CRIED PITEOUSLY.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 April 1922, Page 12

CRIED PITEOUSLY.

SENSITIVE JURORS DELAYED VERDICT. ROSS’S REPULSIVE LOOK. Melbourne, March 23. The Ross trial has probably created more interest than any other criminal case in the history of Australia. To hundreds of thousands of peop’e in every State the story of the jurors’ indefatigable work —what part of the evidence for the Crown and for the defence influenced them most, and why they came to the conclusion that Colin Campbell Ross was guilty of the murder of. little Alma Tirtschke—will be of interest. One of the twelve “good men and true” who went through the trying ordeal of hearing the evidence and deciding on the prisoner’s fate, has given his impressions of the long trial. He is also the first to announce what transpired during the jury’s secret deliberations. At the first voting of the jury for the verdict ten men recorded votes of guilty and two not guilty. This vote was taken on Saturday morning shortly before 10. About an hour later, and considerably before the jury returned to court to announce their verdict, a second ballot was taken, when it was found that the twelve jurors had unanimously voted guilty. In consequence of two of their number breaking down and crying piteously, it. was some time, however, before they were able to return to court to announce their verdict. It was the first criminal case this juror had been on, and as he told his story his hand frequently passed over his eyes, showing he was still suffering from strain. After describing his -feelings as he entered the crowded court when he was sworn in, and his first night under lock and key with his fellow-jurors, he was asked when he himself had come to the definite conclusion about the case.

ATTITUDE OF ROSS. “It came to me suddenly while Ross was giving his evidence that he was lying,” he said. “Added to this certain strong points that had been made by the Crown came to my mind, and from that moment I believed him to be a guilty man. I watched him carefully. He walked into the witness-box smiling. The smile, did not look forced. It seemed to mb it came of his unbounded self-assurance. He dropped his green hat at the side of his yellow boots, and rested one knee on the witness stool, and while he gave evidence he twirled a piece of red tape round his fingers with the utmost nonchalance. “The Crown Prosecutor asked him, ‘Can you remember? Is it not a fact that the evidence points to the little girl having been strangled by a man’s hand?’ ’•Ross instinctively and unconsciously looked at his right hand. “He had been taken by surprise, but he replied, ‘Yes, I remember.’ While he was giving his evidence from time to time he would glance at the jurors, and every time 1 caught his eyes he would drop his gaze. He could not bear my direct look for more than a fraction of a second. It was my opinion when the prisoner left the box that, he was disappointed to think that he and his vanity could not 'rule the roost, and that his efforts to bluff had resulted in such a dismal failure. I had no faith in him after that.”

A SECRET BALLOT. “I flunk I am right in saying that at the close of the fourth day there were altogether nine of us who believed i Ross to be guilty of murder. The foreman was one of the first to give his views fearlessly. We had not seriously discussed the evidence until after l-the court adjourned on Thursday, and Iwe then began to compare notes in prei paration for counsel’s addresses the next day. As we voiced our opinions about this point of the evidence, it seemed to me as if some of the jurymen were afraid to say openly what they thought of Ross’s evidence in case the jury should eventually fail to agree, and the hand of public scorn might point them out for ev#r after. The foreman later announced that he had thought all along that the best manner by which to ascertain the verdict of each juror should be by secret ballot, and after that pronouncement everyone seemed more relieved. “It was the foreman's suggestion that we should inspect, the locality of the Eastern Arcade at 4 a.m. The first thing we did at the foreman’s, suggestion was to check the evidence of the man Upton. It will be remembered that this witness said he stood on the threshold of the door of the cafe nearest Bourke Street, and from there, without having entered the cafe itself, he could see the end of the bar in the room nearest Little Collins Street. By investigation we disproved this statement. We found he could not have seen the end of the bar, only by going at least three feet into the room. After this we wouldn’t have any of Upton’s evidence in our minds.” The juror said that after experimenting with the lights of the arcade and the cafe, the opening and closing of doors—the whole visit occupying more than two hours—the juror; went back to their beds convinced that the rase for the Crown was a complete one. The whole of that day was given over to the addresses of counsel and judge, and at 5.20 on Friday night they were directed to consider their verdict. “The foreman opened the door of our room where the exhibits had been sent,” the juror said. "As we entered the smell of a must; wine eife assailed us. We then saw that the blankets which Mrs. Ross had denied Irad ever been in the cafe were in ‘he room. We. could distinctly recognise Liu* aroma of wine from the blanket-- even aft?.’ the lapse of weeks.

LOOK OF FIENDISH CRUELTY., "All of us to a man relied on the evidence of Mrs. Murdoch when she iden- . tified the serge produufd in court as j portion of the dress of the murdered ' victim. We next examined the hairs •found on the blankets, and almost all decided they were different in color to 1 the hair of the two witnesses for the ' defence who said they had combed their I hair in the cafe on the Wednesday bei fore the crime. Taking the ease for the Crown we analysed the evidence of the woman Ivy Matthews. About ton ■ of us at once declared we believed her. The other two were in doubt, and we left them to further consideration, • but the majority regarded her evidence as the most important for the prosecution. • Harding’s statement was then gone inj to, of including the foreman

and myself, believed it. Four others wavered, and the two who could not bring themselves to believe the evidence of Ivy Matthews also supported the contention of the defence regarding Harding. “After discussing other Crown evidence, we then sifted Ross’s statement. I think I can say that none of us believed the prisoner in what he had sworn. We could' not reconcile his statement about his cafe being unlit when he was there with Mrs. Wain, with her own testimony that the lights were on —but, above all, we could not understand how any man could have given so minute a description to the police of a girl whom he had seen passing by on the previous day unless he knew more about, her than merely being a. witness to her presence in the arcade.

“We also remembered the look of fiendish cruelty which Ross displayed in the witness-box when he was asked to show his gold teeth to the jury. His expression was so repulsive that I had to turn my eyes away from him. None of us believed that Ross ever went home that night.

JURORS BREAKDOWN. ■ “We came to the conclusion that some very tell-tale stains other than blood, must have been left on th® clothes. We had heard that Ross had been suffering from a certain disease, and we concluded that he was afraid that, if these stains were analysed, they would disclose traces of the complaint from which he was suffering, and therefore he destroyed the damning marks. At this point in our deliberations, we learnt that all of us were agreed that Ross had violated the girl, but two of the jurors definitely expressed their doubt whether the girl’s subsequent death could be regarded as murder. “The next morning we took a ballot and found two jurors in favor of ‘Not guilty.’ After informing the judge that‘we had ndt agreed, we retired again, and the foreman took us to task, pointing out that the question of manslaughter did not come, into it. “If I were to kill the daughter of one of you men after outraging her, and you" shot me, do you think a jury would find you guilty of .murder?” asked the foreman.

“He was informed that in the opinion of his audience it would not be murder. ‘Then do you think .1 would be a murderer for having killed the girl asked the foreman. This manner of bringing Ross’s crime home to the minds of the dissenting jurors apparently had the right effect, for we took another ballot, and it was found that a unanimous verdict of guilty had been returned, but the jurors were not able to go into court yet. “Two of them had broken clown, and were sobbing like stricken men. One of them, an elderly man, had taken it to heart very poignantly when Mrs. Ross had given her evidence. We had also felt heartily sorry for the woman; but her presence in court had affected that juror most. “The other juror gave way to tears, in all probability on account of the long tension coming to an end. When they became more composed, wp filed into court for the last time, and sent Ross to his doom. I confess that when I reached home in the afternoon I also j broke down; but was able to get a little rest. I never want to serve on another jury charged with haying to decide on a man’s fate, again.”