TRIAL OF WILSON.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 981, 23 November 1910, Page 6

TRIAL OF WILSON.

THE RUGBY CASE. I WHAT PART DID THE BROTHER PLAY?

ANIMATED. PASSAGES,

TTatclied by a considerable crowd in ithe : public, galleries, tho trial of Arthur an "All Black" footballer, and a member of thb Athletic Club's'senior fifteen—occupied the Supreme Court yesterday..; The Chief • Jnstico .(Sir Robert Stout) presided. Wilson was charged with' tho assault by which tho jaw of a Poneko player named Duilio Calcinai was ibroken during tlie progress of a match at (Athletic Park on August 6. ' .

, A /feature of the case, which was followed with 1 a great deal of interest, ..was the development of a certain line of defence. which had been .foreshadowed iri the Lower Court. This, as .will be seen from ~the report, led to some "exchanges" between his Honour' and Mr. Wilford. Otherwise the evidence was largely a repetition of statements whicli are already familiar.-. - Mr. T. Neave prosecuted for .the.Crown. '

; The right of rejection was freely exorcised by tho Crown while a jiiry was •being empanelled. Fifteen of tho good men and true called upon were askod by Mr. Neave to stand down. Mr. Wilford challenged three. The available panel .was. exhausted .when only- ten jurors.had, entered (he box, and two of those rejected in the first instance by the Crown were ultimately included in the 1 jury. -It was •composed ..as .follows:—Milberd Anderson (foreman), Ernest Stanley Garrett, Edwin Xewis, Philip Watt, Geo!' Henry-White, -Ales. Lee, Nathaniel. Marihire, "■ "Arthur Geo. Barnett; John Carswell,. Clias. Downey/ John 'Tees, and Geo. Wm. dough.

Presenting the Crown: case, Mr. Neave said, the issue of fact vas a simple one. .During the match Calcinai had. had his jaw broken by a blow, allegedly struck yjr Arthur Wilson. It > was stated that, prior 'to ' this occurrence, an. Athletic player, named 1 . Wilson, a brother of tho received an accidentia blow from Calcinai. Tho prisoner,' righity or wrongly, wasof opinion that Calcinqi had struck 'that 'blow; intentionally, and evidence would be led showing that he said: -"'Show me the cow that done, it;; and I'll Smash him."

- Duilio Calcinai said lie remembered ,W. r Wilson being winded in * the AthleticPtmeke match oh Augnst G. He remembered one of the Wilsons afterwards attempting to strike him, but'!of tlw threO who were playing in tlie match lib could not say Which it was. Soon afterwards, walking up the* field, -he received- .tho How, which formed the subject-of "the charge.. ~lt had been delivered partly from fieliind, and, turning, he saw Arthur iWilson. t

.The Brother Introduced and Ruled Out. ; Mr. Wilford: You are quite positive th'at-jt.was tHe accused wEb' struck you ? —"Yes." ' , _■ .. . ' You'are also quite certain that .it was .-not William Wilson who struck yo.u?— *'Yes." ' .« Even if .William Wilson owns' up and cays that he did it, and fifteen or' sixteen witnesses say it was William Wilson, will jou still say it, was Arthur. Wilson who did it?—" Certainly." .Is it true that before, you were struck vou knocked W. Wilson unconscious on •the field?—" Not that of.". ■ '. . Will you. swear you did ; not- cause his ifall?—"I will swear that X did. not." ' His Honour: I don't seo' the object of .these' questions. Mr.;''.Wilford: Lam; going to.prove that" 'William, Wilson, had provocation for (striking Calcinai,.and' then X am' going, to rorove .that he (William Wilson) did it. il am also going to show that this, man ((Calcinai) knocked William Wilson un>oonscious. " . ' His Honour: He las already told,'you 'three times that' lie is liot consciou6»of lhavirig-struck Wilson. I don't think you •can , call:_witnesses . to prove that he did Iknock him down. Mr. Wilford: Pardon me, your Honour, jl'am not only going to prove that W. I.Wilso'n--—

His: Honour: Of course, AY./Wilson is i* —-mot on trial for assault, but .what you :advance would be no excuse if he-were. ■ [What took place.with William ;Wilson is biot to the point. , Y : . , Mr. Wilford: your Honour,; if . Bt'caa be shown that another man tad ■ • ; -cause for doing it-— His Honour; Surely, Mr;.Wilford,. you tough-t to. "know, better than that." : I;, am -|Dot concerned "with, another crime "by. 'William "Wilson. What took plase be- . i-tween this man- arid• "William ; Wilson, is iof rio moment. - ' Mr. Wilford: I contend that it is of • (the utmost moment to' my client. His Honour: ;I' will tell the jury .that . '.(whether William Wilson' struck this man. >or not.is not the ppiut at issue. . , Judge'lntervenes Again. : , Mr 1 . Wilford (to Calcinai): Is it true Ithat, during tho game, ybu'assaulted "a iplayer named Macdonald ? \ ■ ... His Honour: Now, what is-the object of that question, Mr.-AVilford?" ■ ' . • Mr. Wilford:'l warit to.;ask the,jury mot to decide whether this man struck IMacdonald: on not, but. to show that he x ih'ad been, acting rough with other players. His Honour": You are proposing to .test lis credit. • Mr. AYiJford: He will swear that he did .. mot. strike Macdonald. . ' : His . Honour: This man may -.have" asisaulted a dozen people.- It .does nob-affect (this case. If you ask a' viitnSss questions . ithat are not relevant to the case which . .rthe jury have to. try; 'you cannot call ... evidencej-to contradict him. . Mr. Wilford: No, your Honour, but if that, statement is xelevant to the issue——' His Honour: .If you call ivitnesses to -prove that' assaulted Macdonald, • I • ehall rule them out.

