LETHAL DOSE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22390, 9 April 1936, Page 12

LETHAL DOSE

JURY'S CONCLUSIONS THE EVIDENCE REVIEWED DELAY IN CALLING DOCTOR [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] WELLINGTON, Wednesday More detailed reference to the evidence in the Mareo caso was made in the judgment delivered by Mr. Justice Ostler on behalf of himself and the other three Judges. This judgment also dealt specifically with the inferences which it was felt the jury were entitled to draw on various aspects of the evidence. "Here is the case of a woman," stated the judgment, "who died on a.Monday afternoon at 5.30 o'clock of veronal poisoning, never having meanwhile recovered consciousness since she fell asleep on the previous Saturday night after drinking half a cup of hot milk prepared by the prisoner, she being then in a dazed condition from tho effect of what could only have been a previous dose of veronal. "The prisoner had admitted to two witnesses that he had given her veronal on Friday night. He slept in a chair in her room on Frfday night, no one else being there. He was with her alone a great part of Saturday and therefore he had the opportunity of administering veronal both on Friday and on Saturday morning, when he found his wife standing by her dressing table in delirium and put her back to bed. Inference From Facts

"On these facts the jury were clearly entitled to infer that no one else could have given it. The suggestion of the defence is that it was not proved that Mrs. Mareo could not have taken it herself, but a reasonable inference from the evidence is that Mrs. " Mareo was never conscious on Saturday, except for a period of some two hours from 10 p.m. to midnight. During all that time Miss Stark was with her, so that unless Miss Stark gave it to her—which is not suggested —she could not have taken it then. "The jury was justified in ruling out the suggestion that Mrs. Mareo may have taken the" dose after waking up and before calling Miss Stark into the room, for she remained awake for some two hours after Miss Stark came in, which would have been impossible according to the medical evidence if she had taken a lethal dose herself. "The doctors were asked if they had considered whether the three doses of sal volatile administered to Mrs. Mareo could have hfid the effect of activating veronal which might have remained in her stomach from the previous dose. Th6y gave a clear opinion that the administration of the sal volatile could have had no such effect, as veronal was rapidly absorbed from tho stomach into the blood and there would be very little veronal remaining in the stomach at the time she was given the sal volatile. The Cup of Hot Milk

"The jury therefore must have come to the conclusions —and we think, on the evidence, that the jury could properly consider that these were the only conclusions they could come to—that the sleep and subsequent coma and death of the deceased was caused by the administration of a lethal dose of veronal while she was awake on the Saturday night; that it was impossible for her to have administered that dose to herself; and that the only way in which it cpuld have been administered was in the cup of hot milk. prepared by the prisoner. > "The evidence justifies the conclusion that Bhe drank enough milk to havo taken 50 grains of , veronal, which i» the average minimum lethal dose, but the evidence as- to her condition, on Saturday before she woke up in the evening justified the conclusion that she had one or more previous doses. The prisoner had. admitted that he had given her veronal on Friday evening. If he put sufficient veronal into the milk which she drank to cause her to go into-the sleep from which she never recovered, then,the jury were justified in coming to the conclusion that he put an overdose of veronal into the milk and caused it to be administered to her with, the intention of killing her, and therefore their verdict cannot be disturbed." Cumulative Evidence

The main point made by counsel for the prisoner, continued the judgment, was that the Crown did not prove its case because it did not by its evidence exclude the possibility that the 'veronal from the effect of which Mrs. Mareo died was taken by herself. In tho opinion of Their Honors, this possibility was excluded beyond any doubt when one considered cumulatively the whole •of the evidence against tho prisoner. In Their Honors' opinion, the jury might properly feel that the case had been proved against him beyond any reasonable doubt. Their Honors also found that the jury were entitled to infer that the prisoner's reluctance to obtain medical help was not referable to any fear that he mijght be charged with tbo crime of procuring abortion, but to the fear that it might be discovered that he was administering overdoses of veronal to his wife. In other words, the jury had ample evidence from which to infer that the prisoner's acts and statements in this respect pointed to his being guilty of the very crime with which he was charged.

FURTHER APPLICATION ■ APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT Another phase of the case was opened up yesterday when it was announced by Mareo's counsel, Mr. K. C. Aekins, that an application for a new trial had been lodged by Mr. H. F. O'Leary, K.C., of Wellington. This action was taken under section 447 of the Crimes Act, 1908, and the appeal will be considered by the Executive Council, which has power to grant a new trial. The section in question reads as follows: —"New trial by order of the Governor-General-in-Council: Where an application for the mercy of the Crown on behalf oiF any person convicted of a crime the Governor-General-in-Coun-cil entertains a doubt whether such person ought to have been convicted, he may, instead of remitting or commuting the sentence, after such inquiry as he thinks proper, by an order in writing, direct a new trial at such time and before ;such Court as he thinks proper." The decision of the Appeal Court was taken very calmly by Marco when it was communicated to him by Mr. Aekins at the Mount Eden gaol yesterday. He discussed for a few moments the train of reasoning of the Judges and expressed confidence in the outcome of the further appeal now being made.

Mareo haa now been 43 days in tho condemned cell of the gaol. As with all condemned prisoners, he is under constant surveillance. He plays draughts most of his time, on Tuesday playing for 7i, hours almost on end. He reads very little. For an hour a day he is allowed to exercise in the big yard, and to this and physical exercise he attributes the fine state of health which, is manifest