PROOF OF CHARGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21329, 2 November 1932, Page 13

PROOF OF CHARGE

JURIES TO BE SATISFIED REMARKS BY CHIEF JUSTICE [by telegraph—own correspondent] WELLINGTON, Tuesday The circumstances under which it is competent for a jury to find an accused pel son guilty of a charge laid against him were indicated plainly by the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, in summingup at a trial in the Supreme Court to-day It would be an intolerable stain on the escutcheon of the administration of British justice, said His Honor, that an innocent person should he convicted. Of course there was always the possibility, however remote, of such a thing happening. Such a thing might happen upon perjured evidence which might deceive the Court and jury, but fortunately such things were rare in the annals of the administration of justice in this country. "Not only is it important in the highest degree that an innocent person should not be convicted, but also one against whom the Crown has failed to prove its case to the satisfaction of the jury, be-" cause that amounts to practically the same thing," said His Honor, "but it would never do for juries to say that they believed the accused might be guilty. What juries should be able to say before thev convicted was, 'we are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt upon the evidence brought before us that the accused is guilty of the offence charged against him.' " .