JURY FAILS TO AGREE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 37, 14 February 1939, Page 3

JURY FAILS TO AGREE

CHARGES OF ASSAULT

ALLEGED USE OF KNIFE

1 FIGHT DURING DANCE AT RANGATAUA

Incidents which allegedly occurred during a dance at Rangataua on October 29 were described to a jury in the Supreme Court at Wanganui

yesterday, when John Ensoll Briggs, labourer, aged 20, was charged with assault. After a retirement lasting . from 3.17 p.m. until 7.40 p.m., includI ing an hour for dinner, the jury failed I to agree on a verdict and a new trial ! was ordered. The indictment was one of three counts, the first charging the accused with wounding David N. T. Garvan with intent to do grievous bodily harm, the second with assaulting Garvan and causing bodily harm, and the third with causing Garvan actual bodily harm in such circumstances that it death had been caused, the accused would have been guilty of manslaughter.

His Honor, Mr. Justice Reed, presided. Mr. N. R. Bain, Crown Prosecutor at Wanganui, appeared for the Crown, and Mr. J. Hussey, also of Wanganui, for the accused. The jury comprised Messrs. Walter Gwynn, Arthur Smith, Charles Humphrey, Douglas Bridges, Clarence £. Clark, Percy Ramsay, Charles Harrison, David J. Bell, Percival G. Hamilton, Leonard A. Goldsack, William Gilroy, Robert Garner.

David Noel Thompson Garvan labourer, ot Rangataua, said that or Saturday, October 29, he and accuser were at a dance at Rangataua. Witness knew the accused fairly well “Briggs came to me and said that J hadn’t the guts to hit him,” witness said, alleging that accused had usee bad language and had invited witness outside. Accused had had some 'iquor and, according to the evidence given by witness, continued to pestei him. calling him a yellow • Wit

ness eventually went out and others went with him. “I saw Briggs hands coming up from his sides and I nil him before he hit me,” said witness, describing what happened after leaving the hall. "We got over into a section between King's House and the store and 1 took oft my overcoat, gave it to Fred Hall to hold and when L went to hit Briggs I got a cut on a linger, one round the neck and a cut in the arm.” We were fighting when I got the cuts and my arm went useless. Witness said that as a result of his wounds he was away from work for a fortnight. Mr. Bain: Had you previously had any quarrel with Briggs? —No. Can you suggest any reason why he should have attacked you that night? | —No, I can’t. To Mr. Hussey witness said that ' the light started on tne footpath outj side the vacant section. . Mr. Hussey. When you hit him - jwe know you hit him first—you knocked him against a motor-car?— Yes. Then some wrestling went on A - Yes. Then you broke your holds?—Yts. You took your coat off and gave it to Hall and went into the section? Yes. ! You saw no knife?—No. ! This motor-car, was it the car of . the sly-grogger? —Yes. I And it is usually there on dance nights?—Not always. ; Mr. Hussey; But fairly often, and I I take it that there were plenty of bottles about? —Yes. Buttles Slung Away Il is usual for a man, when he drinks his beer, just to sling Hie bottle away.’—Yes. Isn’t it a fact that the accused said, "I haven’t got a knife?—l never heard it. Mr. Bain: You have told us about these bootleggers. How many of them i were there?—Two or three of them. I At that dance that night?—Yes. Were you a customer of any o', them? —No. Dr. W. J. Feltham, Raetihi, ..-aiu that Garvan had a small incisea wound on the right arm, some small ■ cuts on tne forennger ot the left hand and a long scratch on the neck. The wound on the arm could be probed to a depth of an inch, and had been made by a sharp, cutting instrument Frederick William Jeffrey, shepherd, describing happenings near the vacant section, said that accused had | asked Garvan “how many he had . brought with him.” Garvan I -ntty, witness added. Garvan then struck a blow at accused’s face and knocked him down on the footpath. They wrestled and Garvan took off his coat and went into the section. Garvan said to accused, ’You are using a knife,” and Briggs said "I am not.” Garvan said “You are; you have cut my linger and scratched my neck.” Garvan was quite sober, witness said, and Briggs looked to have had some liquor, judging by his walk. Mr. Hussey; You saw no knife in Briggs’ possession?—Nothing whatsoever. Din you know of any bootleggcis being there that evening?—No. His Honor: Do you know what bootlegger means? —Selling beer, isn't it? Frederick David Hall, questioned as to whether accused had had any I liquor, said that he might have had some, but it was too dark to see | whether he was drunk. j “We heard Garvan say that he I (accused) had a knife, and Garvan I came running out on io the lootpath again,” witness said, describing what I happened on the vacant section. i Mr. Bain: What did Briggs say to , that? —He said he hadn’t got a knife. I “There was no mention of a bottle, i as far as I can remember,” witness I said. Mr. Hussey: I think you know there were broken bottles on that section? —Yes, I do. He Was “Pretty Drunk” Stanley A. Pullman said that accused was “pretty drunk.” Describing the fight witness said that Dick Garvan came out of the section and said that Briggs was using a knife.

