SUPREME COURT TRIALS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8581, 7 September 1893, Page 5

SUPREME COURT TRIALS.

1 (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAMS.) i . AUCKLAND, September 6. The Supreme Court was occupied during • the whole of Tuesday in hearing the some- . what peculiar bankruptcy case of John . Lawson, Official Assignee in Bankruptcy of the property of John Edward Banks, of , Thames, a discharged bankrupt, v Mary L Ami Banks, his mother, aud Rev. Edward Giffen Banks, brother of the bankrupt, who resides in England. The Official Assignee i claimed that £400 remitted by the L defendant through the Union Bank of . Australia in Auckland about the time of J. E. Banks' bankruptcy should be vested in him for the benefit of •bankrupt's creditors. , Mr Hugh Campbell's argument for the defence was of great length, lasting till night. Mr McAllister i addressed the Court this morning for the I plaintiff's case, and Mr Campbell replied. : His Honour said he had attended very carei fully to the arguments of counsel in the s cases cited, and had looked at such of them i as were most in poiut.. He thought it un- ■ necessary to go into the long arguments of ) Mr Campbell, who raised a number of points. It was sufficient to say judgment i would be for defendant, with costs on the middle scale. • WELLINGTON, September 6. l In the Supreme Court to-day the second trial of Caroliue McGovern, a married ; woman, charged with performing an illegal > operation on a girl named Isabella Guinan, '■ was begun. The-girl Guinan was the first ' witness called, but refused to give evidence, notwithstanding the nolle prosequi which was entered in the charge against her last i week. The reason was that it was still open i for the Crown to charge her as an accomplice. ' The Chief Justice said there was noprecedent '■ by which he could compel her to give evidence, *\nd as Guinan objected to her ' doctor giving evidence his Honor said this '■ cut out all corroborative evidence, and it > was no use proceeding with the case. The Crown thereupon offered no evidence, and the woman was discharged. DUNEDIN, September 6. The libel case brought by Dr. Truby King against Sidney Maxwell, ex-attendant ' at the Seacliff Asylum, was concluded ■ to-day. Mr Eraser reviewed the evidence for the defence and Mr Solomon that for the prosecution. Mr Justice Williams summed ' up at considerable length ; the jury retired at 4.30 and at nine returned with a verdict '■ of "Guilty "of criminal libel, but recommending the accused to the leniency of the Court as they believed he was only the tool of I others. Mr Solomon said that as the prose- ■ cutor had achieved his object of clearing his ' character, and as the defendant would have [ to pay costs on plea of justification, the " prosecution would be completely satisfied 1 by the infliction of a moderate fine. Mr ■ Justice Williams said, under all the cir* > cumstances and in view of the accused's position in life, he would infliot a fine of ' £25. After the announcement that Maxwell > would be fined £25, Mr Fraaer, counsel for the defence, said it would be subscribed by the public. Mr Justice Williams said if he knew that before he would have made the penalty heavier. ' HOKITTKA, September 6. The libel action Stewards of the \ Greymouth Jockey Club against the publisher of the Christehnrch Press - -took all day. The Judge's anmming | up was favourable to the defendant, and . the jury brought in a verdict for each ' Steward, the total damages awarded amounting to £25, which carries costs. Have You Tried Them ?—The Almond '. Finger Biscuits manufactured by Aulsebkook and Co. are deiicioualy flavoured ' and most suitable for afternoon tea,— Advt.l 1 the Magic Mirror Soap.—The latest 1 improvement for house cleaning. Try it. i Whole- 'c agents, Blackburnk and Co. I Cashc At ••". [advt.]