Wilford: I shall ask tho witness 1 now \if he assaulted Macdonald. ■His Honour: 1 say, that is not relevant, tbut you. can ask .the question. - Mr. Wilford (to Calcinai): Did you (assault Macdonald? . A\ 7 itness: "No, • It's a -iiq!" t ■A' long array of witnesses gave .'evidence similar to that tendered jn, the. Lower ; Court. Donald M'Kenzie deposed that he saw. Arthur ..Wilson strike the blow , alleged,, and was satisfied as,to.his identity, although ; for a little ' time,. in view of "Jianji" ; Wilson's previous record, the witness-had doubted tho evidence of his . eyes. -Other witnesses for the- Crown ■were-:' Charles Slater, James Tilyarrl, A F. . AViren, M. B._ Mitchinson, James D. M'Gee, J; S. Gilligan, and Donald Mlntyre.\ :. . ~. .John Calcinai, who replaced 'his ; cousin -.Duilio on the field after,the latter had .been injured, Stated fhat,-on tho lineout, .when play resumed, the' prisoner Arthur, Wilson said: ."Here -is his little . cousin looking for it now; if he wants it he'll sqon-.get.it." . •At.l p.m.-toe Court was adjourned for (an hour. Dr. Pigeon, .who examined- Calcinai after his' injury, stated that his lower jaw was >badly broken. He ,had been hit on tho angle of the jaw, and a fairly heavy blow must have, been struck. The remaining Crown witnesses were: Arthur Henry Taylor and Georgo A. LDeare. . Counsel Pulled Up Once More. . The prisoner, Arthur Wilson,' was then put in the: witness box. He, stated that he saw Duilio Calcinai deliberately strike his : brother "W. Wilson. Ho had not made tho remark; attributed to him about striking "the cow that did it." He would swear that he did not strike Calcinai, and he had not seen Calcinai struck. He did not' say, when young' Calcinai replaced his cousin: "Here is Ms little cousin looking for it now; if be wants it he'll soon get it." Harold Gerard, tho next witness, was asked by Mr. Wilford: "Did you seo Calcinai strike anybody?" His Honour: I have already said that . this .is not relevant. That of course is no defence to the charge, unless of course it is intended to show what happened just before, tho' alleged event. , Mr. Wilford: I must bow to whatever ' your. Honour rules. His Honour: Tho, only point would bo to show that this man struck in selfdefence. Mr. AVilford: .May I point out to your Honour.' that Mr. Ncave, in his opening address, said that if .Calcinai struck anybody it wns not done intentionally.

His Honour: Counsel often raise poiuts .that .aro. not .relevant.. Don't you spo what I moan? Mr. Wilford: No, I can't, your Honour. .His Honour: Well, you ought to seo it. iTho case must; be confined to tho issuo before the 'jury.' If you raised tho point that tho. prisoner struck Calcinai in selfdefence it would deserve consideration. "Mr. Gerard, I won't want you, thank you,".said Mr. Wilford,- turning .to the witness in tho box, and the next witness was then called. the Brother, Reintroduced. Benjamin ■ Sutherland • said ho was a spectator of tho g'anie from outsido tho fence.' It was W. Wilson who struck Calcinai nnd caused his rousoval from tho .ground. , It was a deliberate blow. His Honour: And you were 100 yards away ?—"Yes." ; Was there anyone.else near?—" No." Charles Read, foreman cuttcr for the Wellington Woollen Company, Limited, said he was an old footballer, and had been senior .referee in Canterbury. Ho saw, Calcinai hit, not by "Ranji" Wilson, but by a much smaller nian. Ho believed it was one of the Wilsons. "Ranji" was not within, eight or ten yards of Calcinai at the time. -To Mr. Neave: Tho blow was on tho left side, straight upwards. . Mr. Neave: That is a difficult blow. Mr. Wilford: That's not for you to say. That is for the dotcor. . Sim Wilson, eldest brother of the accused, said he* saw Calcinai hit and. his jaw broken. ■ Was it done'by the accused?—" No." Do you know who did it "Yes." ; Mr. Wilford: That is all. The Brother in the Box. William Wilson, carpenter, brother of the'acisused, said ho was playing in tho match. He was struck by Calcinai iu the left-eye, and knocked ont. ' It. was not ail accident. He -was then at tho western' goal-post. His eye swelled and he lost his. senses. Ho; saw .Calcinai struck, and knocked out. . ■ Did the accused, your brother, do it?— "No." .- v. ■' . ; .You swear that'positively?—"Yes." To.Mr> Neave:'He did not communicate with the-police to establish his'brother's innocence. He was legally advised not to do so. ' He obtained legal advice just after the summons was served to his brother. . _ . ... I take'it that you are in possession, of "means of 'proving conclusively your brother's innocence? "Yes." , And you don't see fit to adopt those means?—" No." Herbert Adams, Cyril Styles, Edward O'Farrell,' Sydney - Owen Jones, Maurice Philip Poole, Francis Eller,. and'Bernarfi Gallagher all stated "that tlie..man who struck'Calcinai was not "Ranji" Wilson, but one of his brothers.' Vincent Robert Meredith, solicitor, said be was sole selector of Rugby teams for Wellington,, and latterly-for. Now Zealand, aiid was manager of the last team that went, to' Australia. ■ The accused Arthur , 'Wilson.. was. regarded as; a. particularly well-conducted player, who never lost control of his temper, and always played fairly. >' - ■_ ■. This concluded the evidence, and the Court adjourned -until' 10 a.m.* to-day. Accused was released.in the meantime. -