SUPREME COURT, NELSON. Tuesday, October 1.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, 5 October 1844, Page 1

SUPREME COURT, NELSON. Tuesday, October 1.

- [Before Mr. Justice Chapman.] The grand jury, consisting of the following gentlemen, were impaneled :— Mr. Fox, foreman, Messrs. Dillon, Monro, Duppa, Tytler, Cautley, Newcombe, M'Donald, Spooner, Rowe, White, Valle", Otterson, Sclandere, Hoare, Empson, Fell, Wells, Gee, Saxton, Tod, Graham, and Harkness. His honour the Judge then addressed the jury as follows : —

" Gentlemen of the Grand Jury—For the first time in this settlement you are called upon to exercise* the important functions which belong to the grand inquest of the district; and it becomes my duty to impart to you such aid and direction as the cases of which you will have cognizance seem to me to demand. Taking into consideration that this is the first occasion on which a court competent to try the higher offences has been held here, and that therefore an accumulated number of cues waiting trial might have been expected, I am much gratified in being able to congratulate you that the calendar exhibits no such accumulation. This fact creates in my mind, gentlemen, as it will no doubt in jroors, a very firVoursbte impression of the general obedience of the.

law which has hitherto prevailed in this district. Let us earnestly hope that the impression so created may long remain unimpaired. >4 " Before I call your attention to the only two cases which you will have in charge, permit mejp offer you a few brief remarks on the general nailfe of your function*, and especially wherein they differ from those of the petit jury. Your investigation, gentlemen, stops short of a trial : you hear the evidence againt the accused only ; and unless you should be of opinion that that evidence discloses such a presumption of guilt, that the prisoner ought to be called upon to answer it or explain it away (for a mere suspicion is not enough), you ought not to find a bill. If, on the other hand, you should think the evidence such as would justify a conviction, if unexplained and unanswered, then you must find a true bill, leaving all such explanation — leaving every thing in the nature of evidence for the defence to be produced at the trial.

" Of the two indictments which will presently be sent up to you, one is for killing a bullock with intent to steal the same, and there is a count against one of the prisoners as accessary after the fact. The offence charged in the indictment differs from the offence of maliciously killing cattle by the addition of the intent which you may infer from the ~mode of dealing with, or disposing of, the carcase. If you are of opinion that both the prisoners were together from first to last, driving the cattle away and otherwise aiding each other, then both, being engaged in a common purpose, are equally guilty, though one only may have actually killed the ox ; but, if you think one of the merely aided the other prisoner in put"ting away the evidences of guilt — as for instance by concealing the carcase. — then as to him you must find on the second count only.

" In the indictment for shooting a pig, it is not laid that the accused did it with intent to steal. The accusation is under a statute against the killing or maiming of cattle ; and the only point to notice is, that, in contemplatiou of law, pigs came within the meaning of the act.

" It only remains for me to add that, as guardians alike of the Queen's authority and of the public welfare, it is within your province to take notice of anything which may militate against either. From the position you occupy in society, a timely word from you may repress evils which it might be difficult to remedy.

" I need scarcely remind you, Mr. Foreman, that it is necessary twelve jurors should concur in the finding of a bill, without regard to the number of grand jurors who may be present."

There were only two criminal cases for trial, in both of which the grand jury found a true bill.

Frederick Berry was charged by Fotahi, a native, with killing a pig. The offence took place in November, 1842, in the Rewaka, in the district of Motuaka, where the natives have a pa. Potahi deposed that, while crouching in the fern, he saw Berry advance towards him with a dead pig, which he thrust into a bag and hid. 'On going to the spot with some of his people, the pig was found, together with another, both of which had been shot. On the part of the prisoner, it was contended that there was no evidence to show that the pig had been killed by him ; and the witness admitted that many of the men who were in the neighbourhood at the time, employed in the surveys, had guns. His honour, the Judge, explained to the jury that the testimony of Potahi, though a heathen, could be received, an ordinance having lately been passed which allowed unsworn testimony to be given by the aborigines. It was necessary, however, to receive such testimony with caution, particularly when only one witness appeared, when many might have been called to corroborate the witness's statement. The jury returned an immediate verdict of not guilty.

