ACQUITTED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 205, 24 May 1919, Page 9

ACQUITTED

THE CHOCOLATE CASE ! RICHARD MARTIN FOUND NOT GUILTY ' The ■ hearing of the charges preferred / against Richard William Martin, a foreman painter in the employ of Robert Martin, Ltd.,- Manners Street, was continued in the Supreme Court yesterday. ' His Honour Mr. Justice Hosking was on the bench; Mr. P. S. Iv. Macassey, of the Crown''ljaw Office, appeared for the Crowni and Mr. H. P. O'Leary for the prisoner. Mr. D. F. Skinner was foreman of thei jury. \ . Martin was charged with sending on October 13, 1918, a letter to Alexander Collins, also'employed by Robert Martin, Ltd., threatening to kill him, also , with "sending on February 5, 1919, another threatening letter to the same individual. t On Thursday during the cross-oxamina-tion of Walter Dinnie, handwriting expert, Mr. H. F. O'Leary produced a letter -written'by a third person, which lie asked permission to use in his crossexamination. As tho letter had ■ some .reference tp the case, His Honour refused to allow the letter to be used, and adiourned the hearing . to ennblo. Mr. O'Leary, to produco othor handwriting of the same third person preferably something written before the hearing of the case had commenced. . , * .On resuming yesterday, Mr. O'Leary said he had been successful; in his quest, and after a brief discussion, His Honour allowod this handwriting to be used. Mr. Dinnie was cross-examined at some length on the similarity of the writing since produced and the anonymous let-, tore. • ' Detective-Sergeant Scott gave evidence as to tho arrest of the accused, and this closed the case for the prosecution. Prisoner's defence. Mr. H. P. O'Leary, in opening the de- ' fence, said he would call the accused, ■ who would swear that lie was' - not the J man who wrote the anonymous letters to Collins. On/the-contrary his. associa-: tion with Collins had been friendly, and of the happiest character, . .and thero could not have existed the slightest reason why the accused should W-iavo in_a dastardly manner towards Collins. :It .would also bo shown that tho pay-sheet, papers -and the nitric ; acid in-Martins office were accessible to ,any outsider, and in addition the jury would have the benefit of expert evidence to combat thatgiven by Mr. -Dinnie in, repeot t handwriting. i' .' (Jharles Bainbridge TrimneU, secretary to Messrs. Bing, Harris and. Co., said he was an exbert in . handwriting.He had examined the exhibits, and could Bay definitely that all the anonymous ■letters were written by tho same person. He . had compared the anonymous letters with the, accused's admitted handwrit- : ing, and he "would say that Tvliilo there were certain similarities as explained by Mr. Dinnie. these were not in his opinion sufficiently similar'or'characteristic to suggest to him that they wero mitten by the same person. ' , Accused, in, giving evidence, detailed his acquaintance with Collin's, and stated that the latter had told him of the anonymous letters ho was receiving. About two years ago, on the advice of accused. Collins, went to the police about the letters, but was advised to take no notice of them. Owing to the nature of, his work., witness was sometimes for dayst-away from his office, which was accessible to . the members of the staff and customers of the firm. Ho had plenty of opportunity of doing Collins and his familv harm had ho desired to do so. He obtained the mtedicine that had been prescribed' by Dr. Gibbs for Mrs. Collins. . He got this medicine about everv thre6 weeks. When Detective Scott came to him on the Friday he asked tiie detective if it was about the letters. He knew that the detectives had been matting inquiries, and he. naturally thought ' thev. would come to him, as he was holdin" , a responsible position -with the firm. He did .■not,,writß,.the r a,npnymonß. letters nor did he send the chocolates contain? ing the nitric acid. The day the chocolates were alleged to tiive .been bought ho was at Oriental Bay, and left there after! 4 p.m.,- reaching Manners Street just before s'p.m.' He purchased the evening paper, and decided not to go back to the shop. He took the tram at the Willis Street,comer, and alighted at' Abel. Smith' Street on the northern side. He opened tho paper, and walked ;un the street, and walked/past his own gate reading the paper. ,He got home about 5.10 p.m. There was a . Mrs. Hammond in the house, and his wife remarked that be was home early. Mrs. Hammond .remained until 6.10 p.m. - He remained at home for the rest of the evening. He , knew Guymer's shop. I There were three sweets shops between Guvmer's and Abel Smith Street. Mrs. Hammond had left Wellingtbn, and he had-been , unable to get in : touch with her. -He was not the author of the letters nor the sender of the' chocolates. *

To Mr. Macassey: He first knew about the chocolates when arrested; ho was told by Deteotive Sco'tt. It was not his duty to lest paints, but he often did 60. He told the detective that he had ilot used the aoid for fourteen days. He could Aot account for the label on the bottle of nitric acid being damp. There were dozens of hottles on the shelf in his office. He never supplied the firm's papers to anybody.: ' ■ >

George T. Ridge, painter, employed by Robert Martin, Ltd., said he knew tho office occupied by accused; it was never looked, and anyone could get into it. Mr. Macassey: When Martin was. arrested you said you were not surprised? Witness: Yes.

Mr. Macassey: Why? , ..Witness, in reply, said something about the peculiarities of the managing-direc-tor, and his disposition to take the line of least resistance.

Ernest Whittnker, painter, residing at Petone, acknowledged that tho handwriting submitted by Mr. O'Leary for comparative purposes was his. Tho jurymen were out for about fivo minutes, and returned a verdict of not guilty. There was> an attempt at applause in the body of the court, which was quickly silenced.