Guilty Of Manslaughter

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31075, 2 June 1966, Page 3

Guilty Of Manslaughter

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, June 1.

A jury in the Supreme Court at Auckland today found Eric Brown, aged 24, an electrician, guilty of manslaughter and failed to agree on a recommendation for clemency

The jury found Brown not guilty of the murder of his aunt by marriage, Mrs Nui Louise Tavita, last Christmas Eve.

Mr Justice Perry remanded Brown for sentence.

The jury, 10 men and two women, took two hours to reach their verdict.

Brown, who had pleaded not guilty, was represented by Mr K. Ryan. Mr G. D. Speight and Mr K. A. Palmer appeared for the Crown. In his final address, Mr Speight said the jury should consider whether Brown had received sufficient provocation to deprive a normal person of his seTf-control, whether his action was as a result of a sudden shock or something he had known for some time, and whether he retaliated with the first weapon on hand or went away and procured one. “You must consider whether he lost his self-control or whether in going to the

cupboard and taking down the rifle and a box of shells he committed a deliberate and controlled act.” Mr Ryan, in his address, said Brown was provoked beyond endurance by his wife. He had already forgiven her once for adultery with his brother and on Christmas Eve he discovered that she had deceived him again. He was packing his belongings in the bedroom, making ready to leave her, when she walked in and taunted him, saying that she loved his brother, not him. “At that point his self-con-trol snapped—he had been goaded beyond endurance—he grabbed the rifle and the rest followed in a matter of minutes.”