SUPREME COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11746, 30 May 1900, Page 7

SUPREME COURT.

CRIMINAL SITTINGS,

Tuesday, May 29. ■ . (Before his Honor Mr Justice Williams.) His Honor took his seat on the bench at 10.30 a.m. . ■ . i- ■ •■■■..'■

■ •■'■"' MiMSLAVCnTEE. . Hamilton Eddington, Henry Hughes Eddington, ar.d Robert Burns were charged that; on the 14th April, at Kakanui, they did kill and slay Peter Cartridge. ■ Mr Newton, of Oamaru, appeared for the accused, who.pleaded '''Not' guilty." ' On tho application of the counsel for the act-used all witnesses were ovdered out of court. .',. •■-.•■ . '-.■ , ■ ■ ■

; AheCrown Prosecutor (Mr J. F. M. Fraser), in opening the case for th.c prosecution, said the accused were charged with the manslaughter Of one .Peter Cartridge, in.the township .of Kakanui. The indictment being one of manslaugter, and hot of -murder, the duties of. the :ury were much simplified. Manslaughter was defined hy the code as being culpable homicide, EDt amounting' to murder—that was to say, thai it consisted in the Wiling of any.person by, an unlawful act, as' in this case. 'It might also be described as involuntary manslaughter ''—that was, ■ where ar;y man by'doing an unlawful act killed another. The jury were-re-lieved of any necessity of 'inquiring whether it was the intention of the accused, to bring about the act' that resulted in the death of Peter Cartridge. It was not necessary, for them, to "burden- themselves with the weight of determining- whether or not the accused intended to kill when they threw the stone. Merely throwing a stone-.at another was-an unlawful act. If by misadventure that stone killed, the offence was one of manslaughter at law. As to whose hand it was that threw the stone that killed Peter Cartridge, that was not a question that thp^jury need determine—that wa3 to say, it \y.is; not ■ necessary to determine the exact hand that clelivered the fatal stroke where- two or nioro were engaged.in an act which-resulted in the death of the man. In such a case they were all responsible. The accused were residents .of the township of Kakanui. rhe deceased, he believed, was a Russian-Finn—a man .of some 60 years of age, and also a resident of Kakanui. 'On the night in question the accused and the deceased, with some others, were . more, or-less in-contact-and some horse-play .-■was .indulged(in. It would appear that Peter .. pM'ridge was, somewhat eccentric. He was -a Man rather easily roused to passion, and violent When roused—just-such a man as a certain -section .of the community: would delight.in aggravating. Souie stones were . thrown by Peter Cartridge, arid the accused followed him up. and threw stone? at' him. He fell, one of the - stones struck him.on'the! head,; and death're- , suited. The evidence would show that Cameron last' saw. : the deceased about j.l o'clock on the night; of; the vHth iiist. He was' then at Caiueron's'place perfectly sober. He went there. stlioiit\:'7 o'clock, and apparently stayed, till 11: o'clock, going, away with "John Mihty. The three accused and-some, other young fellows were standing by the church at 11 o'clock at night..: Cartridge went there, and. they and he Had. words together.. The deceased swore at the qccuacdjmd threatened them. .He then went

