THE COURTS.—TO-DAY.

Evening Star, Issue 4943, 6 January 1879, Page 2

THE COURTS.—TO-DAY.

SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SITTINGS. (Before his Honor Mr Justice Williams.) The quarterly criminal sessions of the Supreme Court began at ten o'clock this morning. ORANb JURY. The following gentlemen were sworn in as a Grand Jury :—Messrs Jaa. B. Bradshaw (foreman), Jas. Jack, Joseph Braithwaite, Edward Gillow, Hector Brown,. Charles M'Queen, Bendix Hallenstein, John Glendining, Fleming Lawrenson, John 0. Eva, Henry Neill, William' Park, Evan "Pressor, Andrew Thomson, Martin Marshall, Thomas C. Matheson, James Barron, Max -Mendershausen, Thos. G. Young. THE CHARGE. His Honor charged the Grand Jury as under:— Mr Foreman and Gentlomen of the Grand Jury— The calendar on the vresent occasion presents no ver>unusual futures. There are two cases of perjury, la this offence it is necessary either that there should r.e more than one witness to prove the falsity of the matter sworn to by the accused, or if only one witness is produced that his testimony should be strongly corroborated ty circumstantial evidence. There is a case where the aecusod is charged under the Fraudulent Debtors Act with having,, as, a trader, obtained ctP" perty on credit under thfKabso pretenoe of carrying on business and dealing in We ordlnnry way of his trade For the preliminary proceedings before the Magistrate the trustee in bankruptcy of the accused was examined, and gave evidence • s to statements m d by the auoused to him as trustee. By an Act, however, passed last Kesaion tfciS evidence u no longer admisBable against the aecusod, co you will have to consider the caso independently of it The evidence is that the accused was a retail grocer, and tint tho dav before he filed his declaration of insolvency ho ordered aud subsequently obtained from a merchant with whom ho had bg<»n in the h-ibit of dealing certain bags of sugar whioU bp <Md not pay for. If you Jthuik that an order glveh by a, V Qtaj| tracer for goods 0 f j. kind dealt with in h j s trade to a wholesale house with } vnom no ' IIMI been in the habit of dealing amount J° a representation thit the jjoods were required ff>r OfSlinai - }' trade parjHisetf, and if you think that the ci."<Hift»?tijnce that the retail trader became bankrupt the *ty 'l'tsP h8 jpve the order rJlurds a reasonable infert'Vce th.it T.ho . wpwpfmt.'vtinil w,f MX, you will fun! u liTvj bill. There is a ease where r>, \\-ijinaii is chafed «itK the murder ••:' In r infant ch-ld: If you thhiic that time.!.-; ;':-.,- evidence' tlxat th« ciii-d 'iit-J by ; v .- i>:i • >.'' the wi ii';i.' .! ■: oroniissidu aud tUu', the B'CiyseJ intoaded to bi-iii ■

Su^mr?S lt W b0 .^ i,d by such act or omission, jou should fiqd a tniu bill for murder. If. however SS?* "}«<»*>> the death *u caused byThe to^&E'^V 016 condu , ot of the apcU9ed wanted brtl for mlr,=V egh cf' ,co ? nly > y° u Bhould flnd a true bill for manslaughter. La&tly, should you think that ss»£«! retire to

TRUE BILLS. True bills were found in the following cases :-James Miller, fraudulent bankruptcy; William White, forgery; James H 1 *? Coolen ' ing; Walter Morley, larceny; Robert Angus, larceny; Denis Anglin, perjury Margaret Barratt, alias Stephtnson, stealing from a dwelling; Hyam Lyon Metz, forger? and uttering an acceptance to a bill of exchange, also forgery ; George Brown for indecent assault; Jane Reid for perjury In the case of Margaret Scott the Grand Jury returned a verdict for manslaughter only. Ihe Grand Jury were then discharged.

NO BILLS. The Grand Jury ignored the bills in the case of Regina v. Johnston and Thomas M'Norton, in which the prisoners were charged with robbery.

FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINING. James Miller, late of Mornington, grocer, was indicted under the Bankruptcy Act for fraudulently obtaining goods. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr prosecuted. Mr Adam" defended the prisoner, who pleaded "Yo QMy" The indictment™ set forth that on March 20 last the accused filed a declaratien of ininsolvency in the Supreme Court. Later on on the same day the sugar which had been previously ordered was sent to the accused's store.

Before the case for the Crown had closed, his Honor pointed out that the contract was purely executory. The goods were obtained by the bankrupt after he had filed a declaration of insolvency, while the Act provided far the goods being obtained four months before the declaration. There was no property obtained by_ Miller till after he became bankrupt. He might have committed a fraud, but he (the learned Judge) did not see how accused could be convicted on tho indictment under which the present charge was laid. The Crown Prosecutor replied that those, were the facts, and he could not make them any stronger. Though he had not obtained the sugar, accused had ordered it before filing.

His Honor told tho jury that they would simply have to return a verdict of " not guilty.

This was done, and the accused was accordingly discharged.

FORGERY. James Morgan pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with forging a cheque for L 3 on October 28. Sentence was deferred till to-morrow.

William White was charged with forging a cheque at Oamaru for L 4 fa on September 19. 1 risoner, who was undefended, pleaded not guilty * « Th , e J u lll after ** hourß ' retirement, iouaid that the evidence was not sufficiently strong to support the indictment, and they therefore gave the prisoner the benefit of the doubt.

His Honor, in discharging the prisoner, said he agread with the remarks of the foreman of the jury. Hyam Lyon Motz, charged with forging two cheques, pleaded " guilty." Mr Adams, on prisoner's behalf, prayed for the mercy ©f the Court on three grounds —on the respectability of his parents, the prisoner s youth, and that at the time one of the cheques was forged prisoner's father was supposed to be lying on his death-bed, and prisoner had every reason to believe that hid his father been well he would have endorsed the cheque. His Honor pointed out that prisoner had forged two cheques. Mr Adams replied that he could only plead the same excuses in both instances. His Honor Baid he would pass sentence the next day. He was quite prepared to take the prisoners youth into consideration, but he was not prepared to rriake an allowance tor the fact of prisoner being respectably connected. J

LARCENY. Walter Worley pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with stealing a silver watch at Duntroon, on October 24 He was undefended.

It appeared that at the time of the Duntroon races prosecutor (William Wheavor) wer;t to bed at five o'clock in the mornlag of October 24. On getting up he found that his watch had been stolen. ™o«er offered the watch in pledge to one S. D. Nathan, at Christchurch, saying that he had given L 9 for it in Dunedin. Finding that the number on the watch corresponded with the number of a stolen watch handed to him, Mr Nathan sent for the police. On a constable arriving prisoner said that he had bought the watch for L 4 from a man whose name he did not know. Prisoner called no witnesses. He said that he bought the watch in Oamaru from four men he did not know. He had no suspioion that it had been stolen, a fact which would be observed from his having had his initials engraved on the watch. After a quarter-of-an-hour's retirement the jury returned a verdict of " Not guilty."

LARCKNV AS A BAILEE. Robert Angus was indicted for havinjr stolen on December 12 one horse, one saddle and one bridle, the property of James Mori J , p ? soner > who was undefended, pleaded not guilty. The Crown Prosecutor stated that on December 11 the prisoner went to the liverv stable attached to Mr Morkane's hotel at Port Chalmers and hired a horse to go to tflueskin. It was to have been returned that night, but prisoner wag not again heard of «°M th^ next da y» whon he went to the White Horse Hotel, and told Mr Daly, the landlord, that it was his own property ; that he had brought it from Blueskin that day • and that, when passing through Port Chalmers, Mr Morkane, whom he had seen, had taken a fancy to the horse and had offered him L 27 for it. Subsequently he agreed to sell it for LI 8 to one Alexander, a cabdriver, but before the sale was completed Mr Morkane's groom arrived on the scene and the sale was put off. At the Police Court the prisoner Baid that the pretended sale was only for pastime, and that he had no felonious intention.

