THE PONSONBY MURDER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17944, 25 May 1920, Page 8

THE PONSONBY MURDER

■%» —— TRIAL OF DENNIS GUNN. ' FINGER-PRINT EVIDENCE. DEFENDING COUNSEL'S OBJECTION. (Pxa UtrrrxD Pjwbb Association.) AUCKLAND, May 24. The young man Dennis Gunn appeared ; before Mr Justice Chapman ami a jury ot ' 12 at the Supremo Oxirt this morning to answer the charge of murder preferred against him, in respect of the death by shooting, on the night of Saturday, ftlaruu i 13, of Augusbua Edward Braithwaite, post- < master at Ponsonby Post Office. When tho registrar called •"Dennis Gunn" thero was tense stillness, and all eyes were j fooiissod on tho palo-'i'aeod young man who stepped to the bar and said, "Not guilty," in a firm voice in answer to the demand for c a plea to the charge of murder. When tho Crown Prosecutor roso to open ' tho case for the Crown Gunn appeared 1 to bo holding himself under considerable re- , straint, swallowing frequently, and display- , ing other symptoms of 'nervous strain. After tho starting of the case, however, ] these indications of nervous tension left j him, and ho followed tho opening address , of tho prosecuting counsel with a calm do- ] ineauour, and apparent quiet, but concentrated, interest Nino of the jurymen* called to dctermino ' the case were challenged, though only two ] or three of the nine were rejected on be- , half of the defence. Tho Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C., with Mr J. i C. Martin, conducted tho prosecution; tho < prisoner being defended by Mr J. R. Reed, ' K.C., and Mr E. J. Prendergast All witnesses in tho case were ordered out of court except the police officer in charge of the case, Detective-sergeant Cummings. In opening the case for tho Crown, Mr ; Martin said that before dealing with the • facts he wished to draw the attention of the jury to two matters. He and_ his fellowcounsel for the Crown were acting not in a similar capacity to that of counsel for parties in a civil case, but,, as officers of justice. "We havo no desire to convict prisoner," ho ; said. "Wo are here to prove his guilt if it exists, or his innocence if it exists." Mr Martin then went on to recapitulate the cir- .; cumstancea leading up to the arrest of the prisoner. The jury, ho said, had no reason to doubt the cause of Mr Braithwaito'a death. There wooo two bullet wound's in his body—one in the throat and the other in the abdomen. The question now, continued counsel, was the connecting of tho accused with the burglary and murder. Whether this were done would depend upon the value placed by the jury upon what was known as finger-print evidence. When Mr Martin proceeded to state that 'no two finger-prints of all the people in the world could be alike, Mr Reed intervened: "I don't think that my friend should open in that way." He said: "Evidenco will have to be called on that question.' His Honor: He is entitled to open with the evidence on which he relies. Mr Reed: It has been hold in Victoria that evidence oan only be adduced showing the personal experiences of the witness His Honor: Evidence may bo called to show that the mathematical probability is so great that no two finger-prints can be alike. ~ , Mr Reed: It has been held that an individual witness can speak only of his own personal experience His Honor: I don't know who made that rule. I should not accept such a ruling. Mr Reed: The whole Court of Victoria. has ruled so. There is no evidence that finger-prints are never' repeated in human beings. ■ His Honor: Thero is no necessity to go to that length. The Crown carries the evidence far enough for the purposes of its case. , Mr Reed: I propose to object to the evidence that is called as to the general fact of this finger-print evidence. I submit that only the individual's own experience can be given . His Honor: The time will come to object to that when it is asked. Mr Martin: Well, I want to modify what I am saying. I will not sav that there are not any two finger-prints identical, but I will ask my learned friend to produce any two finger-prints that are the same. As far as experts know, if there are exactly similar finger-prints they have not discovered them. I think, your Honor and gentlemen, that you mil find that tho case really turns on the value of finger-print evidence. Gunn at one time was in gaol, not for any crime, but for seme offence under the Military Service Act. While ho was in gaol his finger-prints were taken. Later on, when he was arrested, prints were taken again, so there are two sets of Gunn's fingerprints taken for record purposes. We have thus two sets of prints to start on. Now, on the revolver was found part of a fingerprint. I am sorry to say that the exact finger-print on the weapon cannot be shown in court to-day. The revolver has been hardled a good deal since, and it was necessary for experimental purposes that this particular pistol should be fired several times. The print is, however, still discernible, but not to the same extent aa when it was found and photographed. Wo have a photograph of the actual finger-print as it ex-sted when the weapon was found. On the cashbox we found finger-prints of persons, prints of different persons being easily distinguishable. Mr Martin proceeded to say that the case did not entirely rely on finger-print evidence. There was some additional evidence which he did not think he would have been entitled to a* the jury to decide on alone, but; coupled with the finger-prints, he thought it should be given groat weight. Coming to the movements of Gunn, counsel explained that on the day of the crime Gunn was seen standing about in the neighbourhood of the post office, and on tho other side of the road; but that was not a matter of undue importance in an ordinary way, as the locality was a natural one for people to put in time standing about; but it was important to know that Gunn was there, because if he was there ho could not be anywhere else. When the police arrested him in his own house Gunn said, in answer to inquiries as to his movements, that he was at home all Saturday afternoon Hi- was asked again and after a little hesitation he corrected rimself, and said that he was with his brother Tom. He said that they went down to Wirth's circus, and, seeing a big eiowd there, did not go in, and went onto explain in detail n.s movements up to 6 o'clock, when ho said he left Ins b-other in Karangahapo road He had no difficulty in giving, a detailed account to the detective about his movements in the afternoon. His memory was absolutely clear and distinct. Then the detective said ho was not so much concerned with what Gunn was doing in the afternoon as between the hours of 7 and 9 m the evening Then Gunn thought, and said he went to the pictures, but it was after the = 8 o'clock session. Thero was no word about where he was during the time from 7to about a quarter past 8 o'clock. Tins was extraordinary, in view of the fact that accused was able to account for his every movoment during the earlier part of the day, and for tho later part of the evening. "He stops and leaves a gap just at the critical hour, and picks up his movements again just after the critical stage," remarked Mr Martin; adding that, taken in conjunction with all the other circumstances, this was important. Tho first witness was Annie Braithwaite. widow of the murdered man. who described her movements on March 13. and her dis-

covery of her husband lying on the kitchen floor "when she returned home about 9 p.m. She said that before ringing up the doctor she found that her husband's hip pocket had been turned out and his keys removed. He was m the habit of putting his keys under his pillow, and she accordingly searched there, but failed to find them. She identified _ the keys produced as the ones in question. Her husband was a quiet man. and as far as she knew he had no quarrel with anyone. _ There was no cause whatever for suspecting that he might take his own life. Firearms were kept in the house. Sovori.l witnesses living in the vicinity of Braithwaite's house testified to hearing what are now known to have been revolver shots, followed by a scream. A woman living next to the Post Office heard a smoshin? sound from tha direction of the Poft Office on the night of the murder. She was ITI at the time, and altboucfb she attempted to investigate sho .eollopsed. The ease is cxpeeted to last a week.