SUPREME COURT.—CRIMINAL SESSION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2055, 5 September 1868, Page 5

SUPREME COURT.—CRIMINAL SESSION.

(Before His Honor, Mr Justice Chapman.) Friday, September 4th. j The Court sat shortly after ten o'clock. | SHEEP STE.ILING ON WAITAHUNA j HEIGHTS. ■'..'■' • , ~~- •/! r - r I Gilbert Hughes alias . Mahon, , found Guilty of sheep stealing, on Waitahuna Heights, was brought up for sentence. In reply to the usual question, he said—All I have got to say is, tliat Dunne forced me on.. He told me what to say, and I had his own handwriting to copy from for that statement which was read here yesterday ; and when I would not swear to it, he put it all on myself. lam a married man, and have a wife .and family in Victoria. I have been making a hard living here and in Victoria for years, and never anything could be brought a«ainst me before, at Home or oat here. I never was guilty of any crime ; and I hope His Honor will take it into consideration and have mercy, for though found Guilty. I am quite innocent of this sheep stealing The Judge : I do not believe a word'of your story ; and the reason why I do not, is that ifc is quite impossible you could have pointed .put the ponds or wat^rholes where the skins lay, without your knowing how they came thgre.

The Prisoner: I beg. your pardon, your Honor, will you let me speak. The Judge: You have had your say, and I am now passing sentence on you. It is quite clear that you, and probably others, have been engaged for a great many months living on the property of other persons. The jury were not satisfied with the evidence against the five men tried yesterday ; but I do not suppose that that jury believed one word of what you said in the witness-box. At all events, your own statement, before you were brought into this Court, is evidence against yourself; arid if you had not made that statement, your pointino* out where the skins lay concealed would have Hen quite sufficient. The sentence of the Court is, that you be kept in penal servitude for the period of five years. Andrew Jasper and John Henry, alias

Saxby, alias Stephens, two colored men, who were indicted on Thursday, with three other men, for stealing a sheep belonging to Mr Cable—the five prisoners being found Not Guilty—were indicted for killing, with intent to steal, four sheep, the property of Mr Cumine. The sheep referred to were those which Gilbert Hughes alms Mahon, was found Guilty of being concerned in stealing. The facts of the case were published yesterday.

The Crown Prosecutor (Mr B. C. Haggitt), in stating the case, said that most of the jurors would probably be in Court on Thursday afternoon, and would hear the reason assigned by the jury by whom the five men were tried, why that jury declined to receive the written statements of the. men—namely, that the statements were not signed by the meD. The present jury were in no way bound to that opinion. They would hear the evidence of the two constables; they would judge for themselves whether the evidence of the officers was worthy of credit; and if they believed that the officers were speaking the truth, it would be their duty to find the prisoners Guilty. That another jury objected to consider the written statements because the men had not signed them, was no more binding on the present jury, than would have been such an objection as " The statements are written with black ink 5 we think that red ink should have been used."

Mounted Constable Dunne repeated that he never held out the least inducement to the prisoners to make statements. Each of the men began to speak about the case when called upon to sign his "pro-perty-sheet." Then he (Dunne) told Constable Comyn, the lockupkeeper, to write down the statement; and each man heard that direction arid saw that Comyn was writing.—By Jurors : Certainly I did not ask either of the men to sign what Comyn had written. It is my duty not to speak to men in such circumstances, and I did not. speak to either of these men ; but it is my duty to listen to, and to remember what prisoners say, if they speak in my presence about the offence with which they are charged. Constable Comyn and Mr Ciimine were examined.

The Prisoners, iri their defence', repeated the substance of what they said on Thursday—that Hughes made the charge against them through malice arising out of a quarrel; and that Dunne advised them that their only chance of escaping was to implicate Hughes. The Judge said, as to the admissions aUeged to have been made by the prisoners, it would have been compe^ tent for the constable to relate them viva voce. But the constables had a clear right to take down in writing any such admission, with a view to having material with which to refresh their memories ; and where an admission was of great importance, it was always better that it should be so taken down. It was not the writteri document which was evidence of the admission, but what the constable swore before the jury • and if, with such a written document in his hands, the constable could not siflfear that the words, written were those used by the prisoner, the making of the admission would not be proved. Nor was'it necessary that the person who^ took down the admission should sign it: the wiiting was merely to enable him to preserve the words in his memory, and to say, "This is what the prisoner stated." Any man, in fact, might refer to a memorandum, made at the time, to refresh his memory as to words to which he swore when in the witness box. The constables here swore that the words taken down in writing, were the precise words used by the prisoners ; they swore, also—which was necessary before the admissions could be used—that neither of the men was in-: duced, by any threat, or any hope, held out, to make any admission. Theadmisr sions, therefore, were evidence, for the consideration of the jury. The two admissions differed greatly as to their extent. Jasper's admission, no doubt, was to the effect that he was one of the principal persons implicated in these sheep stealing transactions, from the beginning to the end : that the very skins found by Dunne were'skins of sheep which he (Jasper) had killed arid taken away. That,, if the jury believed the whole statement, was evidence upon which the jury might at once convict. But Henry's admission was equivocal: it was not very clear whether, the words sworn to disclosed a knowledge of the whole transactions, before or at the time of their taking place, or whether the' admission was to a greater extent than that he became connected or acquainted, with the thefts after they had taken place; The jury should weigh carefiiUy the words of Henry ; for if the jury concluded that he was only an accessory after the fact, he could not be convicted ori the present indictment.