John Green and Owen Connor were charged by Joshua Sigley with killing a bullock. Mr. .Brewer conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Shepherd watched the case for the defendants. A number of witnesses appeared, who proved the following facts : — Connor and Green were working as sawyers, and, on the 11th of September, they left their work, about four miles from the town, telling another man named Lyford that they must get meat somewhere. Lyford entreated them not to do " anything wrong," and told them they should rather have some of his pigs. The next day Sigley missed his bullock, and searched for it in vain until Sunday, the 15th, when, from information he received of a fire having been seen burning in the wood where Connor and Green worked, he repaired thither, accompanied by a dog, and, in going into the wood, he got on the bullock track. The prisoners were felling trees at the time he entered, and had covered one spot with a great number of saplings and branches. The dog became restless, and, after some scratching, tore np a portion of the burnt entrails of a beast. Sigley, unobserved, brought part of this away, and, on applying to the Police Magistrate, a warrant was immediately issued for the apprehension of Green and Connor. The entire carcase war found buried two days afterwards within a few yards of the spot, where apparently the bullock bad- been killed. A woman named Aldridge, who resided near Connor, stated that he offered her a beef steak on the 13th, if she would

accompany him to the hills. The prisoners made no defence, and the jury, without hesitation, returned a verdict of guilty. Sentenced to ten years' transportation.

The^grand jury made the following present* ment '.—

•• Sir — We avail ourselves of the present opportunity to present to you some circumstances which we conceive intimately to be connected with the welfare of the district of Nelson.

" The lightness of the criminal Calendar has been alluded to by your honour as a subject of congratulation, and as indicative of a sound state of society in the settlement. We regret to have to express to your honour our opinion that the lightness of the calendar is owing to an entirely different cause, namely, the miserable state of the gaol, which has induced the magistrates in a very great many instances to take bail for the appearance of parties charged with the most serious felonies^ rather than subject them to confinement in a place crowded to a degree sufficient to produce pestilence and death among those incarcerated in it. In the cases alluded to, the parties so charged would have appeared this day to take their trial before your honour, but they, as well as their bail, have availed themselves of the facilities afforded for their escape and quitted the colony. We beg to express to your honour our opinion that the present building appropriated to the confinement of prisoners is totally unfit for the purpose, and entails a very heavy responsibility on those whose duty it is to commit criminals to custody within its walls (if they may be so styled), as well as on those who are responsible for the safe keeping of the prisoners. The operation of the Courts of Requests Ordinance is likely to increase very greatly the number of prisoners. " The almost total want of convenience in the present Court House, the very limited space afforded for the necessary officers of the Court, the cramped accommodation of the jury-box, and insufficiency of the portion open to the public, who are supposed to derive much of that knowledge of the laws which enables them to conform thereto from their occasional attendance on the sittings of the courts, must be too evident to your honour to call for any comment from us.

" We wish, however, to call your honour's attention to a still more serious grievance, deeply affecting the social state of our community. We allude to the unprotected state in which the settlement is and always has been, both as regards external attacks, such as that lately witnessed at the Bay of Islands, and also as regards internal commotions, such as occurred a year ago in this settlement, when the lives of the police magistrate and others were threatened, loaded firearms presented at that officer, and riotous conduct displayed for a considerable time, which it was not in the power of the local authorities to check, and all attempts to oppose which they were obliged to abandon. At such periods the magistracy have no force to oppose to the rioters, except eight of nine ordinary constables, and such special constables as may be sworn in at the moment, who are for the most part insufficient under the circumstances. Apart from the eril consequences of thus arraying one part of the civil community against another in this manner, we beg to express our opinion that the protection supposed to be afforded by this means is of no avail, and that no other means exists of affording the necessary protection to the settlements except by stationing troops within its limit ; and that, till such a protection is afforded, the magistrates will Lave no power to execute the laws except in cases where there is no resistance offered.

"We think it our duty also to present to your honour the position of the settlement at the pre* sent moment, when the expenditure of the New Zealand Company having ceased on a sudden, large numbers of men are thrown out of employ" ment, and the inducements to crime are greatly augmented. If some immediate provision of employment could he made by the Government it, might very greatly alleviate the difficulties of the crisis.

" We should be glad if some provision could be made for conveying to the settlement information as to what measures are intended to be laid before the Legislative Council previously to the com* mencement of each session, and also for the early intimation of the measures passed during each session — the settlement having hitherto had no information given them in the first case, and 8 very tardy one in the latter. In preparing this present* ment, we have felt great inconvenience from our ignorance of the ordinances passed during the last session of the Legislative Council, which may possibly have affected the position of the community in many of the particulars alluded to. " The serious loss of life which has occurred by drowning in the Waimea river leads us to regret the want of bridges across it. The erection of; bridges and maintenance of roads are no longer* provided for by the existence of any funds within the settlement, but we trust that they wOl not be disregarded in case of the Government of the co* lony taking upon itself the duties of this department On behalf of the grand jury, '* Wuuah Fox, Foreman." The only case on the civil side was Hutcktttfon V. Beit, which was an action for libeL Mr. Poynteb, on the part of the defends*!, moved .for a postponement of trial, ob the ground of the absence of material witaettct. *" , Mr. Brkwbr opposed the motion. .- •■ - • Granted. „ „ 4 :1 / • . -