"IN CONFIDENCE."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 72, 25 March 1936, Page 8

"IN CONFIDENCE."

STATEMENTS TO DETECTIVE.

APPLICANT'S CASE CONCLUDED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. After tho luncheon adjournment today, the .evidence of Dr. E. B. Gunsoii was considered. During the trial Dr. Gunsoii stated that after milk was administered to Mrs. Mareo she might have gone off into a sleep, as distinguished from a coma. She evidently was sleepy then. If she had gone off into a-sleep it would have been just a natural quiet sleep. She could have been easily roused. Her, condition of heavy breathing and noisy breathing were symptoms of a deep coma. The Chief Justice: How do you reconcile this with the fact that she fell into a natural sleep while she was being given milk ? Mr. O'Leary replied that there was nothing to show at what stage she passed from a sleep to a coma. No attempts were made to rouse her after she had fallen asleep. The doctor's evidence was an attempt to get over what had been said by non-medical witnesses, that she had been going to sleep while the milk was being given to her. In considering the evidence of Detective Meiklejohn, Mr. O'Leary said it was quite evident that certain things that Mareo said were between himself and' the detective in confidence, but which tho detective had repeated later on. After that Mareo had been driven to justifying those statements and they had been then used, to show he had endeavoured to blacken his wife's character. The letters shown by Mareo to the detective were put in as evidence in' the lower Court by the detective. Submissions Summarised. Mr. O'Leary said that during the course of the hearing he had endeavoured to make various points that would support tho application, and he could summarise these as follows: —(1) A]l matters prior to the crucial day, April 13 (Saturday), which were u<ted to point to Marco's guilt came within the third principle submitted by him in opening—that they were equally consistent with his innocence as with his guilt (2) all matters subsequent to Mrs. Marco's deatli were brought within the principle that if a prisoner does acts or makes statements that point to guilt the Crown must show that these point to the crime charged and to that alone; (3) as to happenings on April 13 the Crown's case had broken down at its main point—that is the administration of veronal in milk by Mareo 011 the Saturday evening.

There was, in his submission, no evidence on which the jury, as reasonable incn, could properly find that veronal had been administered in a lethal dose by Mareo on that occasion. Other reasonable hypotheses as to his wife's death, suicide and misadventure, could not be and were not excluded.

This concluded the case for the applicant,.

In openinpr for the Crown, Mr. A. H. Johnstone, K.C., conccded that the propositions of law stated by Mr. O'Lcary were substantially correct. However, ho desired to emphasise that in. cases depending on circumstantial evidence the evidence must be considered cumulatively. It was not sufficient to point out that there were weak strands in the rope of evidence provided the rope was sound as a whole. It was pointed out that no evidence had been called on behalf of Mareo, so that the effect of this application was really the same as if there had been no case to go to the jury, but it was not so treated.

Counsel said he had 6pent some hours in a critical examination of the evidence and lie contended that there was no suggestion of mis-direction by the trial judge. He submitted that a new trial should be granted only if the verdict was such that the jury could not reasonably find as it did. To f>ut it in other words, there should be a new trial only if there had been a miscarriage of justice. %He held there was ample evidence from which the jury could properly infer Mareo's guilt rather than accept the submissions made on his behalf.

At this stage the hearing was adjourned.