THE BAGBY CASE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 290, 7 September 1928, Page 19

THE BAGBY CASE

HIS HONOUR’S SUMMING UP.

■Exception is taken by Mr. T. M. Milford, counsel for Walter S. Bagby, jockey, charged at the Masterton Supreme Court with a serious offence against a •’irl, aged 181, to the final paragraph in His Honour’s summing up, as reported m “The Dominion” ou Wednesday.. The severely condensed summing up of His Honour, as it appeared iu ourYeport of the case, read as follows: —In .ins summing-up, His Honour said certainly Ihe evidence of the girl was outweighed by the witnesses for the defence, but the jury was at liberty to believe her. Her prompt complaint, and medical evidence, was corroboration. There were some discrepancies in the evidence for the defence. His Honour thought it not. unlikely that a man fin the position of accused would go to his friends and concoct the story. The following extract is taken from an extended report of His Honour’s summing up, published in the “Wairurapa Age ■ :—- . . Mr. Willord had said that there was'positively no corroboration of the girl's story. He was wrong in that. There was corroboration in the evidence of her mother, and that of the doctorevidence consistent with her story. Hie defence held that there were certain facts in this case which showed that her story was not only improbable, but actually unbelievable. It was for the jury to say if they thought Wiese facts made complainant’s story uubeljevable or not. If the evidenge given for the defence was true, or if even a very small part ot it was true, it would strongly suggest that she was a consenting party. It was for the jury to accept or reject this evidence. Before‘they swallowed it whole, he suggested that they should approach it with some degree of caution. Most of the witnesses were friends of the accused, and some of them were his stable, mates. There was always a temptation for a man to ask his friends to come along and help him. He did not for a moment suggest that all this evidence was untrue, but the jury should approach it with a somewhat critical mind.. There were some grave discrepancies in the evidence of these witnesses. . . . Some of the evidence for the defence. His Honour added, was given by witnesses who were not Bagby’s friends. Some of this evidence, it they accepted it. would strongly suggest that the girl, did consent. It they were convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the girl did not consent, they should find Bagby guilty. If they were convinced that she did consent, or it they were uncertain, the verdict should be one of not guilty.” . -