A STRANGE CASE.

Evening Post, Volume XIII, Issue 78, 1 April 1876, Page 4 (Supplement)

A STRANGE CASE.

tjg ol U^£P&e., not a liundrei. PmSes'tfilin stjhe^lnv&rcargill a^f case |pfsa crimmancind w brought up on remand for hearing on the 22nd of March, 1876. When the case was called the Court was cleared of everybody except the officers of the law, couusel rengaged, the reporters, the prison^ *aMl> tU &W witness, who was the prosecutrix. The prisoner . was young, not bad-looking, and apparently a very decent fellow ; the prosecutrix, a girl about nineteen or twenty, with a rather sweet and intelligent face, and dark captivating eyes. The evidence which she gave went to substantiate the charge against the prisoner. In cross-examination she admitted that, although she had only known him a short time, her impression was that their acquaintance would culminate in the young man's making proposals of marriage. Since the commission of the offence, such proposals, purporting to- come from, him, had been made to her, but she had rejected them, and had laid the information, as she thought it right and just^to do so. The case was adjourned at luncheon time, and on the Court resuming the learned counsel for the prosecution applied for a remand till a futuer day, as the evidence which he still had to adduce would be of a new nature. The remand was granted, and the prisoner was let out on bail in two sureties, which were found without the least dilHculty. ;'The surety papers had to be made out in the office of the .Registrar of Births, - Deaths, and Marriages, and thither the two bondsmen and the prisoner repaired. There the prosecutrix was found sitting with her married sister, and; nove^?riters,htae^our diminished heads ! in lea£ than hUlf an hour that prosecufcrapß and £/t&£§pjjpsoner, were, at' their owrlje<mest,||bi|ed in|the holy bondtf orf>nJalocWb^otha^egisl^aiW there* present. Verily, truth is stranger than fiction, and here is a romance in real life which will vie with the best ever invented by novelist or poet.— Southland Times, 23rd March. So much for the romantic side. The case came before the Invercargill Court on Thursday' last, the 23rd instant, when the accused, Donald M 'Kay ,_. who_ was_ ojn remand on a charge of rape, surrendered to his bail. Mr. Harvey, who had been engaged for the prosecution, stated that he had been instructed to withdraw from the prosecution, as the party accused had married the prosecutrix. Inspector Fox said he would oppose the closing of the case, and, if Mr. Harvey withdrew, he should feel it to be his duty to proceed with the prosecution. His Worship : Yes ; the case must now go on. — Mr. Wade, prisoner's counsel, observed that, inasmuch as the prosecutrix (whose* evidence had been taken in full on the 22nd) had now been married to the prisoner, her depositions had become useless, and, she having become his wife, could not, as a matter of English law, be used against. Would it not be simply a waste of time to go on with the case % His Worship said he must cany out his duties as required by the Act. Mr. Harvey remarked that there was one phase of the case to which he would direct his Worship's attention. He could not bind the wife over to give evidence against her husband at the next criminal sittings of the Supreme Court ; neither could she be sent to gaol in the meantime to ensure^her attendance. Mr. " Wade . suggested leaving the oase as it^stodd to the Crown Prosecutor, but Inspector Fox said that he felt bound in duty to lay all the evidence before the Magistrate. Mr. Wade characterised the proceeding as a solemn farce. His Worship remarked that even if it "were ~s67~tEe TSSerwas" a~most~* "ex" traordinary one, and he must camr out the provisions of the Act, %na hear all the evidence. Evidence|was then taken. The only evidence the point was that of Mrs. M 'Kay's sister, who stated what Mrs. M'Kay, then Rachel Bryant, told her of the offence committed by accused on the night of the 15th inst. The witness, Mrs. Blondell, a married sister of the young wom&fi|eposelßp&pft she arid her sister, whej* ontthei way home from Winton^on the evening of the 15th inst., n|et die accused at Jackfa saw-mill, arm*tiiat he-aweompanied-them homewards. When within a quarter of a mile from her house, witness and prisoner bade each other good night, and she went on, leaving her sister and prisoner together. In about twenty minutes or half an hour after witness had reached home, her sister entered the house, looking pale and confused, with her dress partially disarranged, -and, , her hair hanging, about her shoulders. When witness asked her what was the matter — why she had been crying — she stated, in reply, that the prisoner had committed the crime of which he was now accused. — His Worship committed prisoner for trial, accepting bail in two sureties of £25 each. '