nway,,. and afterwards canie back,and threw stoneg: at.aome of the party. Three of the aci cused admitted, that they threw stones at him, ' apd the evidence would show that one of them sisfd: "He is'down," or "That downed him."' Evidently after the.'stone'that'-boused Cart- . ridge's' death was.thrown the accused went back ,'to the church.'. Probably they had .'a i cousultation amongsti themselves, and went home ■without' gding near where .Cartridge was left. One pi/the young Jlintys, however, found the .'deceased, and informed his father; Alter liear- . injj, the; evidence he (the : Crown Prosecutor) tlibught the jury would come to the'conclusion ..-tliut Cartridge's death was caused by a stone "thrown by one or other of the three accused. ■ If so,\then. they would'find a verdict in'accordance with the direction that his Honor would doubtless give them.., ■'.'.•. i ■'■-William Cameron, a settler, at Kakamii, de- . posed.that he had lmownthe deceased Veter .'. Cartridge for . ab'a;it. 18 years. J'Qii April 14 deteased and John Minty went to, witness's house at 7! p.m. Minty and deoaaaed werp . gjnijnojiing to fight. .Deceased was quite sober, ..-. ciintl said ,tq flinty, '." I'll bash you," followed ; liirji, to the ,'gnte, and then returned to the .house. - Jfjntj' -and'another man then went • a'«?vy,. .Cartridge, feiniiine.d at the: house till ,11" o'clock at,night.' Deceased was an Austrian, 'and was ,a man who would. geVexcited if tormented; if left alone, he .v;as peaceable. ■'■."'l'p Mr Ifewton: ;lt did not take much to ■"-Tous'e. Cartridge, arid he was ronsed by Minty, He used very strong language, and scarcely .opened his'mouth,l when excited> without swearing.. He would swear whenfolking to thebest ; Df ,: friends'. ■Vfitne^s never said that Cartridge was excited .when he left h-3 house.

