SUPREME COURT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22643, 3 February 1937, Page 16

SUPREME COURT

CRIMINAL SESSIONS

SOME SERIOUS CASES CHARGE TO GRAND JURY TRUE BILLS RETURNED "The amount of criminal business that has to be dealt •with at these sessions is considerable," said Mr. Justice Callan, in delivering his charge to the grand jury at the opening of the quarterly sessions of the Supreme Court yesterday. "If my calculations are correct there are 17 cases, involving charges against 19 persons, and somo of the crime, alleged is of a serious nature."

Of the charges to he considered two related to negligently driving motor vehicles, thereby causing death, one to attempted murder, one against two men to doing bodily harm, with intent to roh, one against two men to burglary and related offences, one to cattle stealing, one to theft by failure to accountj one to ordinary theft of a camera, one to forgery and the remainder all dealt with or arose out of sexual irregularities of one kind, or another.

Yalue of Grand Jury His Honor said that although <dl the persons involved had been committed for trial after preliminary inquiries by a magistrate or justices, it was important that the cases should be considered by a grand jury as an additional safeguard against anyone being wrongfully, unlawfully or uselessly put on trial. He asked the grand jury not to grudge time in considering the cases, although the list was fairly lengthy. It was sometimes said that the grand jury system should be abolished, but he did not agree with that. It was very important that this extra precaution should be taken and that it should be in the hands of ordinary citizens not ordinarily associated with the administration of justice. In .addition it would gire them some idea of what was going on in the matter of crime m the district and how the problem was being handled by the police. Negligent Driving Cliaraes Reviewing the cases in grt .iter detail, His Honor said in one of the negligent driving cases, where a cyclist had been killed, accused denied travelling by the route on which the accident occurred, but there was a good deal of evidence tc> the contrary. He imagined they would have no difficulty in deciding that the case should go.before the common jury. In the second, negligent driving case a passenger in a car driven by the accused was killed in a collision. The right-hand rule would appear to be prima facie against accused. The Judge was far from saving this inevitably meant that accused was to blame. There might, be special circumstances!, but. they could be explained to the common jury. The attempted (murder charge, which •rose from an altercation on a steamer, seemed clearly a case for a true bill, ■continued His Honor. : In the caso where two Maoris were charged with assaulting an elderly ; man at his house in Grafton Road with intent to rob one had signed an , admission of his share in the affair, but the other produced an alibi. There were some conflicting statements involved and "it seemed necessary that the reliability of the various witnesses should be examined further by taking the case before a common, jury. The Remaining Cases

There should be no difficulty over the case .in which two men were charged with breaking and entering a shop at Pokeno bv night. The reliability of identification was involved in four charges of cattle stealing in the North and this case also should go to the common jury. A number of other miscellaneous cases all (teemed strong enough for a true bill and there was doubt in only one of' the sexual cases. This related to two charges of indecent assaults on girls by a man aged 71. The evidence on both charges was rather weak,- but.His Honor doubted whether it could b«i said a ' no-toll should be returned. - - - -

The .grand, jpjty that was. em panel Jed comprised Messrs. J. Prater (foreman), R. A. Abbott, J; -B. Allison, A. L. Caughey, A. >ll,/ Donald, A. rj. Graham, W. Harrison, E. D. Harvey, F. Jones, E. G. V., Le Petit, C. ,R. Moses, W. F. MeCuilam, 12. W. Philpott, R. Rmssell, J.' Steabro'ok, L. R. Sharp, A. J. W. Sims, E. C.> Turner, J. D. Twentyman and F. M. ,Uns worth.* True -bills were returned in every case. .'

! SATURDAY SITTINGS

SUPREME COURT OVERWORKED

■[by TELKGP.APH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] ' PALMERSTON" NORTH, Tuesday

Though informed by counsel that the Court was closed on. Saturdays under the new arrangement of hours in the Public Service, ,Mr. . Justice Ostler, in the Supreme; Court, when making fixtures, intimated that he would take undefended divorce petitions and bankruptcy matters on that morning. " I cannot help it," His Honor added. "We are overworked."'