SUPREME CORT. Thursday, May 16, 1867.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 113, 16 May 1867, Page 2

SUPREME CORT. Thursday, May 16, 1867.

[Before His Honor 'Mr. Justice Johnston.] /The Judge took his seat on the bench fit 10 o'clock, and the names of the Grand and Petty Juries having been called by /the Clerk of the Court, the Grand Jury • was then sworn, and was composed of the [ following gentlemen : — Messrs. N. Edwards (foreman), 0. Curtis, PL E. Curtis, A. S. Braithwaite, A. S. Collins, J. W. Ba^nicoat, F. Huddleston, J. S. Lowe, ': H. Beitt, J. Beit, D. Jeukius, H. Baiy, \C. Hunter Brown, H. Davis, J. Bentley, *and F. Helling. His Honor then addressed the Grand Jury, and having remarked that this was probably the last occasion ou which he would preside over that Court, proceeded to coagratulate them on the small number of cases for trial at the present assizes. They were, however, not of an insignificant nature ; one, indeed, was of a very grave character : but they were precisely j what might naturally have been expected i under the development of new gold-fieKls, j which acted so powerfully as an induceI meut to unprincipled individuals to resort thither, in order to prey upon the industrious population congregated there. His Honor then went ou to comment upon the cases for trial. The first was an ordinary case of stealing by a prostitute, which would easily be dealt with. The second was a charge of burglary, which, he reminded the jury, cousisted of breaking iuto a dwelling-house with violence, with intent to commit robbery. The ouly question which might arise in their minds in dealing with this case was, whether the erection, (a tent) into which this entry was effected, really came under the definition of a dwelling-house, and it would be requisite to understand, that if it constituted a dwelling of permanent character, it would come under the definition required to constitute the act burglery. His Honor also informed the jury that the removal of the calico which formed the tent would be sufficient enough to coustitute force. The third case for their consideration was one of considerable importance, aud was the first case of the kind, which had come beiore him, for trial. It was what was generally known | in the colonies as a case of " sticking up," that is, when one or more robbers had plundered their victim, and then tied him up, in order to give them time to escape. His Honor then comrneuted on the features of this case, and then proceeded to congratulate the Grand Jury on the general absence of crime in the province ? a fact which proved the necessity of being pre r pared for such emergencies as had arisen under its present circumstances^ and also ! /or the steady, unswerving administration

