ACQUITTED OF MURDER

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20728, 11 February 1939, Page 25 (Supplement)

ACQUITTED OF MURDER

PENALISED FOR KILLING WIDOW SUES FOR DAMAGES (South African News Letter) CAPETOWN, Dec. 28 A man who was tried for the murder in Capetown of a pawnbroker and acquitted, was then sued by the widow of the dead man for damages for the toss of her husband. The widow won her case and damages of £IOOO were awarded in her favour. This was the first time in South Africa that an acquittal on a murder charge has been followed by damages in a civil suit. The Criminal Prnrpriurr Art specifically covers such a contingency as this. The civil case was heard by two .judges without a jury, and they were in no way bound by the verdict, of the jury in the criminal prosecution. Moreover. there i> not the same decree of proof required in a civ:! action. A criminal charge must, he proved beyond any reasonable rLmr.i: for an accused person 16 eutiLied to be re-

warded as innocent until he is proved guilty. In a civil rasp, however, it is sufficient for one party to prove his case by a mere pp|iponderance of probability. The probabilities of both sides arc then wpjghed up. and that party wins whose case is ihe more convincing. An interesting circumstance in this case was that the defendant was allov ed to contest the suit in forma pauperis. Despifp this, fhp plaintiff went- on with the case, explaining that she was interested, n■ • t much m the rer°vcr> of damages, as in clearing up the mastery of her husband s death.