CASE OF DENNIS GUNN.
PETITION FOR REPRIEVE.
(Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, Last Night
A petition for the reprieve of Dennis Gunn, who was convicted of the Ponsonby murder, is in circulation. A meeting of those in favour of a commutation of the sentence has also been held. At this meeting the spokesman contended that the evidence on which the Crown case rested was purely circumstantial, and was not sufficient for a decision involving a man’s life. If the sentence were commuted in the terms suggested, and evidence casting any further light on the affair were discovered, it would not be too late for that evidence to enable a rectification, whereas execution of the capital sentence would mean the end of all things. The meeting qarried a motion expressing the opinion that the evidence upon which the Crown case was based was not of a character sufficiently understandable to be satisfactory. The resolution sets out that the jury who convicted Gunn did so on evidence which they were unable to verify: that before any supposed incriminating evidence that is of a highly technical nature can he held to ho conclusive, especially where the death penalty is involved, such evidence should ho referred to disinterested expert opinion.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 1585, 10 June 1920, Page 5
Word Count
205CASE OF DENNIS GUNN. Manawatu Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 1585, 10 June 1920, Page 5
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