SUPREME COURT.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 47, 7 February 1920, Page 5

SUPREME COURT.

Auckland, Feb. 6At the Supreme Court to-day the jury acquitted Harold Stapleton and Alexander Cappel, two young men charged with the manslaughter of Frank Brazier, licensee of the Clarendon Hotel, on December 16th. Accused gave evidence that Brazier attempted to indecently assault Stapleton and in the ensuing scuffle, in which. Cappel took part, he received injuries from which he died. Charles Joseph Stone pleaded nbt guilty to an indictment containing three counts: (1) That he stole a gold watch from the Thames Hotel on February 19th, 1919; (2) that he stole a watch, and (3) that he did receive and have a watch, well knowing at the time that it was stolen. The evidence for the prosecution was that the watch was missed from the hotel after a fire there and eleven months after the police interviewed accused and recovered the watch from a box stored by Stone. Accused said he purchased the watch from a stranger at the fire. The jury found a verdict of not guilty on the count of theft, and on the count of receiving found that Stone did not knew at the time he received the watch that it had been stolen, but they were agreed that he knew subsequently that it had,been stolen. .The junr agreed to his Honour adding worus to the verdict to the effect that accused knew before he mtervie wed by the police that the witch had been stolen. His Honour said the verdict would have to go to the Court of Appeal. He agreed with accused’s counsel that the finding in law amounted to not guilty. He thought possibly the Court bf Appeal would order that a count be added to fit the finding of the jury. Judgment was reserved for tne Court of Appeal and in the meantime accused was released on bail.