Minty irnade a'habit of teasing Cartridge. .' Re-examined:.. 'It wonkl ,'nof . be., an easy "'thing iq.say hpw many pppple in Kakaiiui were iri the' habit.pfteaising deceased,' .':'■' .-,>;... Mary-Ann. Vfatsoh, w|(e of \yiUiauv Moore , . Watspn, and a resident." at. Knlcanui, deposed '"• that" deceased. wa'3 a. man -who was'very pas- ; sibn'nte -when roused ; when riot roused lie was . peaoea-hle, - but-.-could ;be: easily -putpnt. 'On ;. the' night.of :April ■14, about half-past 11 ■.-■' .'o'clock, when at home, she heard some people qiiarrelling'in the road. She did not recognise the,.voices,.but the sound was very near—not :; more thanAO.o of 11. yards off. On'getting up, i she hp.srd;s6mething like a groan, and then ';'..'■. -'.someone running towards the bridge.' Subse- ■ . .qnpntly, ;,ou looking' put of: the window, she : bow, lying on the road, what-she topic'to be a ; : 'wg. of chaff, but-which prpycd'.to be'the body '~ pfvthp'.'deqeaaed. ■"-:. ;■'.■ ■'•.-. ' .-'. r'- •' ' ".' '.. ; Tp'Mt Newton: -'.Deceased was a very qusu-rel- ';'. sonio:.man,''and very loud-voiced. .On this oc- ;,' : -'c'risjion sheclid'nqirecpgnise his voice. She did :,- -not'-distinguish separate voices, but heard so '' ■ much:noise'she concluded'it. mtist have been ; innde>by jnoro'than one person. . ; .- ' iS.ergpant O'G-rad.y cloposed .that he went to . K(ih;anuii acconipanied by Constables Hunt and ■ MTjeod., arriving.there.'there at 2 a.m. pi; the 15th :.-■,q£-:April.V,-'J3ie.place whore deceased had been ■!,• -lying..was parefiilly - exaruinod. There a ''■■ i pool of.blppd'there, on a .smooth part of the ' ipad,- but no mark' of blood on any of the ad- : jaceiif-stones. On the nftprnpon of the' same lay h>,say/, the thre.e accused and flve ethers ..'; -in- the .vpad, npai. tht house of the deceased. ;; 4.^e^ heiiig oaiitipned, accused Burns made a 'sta^ametit,.which' was' taken clqwr in writing. .-. .The'stfijement'waaas follows:—"I was in the ' {pwhship 'on the':night of the 14th, in company - :'• ■TVithtwd'ar'G'regdrs, two Edd'ingtons," Cleverly, ...: Minty;- and " il'Lepd; about ' i p.m. We : were standing near 'the church corner talking when .Beter passed. I and some others said, : "Hallpa, Peter.' He replied, calling us dogs, and some' othpr names. We told him to go honie. I was on the outside pf the party when" ... -he niado a smash' at me. I dpdged him. He then wenthoaje, and came back with lr's coat ; •off and his sleeves rolled'up. 'He had a stick in his hand, and made a run at the crowd: He i did -not hit aiiypne. -AVc told him' to go home- .". J? did ".not want a-row. He then left ir. the directipn pf. his home. One Cleverly;. Hie two addmgtons.JVM'Gregor, and I started to pb ;:home.. He was in front. -He"said," ' You - ■ ■.'■:'.™SB."l'H'-'smash'.-your skulls in.' He com-y.snenced-throwiiig.stones, but did not hit any of .lis.,- We thought.we. wpuld frighten him. We -, ..^picied■ up,a;stone o. two and threw them at : --t-? 1!^- my?el£. threw pnerivith.no intention to ■."^•'■-fl^v'fii'snwthe others stoop doy;n to;pick ; upjstones," and I: suppose they- threw, them' ■'. I . i'M'y.'-tMev/.'one.-slpne, but haa/,anpth'er iii ray ■ handv;i:;We were.' .Ithen .standing . between . -MGregpr's-two gatei. Peter was .standing at .-that, time ;near: Watson's store, ne.arer:tp us .. than:.where the blood was on the road. I threw tne.atpnem.the direction of where Peter was '■•'■J- di !i,$ r ot:. se.e'him> fall/but Hairry Edcfiugton - eaid, He-.is lying down,' not'to go aloiig that Vjvay^that he would catch us. then turned back and. joined-' Minty,' M'Leod, and M . ;M'Greg6r.; When to gpt back Minty was - 'here;" Mmty.asked where he was, arid we told him not to go along that wny, aB he was lying . ...down-waiting. ■He said, 'I am going,: and \& V^Pfr Slhetwo Eddingtons, Cleverly, and mv.ielf:went;up the back way and went home "l Cleverly. We were in bed when ■ Mmty. told us Peter was dead. The two ■S-vreorgps.,.weDß.at. i Cleyerly's hut .this mornyig.V: Wituesa had seen Minty and Cleverly, bill; accused were-not present. When Burns -had finished he, sat down, and witness spoke to Janiej M Greßoi, whe said that lie was with ; *SS others m the to^ynship, and saw Peter pass! ;■ •Une. of them said,' V: Good night," and Cart- -■ '*!s!>s walked over and used very bad language, and, bamg advised tp gp home, he replied that "' m? v'ouW smash their' skulls; buthc went away 1-h.e Efjdingtoris, Burrils, andClGverly followed . Jiim, and witness heard them say that Cart's»rlj?' >Va3 stones. Accused told him (4lt.reßor) that they had thrown stones, too . •*■ e. x??« er. Eddington also made a statement, whir-.li witness took down in writing. -.Witness here read-the. statement in qties- ' : '"S??:-"''-V -? a?' to c following effect:—He (lidpingtonVwas" with t]ie "pther young felloWs Pa tj,e .mght when Peter Cartridge, passed •flaem.^pne of the company said, ■•■ Good night, i-t eter- .Cartridge' replied, saying he' would ■ . cokid back in a U\r minutes and settle some of 1 -^.fft 1- .Shortly a(terwdrds Cartridge ranie buck \ with his cpat off and a stick in his hand, and ..-.threatened .-them.. He then went along the road.a ))it, turned back, and threv; stones . TV-hen "neat-M'Gregqr's ■ place he again threw Stpn.ea, and said he would split-some of "their .•ikulls: - They: were then about SO or GO yards away. I" AJexander Eddingtpp t']ien threw 'a stqne, and1 there vverp other stones thrown at .Peter. He did-not. see-Cartridge fall.'and did i.ipt tell that Jie, was oven 'He went ■home.the back wayUyitg -liie' brother, Cleverly, and Burns.; Tie';dit| -not hcijr the expression mat Cartridge was "lying doWh or that he was "J^r- Witness .proceedpd tp say that Malcolm MGregpr also made a statement, which witness tcolc down in writing. .": '-}:'.'■■ '' , - ' .■ ITr Newton obiected to the admission of the ctatpment as eyjdencs, pi\ the ground that such . a statdinDnt could not. ho. regarded an a tneii

admission hy the accused that the "statement was correct, and that they could not he expected te contradict the statement whether it was correct or-hot.

