An Alleged Serious Outrage.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3464, 20 March 1890, Page 2

An Alleged Serious Outrage.

pv • . I, i Circus man before the Courtfj Tbe heaping of the charge of rape agiinsb Philip Wirth occupied the Court tho whole of Tuesday afternoon, and was not then finished. At the conclusion" of the evidence of the aud-Mra - Mallowea ■ were examined, , and thcnji of' • • r the persous'wli* tfiet the gitKconiing • !' ofletice was alleged to have been . committed, went into the box. This witness said he also saw a man emerge from the same place, but the person he saw was not tho accused, because . he wore sideboards and had a dark _ moustache. He was also inueh 6touler than the accused. Witness belie Ted the man he saw was a circus atton* . r danfc. The witness also denied that > thc giil was carried down Mercer-- j street 1 by the man who subsequently assaulted jier. Thoy passed witness, who was! standing at; the corner of : Mercor and "Victoria streets, quite .. like an -primary couple. Tho girl ; . seemed unwilling to turn tho street 'towards the spot indicated aB theV place of the assault, but she eventually went, and., was not dragged. Eduiondo Wade,. a shoemaker, " deposed that he and a Miss Vincent met the previous witness in VictoriaBtreet on Sunday evening, anil whilo ; conversing the girl Mallowes camo from behind a brick building not far , from where they were, , ijhdloldj £ v ftlibnir'vjliat had been going! oti| andP.^ thoy afterwards saw a man come out i of tho darkness, .Ho,- was t drcssed i similarly to the r could not, swear to his identity.'

Einma . Yiiiceiit r recognised the accused hs the peraou' wlio* followed the girl from tliV sceno of tlio alleged outrage, . Williavii Parkea deposed that he : 'assisted his brother in the manage- ; ment of the Oriental Hotel. At halfpast nine : on Sunday night he and the accused wer§ standing outside, the hotel when .the mforlti'anti pn'sleil. rktf..). Bho passed she said Gcod evening, ; . Mr Wirtfi." About a minute or. less : sho returned, and ahu'and Wirth engaged in conversation, She said to : Wirth " Why didn't you come out the : other night Wirth said " Did i.pjjiij{i|tfi comS, out with youfjj don't you recollect—down by the iron feni;e,;down near the circus. Wirth aaid,' '"I believe I have seen you somewhere befo^„/|snV,jt, )< ume, r . you were honie'tibw]" y She iald,'''"I 1 /" |i! am not [joint; homo yet. lam going- ■' up this way j aren't you coming up." She' arid' Wirth then w.tlked away together, and.,\yent,oip the street, , Tliey' walked on the right-hand side.' 1 The conversation between Wirth and the girl been heard..j y s by, withe'ssV as tliere' was no* one'elae' '• ■' near enough, Wirth was only absent about 10 or 12 minutes, '

'By Mr Skerrett: When Wirth came back he remarked that she had a devil of a cheek.

Detectivo Kirfiyf h\ying.[-giveji.!|. ; ovidenco, the CourCitt six d'cfoo*k J '*" adjourned until Wednesday morning, Wiiei'tho Court resumed, Mr Skerrett addressed- his-' Worship ! on ! ' >'■ behalf of the accused, The learned gentleman submitted that'a prima /uciVcase had not been made out b/ the and ■, that> the ,case^, ., ought to be disniissed'ori t»vo'grounda'V J —that her evidence (1) was unworthy of credit-;'and (2) was contradicted in evMymatefial'poiiit'ott' which it waal'-*, possible to contradict.ber, He said .'/ that jier story, athnding-albHej waa'/ incredible, It was impossible for any-reasonable person-Jo believe the,, , ; girl's, story that slie was seized in'"' '" Willisrstreet, a crowded thoroughfare, carried down Mercer-street,, dragged' ..{•■" 200- yards alohgs%toria|treet)a'rl3li * then thrown down and'assaulted, Tlfe-girl[did not Bcream or make any oft'ort to attract attention; and it was incredible that an extremely violent, : offence<could havo teen 'committed:in such a locality without tbo complainant invoking. } and- obtaining assistance,; '■' Then i dior evidencoVwatf! i i', contradicted by the witness Partes, '"' who heard her invite Wirth to go for a.walk; by the witness Wickham,. who denied that she was carried down Mercor-streot,-, or-, dragged. along'Yicr,, f toria Btreot; and by' the witness Wadd"' ; ' aswellas Wickham, both of whom said that she expressed her wish that they shbuld not,Btbpi\\|irth f 1 charge. Her corfduct subsequent to the''' commission of the alleged outrage was consistent only wjth ; haying,consentedf s , to whatever took place. The defendant's conduct in passing tlio girl while she stood talking with the otber-witnesses iußte'ad'of leaving the spot by another road, aa ho might havo done; was not ' the conduct of a man who had just committed what was described by tho coh)p!aiht?nt,as;a very violentaijsault. „ As the ■ complaintant's story Was incredible in itself, and was contradicted by all the other witnesses for the' prosecution in every matter, which i / came _ within their knowledge, lie'' submitted that it.wpuld be.improper to send the caso for trial," '" '■■''■''■■< His\Worship ia giving his decision) saidlbat_ thelduly of thSifiourt 'iL ■&(:'' case of this kind was not to try accused, but to : ascertain if the evidence was sufficient to send the case to a jury, The'evidence adduced for tie prosecution was twofold. Krst there was the ovidence'of the girl, which wasnot cor. roborated, and there was also the testimony of the.otber'witnelses\ who| | hadbeen called to-state what- i: theyli, knew of the circumstances that came £ within their ken. Those persons coniradicled, tbo maia witness for. tho prosecutiohLjr! sWral respects',f afill^[t looking at that fact, it became a consideration for the Court as to whether hor evidence upon the only point that would be unsupported would be sufficient to go to ajury, Tho evidence which she gave was that Bhe was' taken by force from vVillis-street,«w<£s' Carried & down Mercer-stteet* v ah'd' t: " dragged '*** alone; Victoria-street; that blio .shouted a refusal, and that the assault was accomplished against,her will; but •" yet she admittedtliat in som ! o respects :!; her conduct might seem as if she was willjng.i She also said that at the time the assault was committed '. standing, .opposite, ... Wickhain-was posifivelthaVsue madel: '£ no outcry, and that there was no talk - beyond a whisper between the two, - otherwise he must have heard it. The .-' whold point was whether there was consent br not, and the question for tlib:.Court to consider was whether ■■-: . there was reasonable evidence to go : toa jury to support the negative of i : consent.; He did not think there was,'! arid he should feel justified in taking the oonrse of dismissing the .Case because of the incredibility of : her evidence, which was uncorrobor- ;; ' ated 1 and contradicted on several ; .material points. He held that her -.. , ,whble conduct went to show' that: | there must have been consent,,and:: ; that : no: violence pr; extreme force I ooujd have beeu used to make her j:'-" : Wblit.)?-Tbe'.; tjielii i|.r