TUESDAY, APRIL 6.

Clutha Leader, Volume VI, Issue 339, 9 April 1880, Page 6

TUESDAY, APRIL 6.

At the opening of the court Butler, charged with murder and other crimes was placed in the dock. Butler applied for the adjournment of his case for a month, upon grounds stated in an affidavit " that the present state and excitement of the public mind will act to my prejudice and, tend to prevent my obtaining a fair trial ; that the time at my disposal, for defence is not sufficient ; that my photograph has been sold, and ia being sold, in Dunedin and the country, and the feelings of the public, from which my jury will be drawn, and thereby further excited against me. " Prisoner spoke at dome length in support of his application. Mr Haggitt opposed, and ultimately the trial was fixed for Thursday next week. William Greenwood, nightman, sur- ', rendered to his bail to answer an indictment charging him with having, on March 11th, in the borough of St. Kilda, caused a, common nuisance by depositing nightsoil near to certain public stroets and highways. : Defendant pleaded Not guilty, and was defended by Mr E: Cook. The Crown Solicitor, in opening the case, said that the indictment which had just been read, disclosed a class of offence against society which had not often fallen to the lot of jurors to try in this Colony. So far as his experience here went, and it extended over some 15 years, there had never been a case of the kind tried in this Court, and he hoped the result of this case would be such that no other offences of this nature would be committed. The short explanation of the indictment was this ; — Defendant' had been guilty, on the 11th March, of emptying a cartload of nightsoil on the Ocean Beach within a radius of two chains of public streets of the borough of St. Kilda, to the great inconvenience and annoyance of persons residing, in the borough, and also of persons passing along public streets in the neighbourhood of the > Beach. What the Jury had to try was. the simple fact whether prisoner did, on the date mentioned in the indictment, empty a'cart of nightsoil on the Beach to • the annoyance of persons passing along < the road. 'That was all; ; The pollution of the air was sufficient to support the indictment ; it was not necessary to prove that the pollution was unwholesome and injurious to life. After evidence, the jury returned a ver- • diet of Guilty. His Honor regarded the case as having been brought to try the right, and not for 1 the purpose of punishing, the defendant. He was therefore discharged on entering into his recognisance in the sum of LIOO to come- up for judgment when called. < upon. . ;'.;•. i" John Connell was charged with having '■ on the 27th of June stolen the sum of • L2l; and a pocketbook, from the person ■ of Alexander Smith, at Qamatn. : , This was a robbery ,in a house of ill > fame in Oamaru. " . , . THe defence set up was that the money had been given, to a woman named Mary Sullivan to take-care of , and that she gave ' it- to' : the prisoner for safe keeping, and evidence to this effect was given by Mary Sullivan.' -'' The jury returned a verdict of Not ! Guilty ,^and the, prisoner was discharged. - With reference ta , the charge of ' eroi.---r bezzlement against Arnold Mitton, <: liis,;. Honor : said it ~ was exceedingly doubtful 'whether h\ had jurisdiction 1 to try the case, since he was a member. of the s Corporation ', ' although he , had not, Ja •<■ peX'^onal interest "in' 'i\ie * n\ai;ter 'sucli 'aais a shareholder WQuld __, Have ' 'iii a public comij pany.^,^ „""*.". '". '"'l/ .* i .? :il '/ ... '.■"'/ ; '■ '. i *^JteHaggltt/^said^i'at'he/Tindeißt6bd-his ■ Honor proposed' to 'ielegraph to r Mr v Jus-'' I tice Johnston to take the case. ■ i H HiB Honor said he would adopt that ■ course, and in the meantime adjourned > the case until Monday, the X2th inst.

I John Madden was charged with stealing a watoh.andchainjjand L 3 10a in money, the goods and chattels of Sarah Gorman, at Oamaru^on.the 6th of March. : , ; Th c case as disclosed -by the depositions , , was that the prisoner'had: been living for some time with the complainant; ; a woman of ill'fame, and on the day in question took from her the articles alleged to have been stolen, refused to give them up, and the police found some of them in nib possession. » . ; For the defence it was contended that the proseoutrix had given the prisoner the watch, and,then from motives of jealousy had charged him with stealing it. .Two, witnesses were called who deposed that they had seen the prosecutrix give the prisoner the watch. Several other witnesses were examined for the defence, and counsel having addressed the Jury, His Honor summed. , . . The Jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty. . r ; The Court then rose.