without coimng* to an agreef menl, it wouW 'be useless -to detain Uhmu further. lie thanked the jury for their services, and discharged them from further at tendance. Mr Kerr asked for ,a nrw trial. His Hoivodr conceded Mr Welsh'h application to adjourn tbe ro-lioaring till JO a.m. on, Thursday. Accused's bail was renewed.

CIVIL CASES. A srrm.EMKNT. Ale Quillium mentioned that the ( ease of \V. W, Miirton v. J. S. Wiley, a elaim lor specific performance and damages, had been settled. Mr Hoy, who appealed for the defendant, concurring, file case was struck out. STAMP 1H TY APPEAL. In regard to the appeal under the Deceased Persons' Estates lluties Act in the estate ol \Y rn McLennan, late of Stratford, storekeeper, against tlhj . wssessnieivt of llie Commissioner of Stamps, n settlement was announced. Mr O. Samuel, as counsel for the appellants, stated that it had been a feed between Mr Kerr, as counsel f. r the respondents, and himself,llral ji ilyineiil should lie entered fur the appellants, reducing tin- assessment I'.v the difference tie! ween the nssesstd value of the fnchold and goodwill (JUtltlilti) ami llie full consideration paid lor same on sale by tile executors (■LCiOOO). and thai Hie excess of duty be repaid to live appellants, togvther will* '£2s costs to the apixdlnnts. His Honour made an older accordingly . CLAIM FOR DAMAGES. Mere lliknulu and other native property licldcrH sued ,1. (!. Russell; and G. Pott for JLfill ilamagv-S 1 fori depreeial ion of ,their land in con.sef|iieiicu of .acts of the defendants. Mr V\. L. Kitzherbri'l ap|ieared for the r-l 'ii'iilTs, and .Messrs Quilliam ami l!ni ilien for Hie defendants. 'lbe facts ns stated for the plaintiffs were thai the property under ' notice is siluatecl at WaitVi'a. 'Jim Kuai'4 (-Ucre orijjinmij.

granted <i lea-so of Board l reserve to the promoters of a fellniongory, which' defendants subsequently acquired, ami the lease, owing to a defective plan, included some native property. In connection with the fellmongery business a dam was* constructed, ami this had the effect of backing water from a stream on to the plaintiffs' land. A protest was raised, resulting) in Ufa; removal of the dam, but ai second dam was thru constructed, 'with a cutting on another part of the Harbour Honed reserve. This also caused a nuisance and damages to the plaintiffs' land. Plaintiffs claimed that their land was swamped, (he growth of noxious weeds proniok-d aad rubbis-h flooded from the fellmongery on to the native property. Evidence was given by T. Elliot, W. S. Xewliury, and Maori 'witnesses. [ Mr Ifutclien, who appeared for the defendant ltussell, raised the point that Ihe plaintiffs named had not an individual interest in the property claimed to be damaged, lfe claimed that live action should be stayed until : tiro | others | named'lin t'h«i 'title were joined as plaintiffs. His Honour reserved the, point. J. G, Russell deposed ■that he had no beneficial interest in the lease. He had transferred his interest to Pott over twelve monlhs ago. Jiuring the latter's absence in Kngiand witness had carried on ilie management as trustee. Ai this period he had been approached on behalf of the natives to remove the old 'dam.which was there when the property was acquired, and made an arrangement to leavo the matter over until Pott's return. The new 'dam was constructed in November'last, during •witness' absence.

To Mr Fitzherbcrt: The transfer had not been registered. ' George Pott 'gave evidence .that the second dam only overflowed on one or two occasions. It was damaged by flood waters about March last, ami since that time care had been taken to prevent any trespass. To Mr FRzherbert : Witness admitted that he 'had expressed tni -opinion that the natives deserved protection. He had been willing to have an action broug'ht to have Ihe whole mat r tor settled 'definitely by the AVaitara Harbour Board. Mr Hutchen contended that, Russell could not 'lie joined as a defendant. His Honour reserved judgment until Thursday incming. , IX CHAMBERS. On tile motion of Mr C. 11. Weston an order was granted under the Administration Act in the estate of Annie Hooker, deceased, empowering'the ad n sinistra tor, Wesley ifookcr, to sell the landed property of the deceased.

I'robato was granted of the will of the late J.J. Freeth (New I'lymouth) to Mary Ellen Freeth, the executrix named. Mr Quilliam moved the application. In the estate of John W'ilkie, deceased, late of Orcytown, probate was granted to William Copeland (Lower Hutt) and Frederick William Wilkie, (Ivaponga) executors . named. .Mr Ileslop appeared in the matter. Mr U. I). Welsh secured probate in the estate of Maria Louisa Dawson Welsh as executor. Mr J. H. Roy that letters of administration in tlveestate of James Gilbert Christie, late of W'aitara, intestate, be granted, securities being dispensed with.