SUPREME COURT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2996, 6 February 1917, Page 9

SUPREME COURT

; ! OPENING OP CRIMINAL J J SESSIONS HIS HONOUR'S CHARGE sessions of the Wcllinj ton . Supreme Court opened yestorda morning boforo His Honour Mr. Justii' Chapman. Grand Jury. The following constituted tho Gram lry i : r^ es3rs - Alfro<l Honrv Miles (fore man), ■ Herbert Lean, Thomas AVeanc James Frederick Mlvain, John Boltoi M I'arlane, Alexander Forrest, Bormm Willi™ Phillip Bucholz, Charles Gi! tart Wilson, Arthur Dixon, James Hun ry Ryder, Frederick Jnmw Shelton Jpnn Lawrence Arcus, Arthur Danie Kennedy. Albert .Llewellyn Haslam i™™ Pnul, Charles AVillinm Mac* William John Thompson, Georgo Fred crick Judd, and Percival Walter Woods His Honour's Charge. In his charge to the Grand Jurr. Hi; Honour said that they would not 01 tins occasion hare any exceptional du ' il^j to , P° rforln - Ho "S pleased to Baj ■ mat tho amount of erimo to ho inves "gated at tho sittings was not oxens sive, and tho session, might, as to tin number of cases, be railed nn ordinary one. The cases in general did not pre sent any difficult features. There wns however, ono somen4i.it peculiar case, ii which n man was charged with violently assaulting a constable. It was not i typical case of assaulting a constable ii the execution of his dub", ns tlio nc eused was charged with comraittijijr tin offence in Ins mvn house. The consfahh <, would say ho had been invited to entei the house for some bon,vfido object. Hi would, further say that some violenw had been done to him with a piece oi frockery. So far, tho naso appeared t( Oβ a Dlnin one. In.order, however, to sei whether a prima facie case had beer mane out. the jnrv would expect to reh unon credible- evidence! But oven shou'lt they not believe the constable's story tlinve- won tlio patent fact Hint ho' hii« been badly knocked about. It was 7ioi Biiscesteil that he had bnen nssTnltim anybody or doin* any violence wlion 1» was knocked about in that way. It was possible that there miVht be some peculiar circumstances, find of these circumstances t'm jury nii"ht hnvt> pome suspicion. The constable's evidence miirhl not all be true, but they might regard the case as one of stinli «xc'essivo ""vioJpiice that it rwinired further investigation. TJip first inattnv for consideration was whether Hie evidence of Hie constable was (rue. True Bills, i Y ltt ? era fo,md in nl, tie « s « but that of Henry Francis M'llroy, who was .charged with theft from the person. In this case no bill was found, and the prisoner was discharged. A Game of Cards. Tim Troy, Maurice Costello, and Joseph bcott were charged witlP ilaTing, at Palilalia on September 13 last, conspired, "J, cheating at poker, to defraud ono Alfred Crossloy of the sum of. £52. They were further charged with having' cheated at poker with intent to defraud Crossley of his money. Mr. V. B. Meredith conducted tho caso tor tho prosecution. Mr. J. J. M'Grath appeared for Scott, and Mr. H. Cooper ior Costello. Troy was not represented by counsel. ; Mr. Joseph Lewis was elected foreman of tho jury. Mr. Meredith said that the frame of poker, which had given rise to tlio charges, would bo shown, to havo bcon a somowhat remarkable one. Crossley had four queens dealt him iu tho first hand, ;and bucked his hand to tho cxtont of £52, finally losing. Tho other) plav.ers .were Costello, who dealt tho cards; Scott, who introduced Crossloy to tho hotel where tho game was played, and constituted himself guide, philosopher, and friend to Crossloy; and Tini Troy, who, at tho close of the game, tabled a. 'hand of four aces, and scooped tho pool. Crossloy went along to tlio hotel at the suggestion of Scott, who said ho could find him a bed there. It was beforo tho second day's racing' at Pahiatua, and beds wero difficult to obtain. At Scott's instance, Crossley did not go to bed at once, but mot Troy, w'ho was introduced as a racehorse owner. Someono present suggested a "bob in," and Crossley throw in his shilling. Costello dealt out pokor hands, and Crossley got tho four queens already mentioned. It was set out in tho "Standard Hoylo" that a person's chance of getting four cards of ono kind in tho first deal was ono in .1000. Troy said ho would bet his hand for ss. against any in tho room, and Crossley replied: "That is not fair. I've seen my hand"."' As tho game went on, Crossley protested against tho "raising , * of the money, but Scott kept advising him, and said it was all right. At .£lO Crossloy objected a second time, but was rushed along. ' Ho became "bustled," and took Scott's advice, and it never occurred to him what company ho was • in. Crossley paid at the end. of tho.gamo with a chequo of which ho afterwards stopped tho payment. . . • . Alfred Crossley, veterinary Burgeon, gave evidence on tho lines of Mr. Morepith's statement. This witness's examination and cross-examination occupied between two and three hours. He was followed by Samuel Kraetzer, a racecourse detective. Tho only other witness called for tho prosecution was Arthur Hosking. Tho caso was adjourned till 10 o'clock to-day. AUCKLAND CRIMINAL SESSIONS By Telegraph—Prcce Association. Auckland, February 5. Tho Auckland sessions of Iho Supremo Court wore opened to-clay by Mr. Justice Hoskiiig. AVith reference to tho short calendar presented' on. tbo criminal side, His Honour said ■■ that of eleven cases six wore sexual offences. If tho high percentago of bucli cases continued, it would bo recessary to consider whether some moro drastic provision than the linv now provides to deal with such offences should not be brought into force. Joseph Michael Syms, charged with offences against a girl at tho Thames and Waibi, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for each * offence, with hard labour, the terms to bo concurrent. David Cawden pleaded guilty to an offence against a male, and seutenco was deferred till Saturday. The jury returned a verdict of "not guilty" in the case of Thomas Cameron, who was charged with an unnatural offence. Cyril George Pogg, -alias Enright, was found guilty of stealing a quantity of jewellery valued at over .£SO, and £JS 10s. in money from bedrooms in ono of the city hotels. Sentence was deferred.