A FINDING QUESTIONED.

Evening Star, Issue 19263, 31 May 1926, Page 11

A FINDING QUESTIONED.

TO THE EUITOR. Sir, —Although a firm believer in the jury system ot trial and its usually mi mane, consideration of those accused of crime, 1 have been forced to admit that on several occasions it has proved incorrect and harsh in its findings. Phis is to be looked for and expected, as it is just a human thing and liable through one cause and another to err. I take it that the guiding principle, or rather dominant one, which ought to actuate all juries should be that of giving the accused the benefit of the doubt. ] am convinced, after reading the evidence adduced and the summing up of the judge in two cases at the recent silting of the Supreme Court here in Dunedin that this principle has not been recognised. I am referring j to the trial and conviction of two young men, by name Polwarth and Harris, for assault and jobbery or stealing. The police had these young men up on throe charges, one of which failed entirely in the matter of evidence, while the evidence in the two remainin£ ensos was weak and did I6tvv<3 a doubt. Tho. summing up of tho judge in these two cases could not, by any stretch of the imagination, bo considered strong and free from doubt. _ I believe that I am right in assuming that the bulk of thoso persons present in court felt that tho jury would bring in a verdict of not guilty, and. were greatly surprised when tho reverse was made known. Let anyone go back oyer the evidence, and I ask all fair-minded citizens to do this in the interests of justice to these two young men now serving a sentence of three years. Take the Crown's evidence for “ identification ” in tho TLnmsay case. Has there ever been a weaker one? What do wo find? We arc informed that_ the person assaulted- —and that not violently, when shown tho accused on the_ day of the alleged assault, could not identify them, yet many days after in the police yard he identified them as the culprits. And now examine the evidence for the Crown in the other case of the stealing of money from the corporation bus. Hero, again, identification was weak, and although the accused were searched immediately -after the act had taken place the nature of the coinage found on him was different from that stated to he hy the conductor. and the jud"e in his summing up commented on this fact. I may say that the verdicts of tho jury in these cases have given mapv of ns a great check. I am' glad to learn that a committee of ladies and gentlemen is pre-n-ring a petition to forward to the Minister of Justice. Tim interests of the community demand that the whole matter should receive consideration. — T am etc., LtBEIUTAS. May 2D.