ONUS ON CROWN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 283, 29 November 1941, Page 10

ONUS ON CROWN

PROOF IN BIGAMY CASE CHARGE DISMISSED Interesting submissions made fcy Mr. J. J. Sullivan in the Police Court on behalf of a man charged with bigamy were upheld by Mr. J. Morling, S.M., who, is dismissing the charge, considered a jury would not convict. The accused was Cyril Southvvood, a bootmaker, who appeared on summons. It was alleged in evidence that Southwood having, on October ft. 1920, married Evelyn Edith Beard at the Registrar's Office, Portsmouth, England, on November 28, 1935, and' being then married, he went through a form of marriage with Gladys Rose Clark at the office of the Registrar of Marriages in Auckland, thereby committing bigamy. Mr. Sullivan submitted that the onus was on the Crown to prove that accused knew, either directly or indirectly, during the seven years prior to 1935, that his wife was alive in England. "We cannot draw inferences that he knew," added counsel. "The case must be proved by evidence given in the witness box. Being a criminal charge it should and must be strictly proved."

Detective-Sergeant Nalder: But the accused gave his name incorrectly to the Registrar of Marriages. He described himself as a bachelor— he must have had something in his mind. Other subsequent actions on his part show a guilty mind.

"But the incidents you mention, Mr. Nalder, occurred subject to the second marriage," said the magistrate.

Mr. Sullivan said a statement purporting to have been made and signed in England by accused's wit'e was no identification at all. The signature may be that of someone else. There was no proof that t'ae woman was still alive, and that accused knew definitely that she was. "He has admitted that he had written to England making inquiries about his wife," continued Mr. Sullivan, "but it has been held in the Court of Criminal Appeal in England than an inquiry by a husband is not knowledge that she is alive. Thai ruling was followed in New Zealand in a case in 1934. I submit that the charge must be dismissed." The magistrate said he had come to the conclusion it was unlikely a jury would convict, and he dismissed the charge against Southwood.