COURT OF APPEAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 244, 8 July 1908, Page 2

COURT OF APPEAL.

ALLEGED FORGERY AND UTTERING. ' "GUILTY" OR "NOT GUILTY" ? JUDGMENT RESERVED. • The sittings of the Court of Appeal were rosunied yesterday. Mr. Justice Williams, presided, and there were also ili attendance Justices Denniston, Edwards, Cooper, and' Chapman. Argument was heard relative to the case' of Rex v. Wallace Herbert Stewart,. which was reserved for tho opinion of the Couit, by Mr: Justice Chapman.. . i • Mr. Myers appeared on behalf of tho Crown, and Mr. Tcogood for the prisoner. Mr. Justice Chapman, in stating the point lit issue, said that prisoner was tried before mm. on May 21, 1908, at ."Wellington, on■ a charge of having on' September 10, 1907,. forged an acknowledgment purporting to bo by one Horace V. S. Griffiths, of the. receipt or tho sum of £5 ss. from himself, and used the same as if it were .genuine. Tho jury returned a ' verdict in'tho'following l terms :~"We find accused guilty of forgery and using a receipt, but do not consider that, it was done with .any' criminal intent.'- His Honour said that he considered .it • useless, having rsgard to what had already transpired, to.send the matter .hack for a more explicit finding, as ho had in charging them explained the definition. of the offences of . forgery and uttering in tho terms of the Code.. ;He* postponed ,-seiitenc-e, and admitted the prisoner, to bail until-he could obtain "the opinion of Ipl* as the effect of tho verdict. The question of law, which he desired', tho Court to answer, was whether the verdict was to'be read as. a verdict .of-."guilty," or as a •verdict of "not guilty." Mr.,-Toogood submitted that tho.-'verdict. was equivalent s one. o,f- acquittal. . Mens rea (a guilty mind) was a necessary ingredient of tho crime of forgery. Unless it could be snowit that there, was mens red, -no penal consequences could ensue. When tho jury found.that prisoner = committed the act .without any> criminal intent, tlicy - meant that' ho did not .use the document in a-.-criiainal mauncr to benefit himself: - The money in questio'n was. owing to, Griffiths by. one Morris, and .prisoner -honestly believed that the .only way to secure'it from Morris' was by following the course which lie adopted!, . Mr. Justice Edwards: He also swore "tliat ho himself had already'paid the money to Griffiths. , Counsel: That was to enablo ; liim to recover the amount from Morris.

Air. Justice Edwards-' Did lie.not commit perjury when he made that statement? - ■ Counsel: That is another "phase of the question. I submit that-wo are not entitled to > go into all the -facts of the case. vMr. Justice Cooper: -The-.jury may have meant that prisoner did not intend to der' fraud anyone. '.Counsel: They believed that prisoner did not commit tho act with the object of-bene-fiting himself.• pecuniarily. . ■ Mr. Justice . Cooler: The strongest" point that can bo urged in favour of tho prisoner is that the jury believed: that he had Grif-: fiths's authority to sign his name,'and, in their verdict, used tho wordv"forgery" " incautiously. . : r

•Counsel: Prisoner swore that Griffiths had given him. authority to take whatever steps he might deem necessary;in order to recover tho money from Morris. : .

/Mr. Justice Edwards:'. Surely Griffiths did not authorise prisoner to swear a lie,' if necessary? '

. Mr.. Myers contended that the verdict'was a verdict of guilty. If, in the opinion of'tho Court,. it was otherwise' or ambiguous,-'then tho most that_ counsel for prisoner could 'ask was a l ,now trial.' The verdict was, he submitted; a'general/verdict' on both 1 counts, and then the- jury"had found'Hhat there : was an absence of an intent, tho presence' of which ■was not, required by the Statute. He would, if necessary;, address argument in support of his submission that ift'the verdict were found, to bo ambiguous, a ' now trial should be : granted. .-■ • , .The.Court intimated that it agreed that iii .the event of tho verdidt being found to bo ambiguous, the verdict should not be oho of acquittal, but a new trial .should :,be ordered.. Jt would, however, take timo to consider its judgment. The Court then adjourned until 10.30 this morning.