Hunter Not Guilty Of Manslaughter

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30057, 15 February 1963, Page 10

Hunter Not Guilty Of Manslaughter

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, Feb. 14. A Wellington Supreme Court jury today found Roland Janis Splite, aged 36, foreman carpenter, not guilty of the manslaughter of his friend Victor Brown during a hunting trip last October. The jury reached its verdict after a retirement of about 15 minutes.

The charge against Splite was that he unlawfully killed Brown in bush country near Cape Palliser on October 20.

Mr Justice Hutchinson was on the bench and Mr W. R. Birks appeared for the Crown.

Splite had been anything but careless in the bush and had fallen into a trap that the most experienced hunter could have fallen for, his counsel, Mr E. B. Robertson, said.

Splite said in evidence yesterday that when he fired his rifle he was sure he was firing at a pig. The case was a long way removed from that of a trig-ger-happy .man who would

shoot at any sound or movement in the bush. Mr Robertson said he agreed on the need for a standard of care in the busn and nobody could deny that, but Splite was the careful and cautious type of hunter that one would like to meet in the bush.

Before going into the bush he had checked with other hunters as to where each was going and he had arranged to meet his companion, Brown, at a rendezvous by a river.

Splite had been looking at what he thought was a clear patch of bush, but the fern was higher than he thought, said Mr Robertson. The whole crux of the matter was that the fem was sft high and not 2ft. as Splite thought, and that was a trap that the most experienced •hunter could have fallen into.

After having disturbed a pig in the bush he listened for a noise. Brown had stooped down so that his head was not visible, but his back was showing. It might be felt that Brown was to some extent the author of his own misfortune as he had deviated from a pre-arranged plan, Mr Robertson said.