Mr Fraser said the objection would more properly come in in asking the jury to discount the evidence-—not as an argument against, the admission of the evidence... : . '.'

His Honor did not think he coula the statement. He should think thai if the statement made might be expected to incriminate the accused they might be expected to.raise some probit about it. . '

Witness then proceeded to read the statement, which was to some extent corroborative of that made by Alexander Eddington. jjj also read a statement made by Kenneth il'Leod. ' ■■-■■,-.." ■■■•.'■- To mx Newton: The sb.lement3inade by the accused were made .spontaneously. , ' Constable Hunt also gave evidence. George Cleverly, lime-burner, who resided at Kakanui, said he was at.the hotel, in company with several young fellows, including the three accused, on the night oE the KUi 'of April. They, left the hotel about 10 o'clock, and went down the road as fiiv as the church. They remained there talking for about an hour. While they we're there Peter Cartridge passed. As he passed some of the lads said "Good night, Peter." He replied', "Get out, you dogs," or something to that effect. He then . started to swear, and one of the lads told him to go home, and said they did not want to have any row with him. Peter said, '■ Wait a minute;' and then went in the direction of his home. He returned in about five minutes with a- stick, and had his coat off. Ho came up to the lad's, commenced swearing at them, and said he would smash their skulls in.'". Two or three of the party told him to go home again. Ho started to, go home, and witness and the other lads afterwards started to go home too. Wheii they got to the bridge Peter Cartridge commenced to throw stones, at" them. They walked on for about 15 yards past M'Gregor's gate, when witness turned to go hack. The three' accused also turned hack immediately afterwards. As they were going along the road towards the church someone" said Peter was lying down, and that they'should not go that way, as he thought Peter was going to play some trick on them. They then went back' to the church' corner, and met some of the lads •yhom they had left there before. ■ They told these lads not to go down in the direction of Peter, ana then left to -go home. Witness left the two Eddingtons at his .own gate, aiid Burns stopped with him that night. The "'only stones he saw thrown that night were ' t'aoso thrown by Peter Cartridge. He, however, lieard the accused state that they had thrown stones. He did noi see them -throw stones or pick any up. , '

To Mr Newton: None of the lads gave Cartridge any provocation that, night before he threw the stones. When Cartridge came'lip'to the lads with the stick in his hand he was very excited.. He was the first to throw stones. When he was lying down none of them thought ho had been struck with a stoiic. Witness honestly thought that he intended to play a irick on them. . :

James Win. Mint;-,, who we's with i've previous", witness and a number of other young fellows at tlie cprnei' of the church on the night 'of the 14th. April, stated that when Cartridge-came up. t'q" them apd said he would.'.smash them some of the.party replied tlint he could not do it. Cartridge then said he would. come back and show them.. He came back with a stielt,1 and had his coat off.. He flourished the stick about some one's; head.' He thought it 'was Malcolm If/Gregqr's,. -Witness, found Cartridge lying on the road on his way home," and saw the .blood. Ho. called:'his father. When he .was going to tell'the police about the matter he called in at Cleverly's, and ,asked what he should say'about it. Cleverly said to tell them that Cartridge 'started throwWgston'es at them very viciously, and some of them retaliated.-Cross-examined: Deceased must have been in a. violent temper, or he would not have taken such notice of:what was said to him! "Good night" was not called out in a provoking manner. '' , ' ' ■ " '■■■..""

