Costantini Cleared

NZ Truth, Issue 979, 30 August 1924, Page 6

Costantini Cleared

\. CROWN DROPS FURTHER ■ CHARGES. The Crown \ha.s decided not to proceed with . the "further charges of indecent assault on children , preferred m Auckland against the Italian singer Angelo Costantini. . It will be;, remembered that, m the charge brought of his having indecently assaulted a child aged teji y^ears m a picture show, the jury ...returned a. verdict of '- not guilty, and the Crown Prosecutor, before proceeding with the two other cases, asked that they be not taken till he could communicate with the Solicitor General m the matter. This was done, and as a result? the charges have, been abandoned. The trial revealed a very decided Illfeeling between the defendant and a compatriot named LeoneJlo, who practises dramatic art. Immediately after the trial, m which he came out rather badly not only m cross-examination but m the summing up of Mr. Justice Herdmari, Leonello issued a challenge to Costantini or any of his friends to debate the question of the action he hud taken m the matter on the public platform — leaving it to the public of Auckland as the jury to say whether or not he had acted m the best interests of justice and the children concerned. So far, however, It seems the challenge has not been taken up, and no doubt the verdict of the jury and the remarks of the learned Judge I are considered sufficient for those concerned.