The jury were locked up for an hour and a quarter. They returned a verdict of Guilty as against Jasper; and " Not Guilty of the four sheep," as against Henry,

The Judge : That is no verdict. If he j is guilty of part, he is guilty of the whole, j The Foreman: We say, that Henry is i Not Giiiltyl . ... .-"...! Henry was discharged.. Jasper was sentenced to five years' penal servitude. , HOUSEBREAKING AT TAPANUI. Thomas Shaw, was indicted for that, on the 28th June, at Tapanui, he broke into a dwelling house belonging to Alexander Stewart and John Gow (trading as Stewart and Gow), with intent to steal; a second count charging that he did steal £3.

The facts of the case were these— Messrs Stewart and Gow'lPpremises comprise a shop to the front, with a storeroom and a bedroom behind ; there being a front door to the shop, and a side door opening into a passage between the storeroom and the bedroom. The storeman, James Robbie, was the only person who resided on the premises. On the evening of Sundaj'-, the 38th June, Robbie left tbe store at five o'clock, and went to the house of James D.mean. Robbie* was sure that the windows were securely fastened, and|having seen thafc the sidodoor was locked, he went out by the front door, which he locked, and. took the key with him. He had shortly before leaving looked into the till, and he saw there a Ll riiite, half a sovereign, a 5s piece, about 25s in copper,, three pence, and a watch. The cash-box, containing a larger sum-of money, he left on a chest, beside his bed. About eight o'clock, William VaUance, a carpenter, and Thoma3 Swan, went to the store, desiring to get a copy of the Otago Witness. As they approached, they saw a dim light through the fanlight over the front door, bufc the li«ht disappeared, and VaUance heard footsteps, as of: a man going from the shop to the storeroom. VaUance and Swan went to the side door, and finding it a little open, they entered, and VaUance went into the bedroom, thinking Robbie must be there. He saw a figure crouching at the end of the bed .; and beUeving it to be Robbie, he asked, " Haven't you any matches in the place 1" There was no answer, but the figure arose, and passed

VaUance, who, however, by the Ught o 1 the moon, thought he recognised the prisoner, and asked, "Is that you, Tommy?" The man, however, went on into the passage, where.Swan stood with his back to the door. The prisoner's voice was recognised, when the man said, "Let me pass ; " but Swan replied, •" We'll see who you are, first." The prisoner returned to the bedroom and lighted a match. He then asked V a Uance° not to say anything about seeing him there; andVallancenot replying, the prisoner turned to Swan, and repeated his request. Swan said, "If there's no crime committed, there's nothing for ihe to say ;" to which the prisoner rejoined, " There's no crime committed : it all lies between you two, whether you say anything or not." The prisoner said that he had come down for tea and sugar, and had found the door open: at first he said that he entered the'place about 20 yards ahead °^ J Valance Swan, and afterwards that he had been in two or three minutes i when they came. After a while, the I prisoner asked if they knew where Robbie was ; and VaUance suggesting that he might be at Strain's public-house nearly opposite, the prisoner said he would go and see. The prisoner returned, and afterwards went to Allan's, and returned. It was then suggested that Robbie might le at Duncan's. The prisoner saidhe would see. At Duncan's he told Robbie, «< There's two friends of yours down at your place, who want some stores." Robbie replied that he would not seU any on Sunday ; and the prisoner then said that he had found the door open, and VaUance and Swan inside. Robbie said that he did not understand how the door could be open, as he had the key of the place. On the way to the store, they met Swan, who was looking for Robbie; and when Swan said that he and VaUance had found the side door open, and the prisoner in the bedroom, the prisoner did not deny, that statement. Robbie fo and that the cash-box had been moved about a foot from where he left it, but its contents were untouched; and that, all the money had been takes from the till, except the pence, which remained with the watch. He accused the prisoner of the robbery, but the prisoner denied it; and when his pockets were felt, it was found that he had no money. It was found that the side-door had been forced open, several marks being left, showing that the instrument, used was about lin. wide. ' At the time of the robbery, there was no police station nearer to Tapanui than that at Switzers, distant 35 miles. On the Monday, a messenger was sent to Switzers ; on the Tuesday, Sergeant M'Mahon arrived at Tapanui; and that officer arrested the prisoner ih an unused shepherd's hut, onM'Na''s station, 25 miles from Tapanui When arrested, he was charged with burglary. He denied that he was guilty. He told M'Mahon that he was in the store, waiting, an hour before anybody came ; aud he afterwards said that he was standing outside when "VaUance and Swan were crossing to the store, and tbat hearing somebody walking inside, he went in, thinking that it was Robbie. When he was arrested the prisoner had L4lss in his possession. VaUance, Swan, Robbie, and M 'Mahon, were examined. .

Mr Barton, who appeared for the prisoner, commented to the jury on many of the circumstances, contending that though they appeared against the prisoner, they were really favorable to his innocence, after fair and reasonable explanation.

The jury, after a very short consultation, found the prisoner Guilty. The Prisoner said that he had been 20 years in the Colonies, having come out when he was only 13 years old ; and that during ih^vSO" years, he had never suffered a moment's detention for any crime. He added, "I believe this is the last criminal case that wUI be brought under your Honor's notice In this Province. I hope, therefore, you will be lenient; and, wishing your Honor aU possible success in your interided voyage to England, I .have no more to say." The Judge : The sentence of the Court is, that you be kept ih penal servitude for three years. The Prisoner : Thank your Honor. Th c Court was ad j ourned until Monday. The case in which the jury had found a true bill for assault, on an indictment privately presented, was mentioned, during the day.—The Judge inquired whether Michael Sylvester Duffy (the prosecutor, we believe) wa3 present, but he did not appear. His Honor added that no process of the Court had been issued, or applied for, to compel the attendance of the defendant; and that the matter must stand over until the next session. -

The Civil Causes (Common Juries) wiU be commenced on Monday.