of justice. The Judge observed that this was tlie nineteenth occasion on which he had addressed a Grand Jury in that place, and during the time that he had presided in that court 90 persons had been brought before him for trial, and amongst these were twelve charged with murder, of whom eight had been condemned to death, and three executed. It might be supposed that these statistics proved the existence of a large proportion of crime in so comparatively small a population, but this must be referred to the peculiar circumstances of the province, siuce a large uumber of these offences had been committed by individuals of an abnormal character, including aboriginal natives of the colouy and also persons, convicted of grave offences in other colonies, and thence imported to these shores. His Honor con- ; eluded by offering his congratulations to the Graud Jury on the ground that they would soon have amongst them as his successor on the Judicial Bench, a gentleman whose position, social and intellectual, was such that uothiug he could say, s would add to it, and the Grand Jury then retired. The foreman shortly afterwards returned into Court, aud stated that a true bill had been found against Ann Couolly. Ann Conolly was then placed at the bar, charged with having on the 7th of March, 1867, at the Pakihis, stolen and feloniously received the sum of £27,, the property of Thomas Davis. Mr. Keon appeared for the prisoner. The Provincial Solicitor (Mr. H. Adams) conducted the prosecution, and haviug opened the case, called Thomas Davis, who being sworn, stated that ou the 7th of March last he met the prisoner outside au hotel in the lower part of the township at the Pakihis. . He afterwards went into the Lawyer's Arms with her, and drank with her. They afterwards went to a cottage, occupied by the prisoner where they had some spirits, aud it was arranged that the prisoner should find a place for the witness to sleep at. They went into another room, which ' was opened by the prisoner, and witness laid down on a blauker, the prisoner returning to the room they first entered, where she slept in company with another man. Witness took a note out of his pocket-book and gave the prisoner, who saw him replace the money iv his trousers pocket. The book contained five £5 notes, aud two £1 notes, and some silver. This happened about midnight. He put his trousers under his head, went to sleep aud when he woke, he noted the door half open, and the parties were gone. He saw his trousers and pocket-book lying on the floor, some papers but no money in the latter. Shortly afterwards he dressed and weut out, and saw the prisoner with her bonnet eff. He accused her of taking his mouey, which she denied. He then had some conversation with Mr. Creed, landlord of the Commercial Hotel at tbe Pakihis, and by taking his advice reported his loss to the police. Cross-examined by Mr. Keon : Did not offer prisoner any money to go with him. The notes were rolled together, and witness had not counted it siuce drawing it the same morning from tlie Bank of New South Wales. Did uot produce the bank clerk who paid him the money, at the magisterial investigation of the case. Was only partially sober, but could walk well. I am not sure whether there was a lock on the door of the room in which I slept. I believe I saw the man who was iv the other room go out before I went to sleep, but he might have returned. The prisoner, a few minutes before tbe case came on at the Pakihis, on the Bth March, offered me £10 to stop the case. lam not sure whether I stated, on the hearing of the case, that it was £8 or £10 which she offered me. Be-examiued by Mr. Adams : I am sure that I received £30 from the bank, and I know that I had £28 left when 1 met the prisoner. Jeremiah Creed, beiug sworn, said that | he was landlord of the Commercial Hotel, at the Pakihis, aud knew the prisoner, whom he saw about 7 on the morning of the Bth, quarrelling with the prosecutor ia the street. The prisoner weut iuto his bar, and the prosecutor followed, and told him of bis loss. After drinking with the prisoner, she asked him to go into the sitting-room. His wife ordered her out, and the prisoner then went into the barroom, called for more drinks, and told witness that " She had the man's money." She showed him a bundle of notes, rolled up in her hand ; there was a£s note among tbem. Prisoner then sat down in the bar, rolled up the notes and put them

away iv her clothes. The ginger beer man came in, and she then said " Have a drink, old chap, I've made £25 this morning and that's not so dusty." They were served with drink, and the prosecutor then came iv, and she was arrested, the witness informing the police that she had put the money under her clothes. The prisoner heard that the prosecutor had sent for the police, and she shook her fist in the witness's face and threatened him if he informed against her, at the same time asking hitn to procure her legal advice, for which she would pay him. Cross examined by Mr. Keon : I saw her trying to conceal the money on her person while in my bar. She had a £1 note aud some silver in her hand, which she kept separate from tbe rest. I drank with tbe prisoner alter I knew she had beeu accused of the robbery, because I wished to detain her until sbe was arrested. The amouut expended by the prisoner in about teu minutes' time, iv this interval, was 10s. The prisoner told me she had offered the prosecutor £10 to settle the matter. Samuel Hewston, Sergeaut of Police at Pakihis, being sworn, deposed to the apprehension of the prisoner at the Commercial Hotel, who was then takeu to the Camp, and that she had uo opportunity of makiug away with the money on the road thither. Witness searched the prisoner's house, bedding, &c, but found uothing. No mouey was found upon the prisoner on her examination at the Camp. His Honor observed that, judging from the most recent trials which had taken place at home, there seemed to be a growing disposition not to press the prerogative accorded by the Crown Prosecutor of summing up against the prisoner, and he therefore enquired of Mr. Adams whether he intended to do so in the preseut iustauce ? Mr. Adams declined to avail himself of the right of reply. Mr. Keon then addressed the jury for the defence, commenting at some length on various apparent discrepancies in the prosecutor's evidence, and also on the fact that there was auother man, who was not forthcoming, who was al-o in the ' prisoner's house at the time tbe money was supposed to be stolen. His Honor then summed up, impressing upon the jury the necessity of dismissing from their minds the fact that the prisoner belonged to an unfortunate class, and also of satisfying themselves beyond all reasonable doubt that theprosecutor had really lost the money in question, and that the prisoner was indeed the person who had stolen it, and commenting upon tbe evidence at considerable length. The Grand Jury, at au early stage of this case, having found true bills in both the two other cases for trial at this assizes, returned iuto court, when their Foreman, Mr. N. Edwards, read au address, expressive of their sense of the uniform courtesy aud assistance which they had ever experienced at the hands of bis Honor, Mr. Justice Johnston, and wishing him all health and happiuess iv his future career. His Honor, in reply, said that the public men, and especially judges, were compelled to be very careful what they said or did, and they had frequently very disagreeable duties to perform. It was, therefore, the greatest consolation to them to be assured that their motives were properly appreciated. He then expressed his fear that in some instances, actuated by his great anxiety to secure the proper and efficient administration of justice, he might have seemed to act harshly, and if this had been the case, he regretted it. Iv conclusion, he begged to return them his most cordial thauks for the warm expression of feeling to which he had just listened ; and after acknowledgiug, iv the usual form, the services rendered by the Grand/ jury to the Crown, he discharged them from their duties. Alexander Macpherson, Johu Anderson, and James Thomson, charged with feloniously assaulting and robbing Richard Nicholls of eight ounces of gold, of the value of £30, four £l notes, and one halfsovereign, two shilliugs, and one gold ring, of the value of £1, at the Blackwater river, on the 20th January, 1867 — pleaded guilty, and were brought up for sentence. His Honor, in passing sentence, said that lie had looked through the depositions in this case, with a view of discovering whether any distiuctiou could be made between the guilt of the three prisoner.*-', but he could fiud none. They had all beeu eugaged together in the serious crime of which they had confessed themselves guilty, and had beeu goi^ig about stealing

