A CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY.

NZ Truth, Issue 115, 31 August 1907, Page 6

A CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY.

BRQSNAHAN AND CROSSEY ACQUITTED. 'An atmosphere of booze surrounded the case against Patrick Frauds Brosnahan and Alfred Crossey, charged with conspiracy to defraud four trusting young men named Wallace, Martin, Elliot, and Follet, who were sent away to a job m Palmerston that wasn't there. "Whiskey obscured the vision of McCauley, the Waipukarau contractor who was supposed to have given an order for men, and McCurdy, his partner, was positive that the meeting with Brosna.lian and Grossey took place m the Pier Hotel m the afternoon,, whereas all other witnesses swore it was m the morning ; so that a cloud of uncertainty, varied by a shout of drinks all' round/ enveloped the proceedings. When ~ome of the witnesses called *„t Sage and Cos. Labor Acetic- Brosnahan had hop leaves m his hair, and during the sitting, of the Supreme Courb the intelligent, but misguided, youne: man gave visual evidence of his. Bacchanalian tendencies. The Court assembled after' lunch on Wednesday, when Brosnahan was found to be missing. The distracted person who had bailed him out located him m the police cells, where he had been deposited! by the police for overindulgence, and a cold shower bath had to be used to bring the reckless person to something approaching consciousness. Brosnahan was run hurriedly along to the Magistrate's Court on Thursday morning and finedi 10s, then whipped back to the criminal tribunal to be finished off there. Two fresh witnesses, Pritchard and Royal, narrated how they had been sent to the wilds of Wang;amii after a bushfelling job, and a representative of Lewis and Co., land agents, Wanganui, testified that he had not ordered wages men, but persons willing to take a felling contract, and that Sage and Co. had RECKLESSLY SENT ALONG PERSONS who demanded wages. The correspondence between the two firms, however, was not quite convincing. The early correspondence mentioned wages men, and Justice Cooper remarked that this documentary evidence as a whole was open to the misconception that the men had been sent to Wan-R-anui for a wages^ job. The testim O nv of the two men, however, identified Crossey with the registry office business as a member of Sage and Co Barristers Luckie and Kirkcaldie made the most of the opportunities for the prisoners, and Crown Prosecutor Myers made a strong representation of culpability m a weak case submerged m alcohol, and things were so uncertain that the jury weir observed to look with anxiety to Judge Cooper for direction. His Honor remarked that the evidence certainly identified Crossey with the business, but the real issue lay m the question whether the registry office fees were obtained under ' false pretences. Tn the opinion of His Honor., the facts on this point were mos<inconclusive. The jury were ohsvnC for twenty minutes. and rcuuv-it'l .with a. yerdicL 0 ? "Kot guilty. f i