JURY RELAXES

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 31, 5 August 1936, Page 13

JURY RELAXES

A LITTLE DIVERSION

PICTURES LAST NIGHT

While they are away from their homes the twelve men constituting the jury at the trial in the Supreme Court of John William Shaw McArthur are being made as comfortable as possible. They no doubt received a considerable shock when, after they had been empanelled on Monday, they were informed by the Acting Chief Justice (Sir John Reed) that he intended keeping them together for the duration of the trial, but since then they have settled down into a happy family.

With the two constables in charge of them—Constables Williams, of Wadestown, and Ogilvie—they are staying at a hotel near the .courthouse. Constable .Williams is no stranger to the job of looking after a jury, as he has acted in this capacity twice previously, so -that his experience in this connection is probably of benefit to the jury in the present case. With the exception of one man every member of the jury is married, though one, it has been stated, has not been married very long. The' foreman is a Wellington City Corporation tramway inspector. Of the others one is employed by a bank and it is understood that it was found necessary, by the bank to obtain from him part of the combination required before a particular vault could be opened.

Since yesterday morning the jury has been listening to the evidence tendered by the Crown: It has not been , evidence which may be described as having any great appeal, but it has been given the undivided attention of every one of the twelve men.

In the past when juries have been kept together during a trial it has been the custom to provide them with some form of diversion after their attendance all day at court, and this custom is not being departed from in the present case. Last night, with Constables Williams and Ogilvie, the jurymen attended one of the theatres, fourteen of the best seats being reserved for them. Yesterday morning they went for a walk down to the Pipitea Wharf before the Court sat, and this morning another walk was taken —up to the Botanical Gardens.

On the occasion of a murder trial a few years ago not only was the jury taken to the pictures, but it was also present one night at a~wrestling match and there was a weekend bus trip as well. As the present indications point to the McArthur- trial extending into next week, there .may also be a bus trip for the jury in this case. But on this excursion they would have to be "shadowed" even as they are now when they walk to and leave the court for their hotel, by the two men who are their shepherds—two men in blue. ,