their food, and also stealing the gun by means of which they had extorted the money which they had takeu from the prosecutor. It was a case of extreme importance in a country to which adventurous persons were attracted, and thus became liable to the effects of the cupidity and evil passions of persons like the prisoners. The law gave him a discretionary power in dealing with cases of this description, and permitted him to sentence such offenders to penal servitude either for life or for a lesser time. In the present case he much regretted that no intermediate period between these two terms had been left to the discretion of the judge, for although this was a very bad case, still it might possibly not be the worst, and though he would not inflict the extreme sentence, the crime was such as demanded some greater punishment than the minimum sentence involved. It should, however, be distinctly understood by persons like the prisoners, that if such practices were continued, tbe very highest sentences tbe law allowed would be eniorced against them. His Honor concluded by passing the highest sentence allowed by the law, short of servitude for life, namely, ten years' penal servitude. The prisoners, who were all three men of between 30 and 40 years of age, were then removed. At the time of going to press (4 o'clock) the jury had uot arrived at any verdict in the case of Ann Connolly.

We are authorised to state that a moon-\ light parade of the Cadet Rifles and of the! Artillery Cadets will take place on Satur-) day eveniug. Tbe members of the^two] corps will assemble at the Depot, at\a! quarter to 7 o'clock, and will proba! lyj march thence to Victory-square, wherej they will go through some manoeuvres.! They will be accompanied by the Drum and Fife Band. Few of our readers can have passed Mr. Hounsell's establishment in Trafalgarstreet without noticing a case contaiuiug some very choice specimens of the photographic art — portraits of the late Superintendent, Mr. Saunders, and other local notabilities — which has been displayed there during the last few days. These portraits were executed by Mr. Davis, of Hardy-street, and are well calculated to sustaiu the large reputation which he has gained, especially in this branch of the art, beiug remarkable both for fidelity of* resemblauce aud artistic execution. It will be seen from au advertisement wliich appears in auother column, that the anniversary of the Wesleyan Church in Nelson will be celebrated on Friday, the 24th instant, when a public tea meeting will be held in the School-room adjoining the Chapel in Hardy-street, followed by a public meeting in the Church, at which several addresses will be given. Sermous will also be preached in tlie Wesley at^ Churcb, both moruiug aud eveuing, on Sunday next. It seems that the bearing of the no.tori- - ous Bertrand's case was commenced before the Privy Council, ou the 28th February. The result has not yet been received.