James lTalco!m M'Gregor and Kenneth M'Leod, residing at Kakanui, gave similar evidence. ■ • ■ ,"

Dr Janjea Whilton gave evidence thathe had been called to Kakanui on the. morning of the 15th Apri!.. He found Cartridge dead, and examined the locality where the body-had been, found, but discovered v.p blood, excepting just where the body had-been lying. As the result pt.the post mortem, witness.found a severe wound on the head ot deceased, and some unimportant scratches on his hands. There was no fracture of the skull, and ii"o blood clot' or. the brain. . Death was attributable;to hemorrhagefrom the wound,'contusion of thp brain, and.shock to the nervous system. The wound might have been caused by a atone thrown jit the deceased, and the stones found there would have answered the purpose,' as some of them weighed lib each. He did not'chink the injury coula have been caused, by.a, stupibling fall on loose stones. Such a thing would beat any rate improbable. " . , '

Cross-examined: If accused fell "when moving rapidly that would make a difference to tiiiviolence of the fall.. If he: was going rapidly a\id fell pn a round beach stone-that" would 'cause such a wound as had been, .found, on ;cleceased., A man. falling would he-likely to strike Ins nose and forehead' against a atone,' and there was a contusion on the deceased's nose and the severe wound was on his brow. Re-examined: Witness found no stone within the .radius iic examined which cquld have caused such injury. A. man falling with a stick in his hand would be likely to drop it on rising. ". . . ."- ' ' ' "

At this stage the.further hearing pf the pase was adjourned nntil' 10.30 oh the fpllbwhi" m'grning.- ' . ' . " '

The court rose at G p.m.

(Per TJnitep Press Association.) '

• WELLINGTON,' May 29. The following sentences were passed tin's forenoon:—Patrick M'Guire, , assault, six months; John Bngel, forgery (five counts) 15 months (his Honor-said, that "lie'took into account the fact that the prisoner had given himself up before any charge was iaid againsthim also the .fact that lit. alleged the crime had been committed-to s av. B his family from want); Henry North, an old offender, breaking and entering at Palmerston North, four years- Frederick Stephenson, theft, a previous conviction, three years; .James : M'Gninness and -Ernest Heudley, wilful tlamagc at Mnsterton, six months, probation-and to pay the -costs incurred. The following pleaded guilty, and were remanded for sentence:-Edgar-G. March, theft of a bicycle; John W. Lucas, receiving stolen Property;-. John "Crombie,-forgery at &>ath'er-st-on; James Collins, broachiuf car^o1 m CHBISTCHUKCH, May 29 The lads Harry Mills and A. T. Griffin,' who -.rare convicted on the previous day of stenliu"from a dwelling, were brought' tip for:"qcntence this forenoon. ThoWniDr whs .'released on his own recognisances, provided he' Went back to Bnrnham, and the latter was placed on probation" for two years. ."'Harry' Augustus Scott, for breaking au d entering,-was sentenced to-one year. James Nicdl, found guilty of perjury at Ashbuiton, was fined £50, in' default one years imprisonment. Dnniel J?er»iis«on for Wkmg and entering ah' 4 theft, was sentenced to one year's imprisonment.- ;'"'■'

...', r AITpIvLATSfD, May "Q At the Supreme-Court criminal session", the Grand Tnry niacle the followi.ig presentment to Mi-. Justice Conolly, to be ■ forwarded' to tho Minister of Justice:-" That the Governme t feg!f *° ef te«] P°«P« to stipendiary Ss'Tho n f ■ "''"■'■ -f s Oi attßmPt«t'suiefde. Jhe pxesent system of committing- such casep for trial-to the Supreme Court: entail, ] ar *o expenses on the relatives ai,d fricmls of simh persons, as well.as on the 'country, and such committals tend to interfere "detrimentally totue.recovevy o{ such persons.'-' The Grand 3-a-y morality among, yoiiug girls, -and as parents and guardians are in some cases apparentiv unable to control their girls and. boys, it "beA'? rV a, J'^°" 6us, fact tl]Ht young girla parade Auckland streets at night for immoral; purposes, ' xespectfully auggestefl that the .provisions of the. C.D.Act be brought into force to assist in coping with the evil