HABEAS CORPUS

Grey River Argus, 17 August 1937, Page 5

HABEAS CORPUS

MOTORIST’S CASE Magistrate’s Sentence Questioned I Per Press Association]. INVERCARGILL, August 16. In the Supreme Court to-day, Mr G. J. Reed applied to Mr Justice Kennedy for a writ of Habeas Corpus for the release of Eric Clarence Taylor, garage proprietor of Invercargill, who was convicted by Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M., on Wednesday, and was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment, on a charge of negligently driving a car. ■ The grounds of the application were that: (1) The warrant under which •Eric Clarence Taylor be detained is made without jurisdiction; (2) The Magistrate improperly took judicial notice of facts neither given in evidence, nor of which, by law, he was entitled to take judicial notice; (•» A list of previous convictions was im properly handed to the Magistrate previous to his having intimated whether he intended to convict or discharge the prisoner; (4) The proceedings were wholly irregular. Mr Reed said that there was no dispute as to the facts , and he now applied to the Supreme Court foi a writ of Habeas Corpus on the grounds that the Magistrate took l ud ‘ cia J notice of facts in respect oi which he was not in a position to ( / a . kc J u f il< X notice. Counsel submitted that the Magistrate had either pre-judged the case, or had acted with bias. Mr H J. Mac Alister, in putting thv case for the Crown, said that, though the accused told of his previous convictions, in answer to fl uestl ? ns _ b JJ hi q Magistrate, they were questions which the Magistrate could properly ask. The fact that a list of convictions was handed in did not affect th His°Honour reserved his decision.