HAMILTON TRAGEDY

Evening Star, Issue 20961, 27 November 1931, Page 8

HAMILTON TRAGEDY

JURY FINOS SMITH INSANE [Per U.N’irnn Press Association.] HAMILTON, November 26. Summing up in the Smith murder trial, His Honour Mr Justice Herdman remarked that the case was made more simple by the fact that the accused had admitted the offence in a statement. It had been stated by the defence that there were three views the jury could take. The first was that the accused killed the woman knowing what he was doing. If that view were accepted it would be murder. Dealing with the second view of provocation, His Honour said the act of killing could bo reduced to manslaughter if a person caused death in the heat of passion and by sudden provocation. Was there anything in the evidence to suggest the heat of passion and sudden provocation on the part of the woman? It had been suggested that the woman was abandoned and utterly unfaithful to her husband. The jury might think that the circumstances were suspicious, but it was for them to say whether there was definite proof of adultery. Commenting on the view that the accused was insane when he committed the act, His Honour said the burden of proof that he was insane rested with the accused. Did he understand what he was doing when he was cutting his wife’s throat? Was he suffering from some disease of the mind which rendered him incapable of understanding the nature and quality of his act? Mere conjecture was not sufficient proof. Reasonable evidence must be put before them to warrant the opinion that the accused was insane at the time he committed the crime. His Honour reviewed _ the expert medical evidence concerning the prisoner’s mental state. ' He emphasised that they were concerned only with the legal view and not with the uncontrollable impulses referred to by some medical witnesses. If every act wore condoned on the grounds of uncontrollable impulse, where would it lead? Judges had decided that for the safety of human life and the security of property definitions as recently prescribed to the jury should apply. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the grounds of insanity. The accused was ordered to be detained at the pleasure of the Minister of Justice.