Mr. Bain: Did Briggs make any , reply to that?—Not that I remem- • ber.

To Mr. Hussey, witness said he remembered saying in the lower Court that Briggs said he did not have a

knife. There were many broken bottles on the vacant section, where a fire had destroyed a building. Fighting Amongst Broken Bottles. His Honour: Then these men were fighting amongst a lot of broken bottles, were they? —Yes. Thomas Norris, grocer’s assistant, said that accused had had drink, because he had seen him drinking, but he could not say what his condition was. His Honour: What was he drinking?—Beer. Witness said he went back to the hall after the fight in the vacant section. Accused had gone back also. Mr. Bain: Did Briggs say anything to you about what had happened between himself and Garvan?—He told me that if ever I said anything about what had happened he wou/d knock me over where I stood. Mr. Hussey: Do you know if there are any broken bottles in that section?—Yes. I heard some being kicked about during Ihis scuffle. Detective-Sergeant J. K. Robertson swore to a statement allegedly made by the accused. In this accused admitted having whisky and beer and recollected having some sort of argument with Garvan. Accused denied having a knife. “In reply to a question now, as to how I can account for Garvan. being slabbed, I suppose 1 done it. but I don’t know what with,” the statement read .... “I would not have stabbed Dick Garvan if I had been sober.” The detective said that accused had handed him a knife in a sheath, but said that he did not have that knife at the dance. Witness had compared the holes in the blood-stained shirt and coat sleeves and these holes could have been made with such an instrument as that. There was no blood found on the knife, which had been submitted for examination to determine that point. Witness had examined the section and found broken bottles with ragged edges. Mr. Hussey: Briggs was at the police station four hours? —About that. And his statement was got in the form of questions?—Yes, within the limits of the enquiry. Mr. Hussey: When you asked the question how could he account for Garvan being stabbed, you assumed that he had been stabbed and not injured in another way?—Yes.

Detective-Sergeant Robertson Id that at any part of the time the accused was filing and anxious that a statement should be made and taken. Mr. Bain: When this statement was taken and completed, prior to signing it did he read it?—Yes. I read it to him and he agreed to it. Mr. Bain: Did he make any alterations?—Yes, quite a number of alterations. There was never any question of pressure at any time. He was anxious to make a statement. Mr. Hussey did not call evidence, but addressed the jury. He said that there was no question about, there being a fight. There was a lot of broken glass about and (hat was often sharper than vny knife. “We put up one alternative,” he said. “This was a vacant section in which a building had been burnt down, where there was a lot of rubbish and broken bottles. That was a nice place to start a fight and it seems that the only thing that saved Briggs was that he had an overcoat on.” Hand of the Police. Counsel referred to the statement taken from the accused. “In this you find the hand of the policeman,” said Mr. Hussey. “If a policeman says Garvan was stabbed he puts that into the mind of the accused and accused replies—T suppose I done it, but I. don’t know what with.’ “I don’t know what you think of the police,” Mr. Hussey continued. “Some people think they are all mighty. If you assume a thing you can build up a case as easy as anything, and that, gentleman, is what I submit the police have done in this case.” Summing up, His Honour said that the jury had to be sure that accused intentionally struck Garvan. It did not matter what the instrument was. “The whole thing is very unfortunate,” His Honour said. “The man was apparently what one could call fighting drunk an.i went ‘here to pick a quarrel .... If what occurred was not intentional then the accused is entitled to be acquitted. Wfi.n regard io the statement to the police it is in accord with the whole of the evidence, except that question put to him as to how he could account for Garvan being stabbed. You are entitled to accept that as an admission, or as the reply of a man who was drank at t'-e time and did not know what, happened.” The jury retired at 3.17 p.m. and returned at 5.5 p.m. to ask whether there was any evidence of a scuffle and of anybody falling down. “There is no such evidence,” His Honour replied, “and we may lake it as far as the case stands at present, with no such evidence, that no such scuffle did take place." New Trial Applied For. When the jury returned at 7.40 p.m. with an intimation that it could not agree upon a verdict an application for a new trial made by Mr. Bain was granted. It will take place this | morning.