Prisoner had tho deposition of Mr Lubecki taken at the Police Court read. That evidence consisted of the production of a telegram sent to Mr Erridge, livery-keeper, Port Chalmers, by the prisoner on the afterr.ion of December 12, in which he stated ihat he would return the horse the next day Constable Hennessy, who arrested the prisoner, was then called for the defence. He said that prisoner was under the inl liuence of driuk, but not so sufficiently to render him incapable of knowing what he was doing. The jury found the prisoner "guilty" and his Honor said he would pass sentence to-morrow morning.

, t FERJURY. Denis Anglin was called upon to surrender to hiß bail to answer to a charge of perjury The prisoner did not appear, and the Crown Prosecutor mentioned that he had not been seen for three weeks past, nor did the police know his whereabouts. He had been admitted to bail in his own recognisance for L2O and one surety for LlO. The police were never consulted in the matter, and takine bail ih the amount named- seemed to him to be perfectly ridiculous. , ...."• His Honor agreed that fixing the bail in so small a sum was perfectly ridiculous. He was astonished, and did not know what the Manstrate could have been thinking about in taking bail in such a trifling amount A man would be a great fool if lie did appear when he could get off for LlO. His Honor directed the sureties to be estreated. The Court then adjourned till 10 o'clock to-morrow morniDg. RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. (Before J Bathgate, Esq., R.M.) -Now Zealand Hardware Co. v. Robert Meldrum.—Claim, L 25 15s, on a dishonored bul. Mr Brent appeared for plaintiffs, for whom judgment was given for the amount claimed, by default. Henry Soofct v. Kate Walker.—Claim, L 4 •«s, for the Lire of a carriage.—Defendant "'■ nui.app.vir, but hu, Worship dismissed *a;,:»!;_'iiiintiff qould not recover ;.M>a:.l ,-t Jjl-jofcitUiv,

CITY POLICE COUET. (Before I. N. "Watt, Esq., R.M.) Drunkenness.—Catherine Murray and John Eustace were each fined 10a or fortyeight hours j Peter Johnstone 203 or three days; and Mary M'Donnell 40s or seven days for habitual drunkenness. Frank Smith, •who was charged with being drunk in Smith street on Saturday, and who appeared in Court enveloped in a blanket, complained that he had no right to be brought up in that state.—Mr Watt: So far' as I can see you have nothing to complain of. However, if you have any complaint, now is your time to make it. Evidence was then given by Sergeant O'Brien that he touncl prisoner in Smith street on Saturday evening m an almost nude state, and, judging by his actions that he was not sane, he arrested him for being of unsound mind. While in the lock-up he wanted a knife to cut his throat with, and u uj . Btron S desire to atrip himself. Me had baen examined by a doctor, who declared that he was suffering from the effects of drink -Prisoner stated that he had had very little drink. It was true that he was wrong in his mind. He had been in the Asylum here, in the Tasmanian Asylum, and ift I ? e 7 w i ent , wron 8 a * times, and would be glad to be kept under restraint. Ine lasmanian Government paid his passage across here.—Mr Watt: Probably the Governments paid your passage from one Colony to another. It was certainly very kind of them.—Prisoner: I did not. ask them ; and could not help it.—Mr Watt: It will be necessary to keep you from drink for a little time. You are fined L 5, or fourteen doys' imprisonment.—Margaret Williß, I for habitual drunkenness, was sentenced to three months' hard labor.

Vagrancy.— Elizabeth Powell, Margaret Campbell, and Susannah Phillips were each sentenced to a month's imprisonment; Ellen Adams to fourteen days, and Ellen Burton to three months. Alice Purnell was let off with a caution,'it being her first appearance. Henry Hassel was also lot off, it appearing that up to September he had been employed in country printing offices, lately he had done odd jobs in town, and was about to go to Oamaru in search of employment.