MR A. C. HANLON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21002, 15 April 1930, Page 10

MR A. C. HANLON.

APPOINTMENT AS KING’S COUNSEL. (Pee United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, April 14. The Acting Prime Minister (Mr G. W. Forbes) announced to-day the approval by the Governor-General (Lord Blcdisloe) of the appointment of Mr A. C. Hanlon, of Dunedin, and Mr H, F. Johnston, of Wellington, to be K.C.’s. MR HANLON’S CAREER. SOME NOTABLE TRIALS RECALLED. Mr Alfred Charles Hanlon, at the age of 16 years, entered the office of Mr J. A. D. Adams as an articled clerk. Having served for five, years and passed the necessary examinations he was admitted- as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand by the late Mr Justice Williams in December, 1888. In the following year he commenced practice on his own account, and at once entered upon a career; principally as a court advocate, that has kept his name in the forefront of the legal profession in the Dominion to the present day. Eloquent and forcible in style ho _ has convinced many a jury of the_ justice of his contentions. Always he invested himself as closely as possible with the identity of his client, and always he put his claims effectively and strenuously, but at all times with a judgment that'secured for him the respect of the court but never the condemnation. He was a shrewd judge of character, and knew well how to influence the feelings of a jury in the interests of a‘ client. He was a popular figure in the Dunedin Shakespeare Club, in which he made his mark as a character actor, and his experience in that respect assisted him materially in all his court work.

Mr Hanlon's many friends who recognise the varied practice he has had over a long period appreciate very much the fact that he ia now entitled to wear the silk robes of one of his Majesty's counsel: To recall a few of the numerous cases in which Mr. Hanlon has appeared will not be out of place at this juncture. The first important case in which he appeared was .what was known in its day as the South Dunedin murder case, in which Dobson and Rufner, charged with murder, were finally convicted of manslaughter. His next case of importance waa that in which Minnie Dean was charged with the, murder of infants, otherwise known as the Winton babyfarming case. This case was tried in Inyercargill in 1895 before Mr Justice Williams. His Honour, in closing his charge to the jury, said that, if they accepted ; the view contended for by counsel,, that the killing of the children amounted to manslaughter only, it would be # nothing short of a weak-kneed compromise. The woman was convicted, and was subsequently hanged. In a leading article at the time this Journal said it had to be admitted that the verdict was the only one that could have been returned, but that the accused had, against great odds, been most ably and skilfully defended. Mr Hanlon also appeared for John M*Keown, in the Balfour murder case, as second counsel to Sir Robert Stout at Invercargill in 1895. Subsequently, he appeared for Stott (a half-caste Australian aboriginal) and Bromley for the murder of a-Chinaman at Tapanui. In this case Mr Hanlon was able to show that the circumstantial evidence against the accused could be reconstructed in such a manner as to enable one to contend that the murder might have been committed by one of the Crown witnesses. Both the men were acquitted. Mr Hanlon defended M'Sweeney for what was known as the Allanton murder case. This was the case in which the house in which M'Sweeney had been living with his paramour was found to be on fire, and afterwards the woman's body was drawn from the fire and a carving fork was found penetrating the heart. Unfortunately for the Crown case Mr Hanlon was able to show that the body had been drawn from the- building over the place where the kitchen dresser had stood and up a bank, down which it was allowed to fall into a drain where the cutlery had also been drawn out with the body. It was arguable therefore that the fork had entered the heart after death—a possibility that no doubt secured M'Sweeney's acquittal. Later, Mr Hanlon was engaged in the Papakaio'murder case, where a schoolmaster had been shot in hfs bed while asleep. A man named Findlay was charged with this offence, and was tried in Dunedin before Mr Justice Cooper and acquitted. Mr Hanlon also appeared for a Chinese in Auckland for the Three Kings murder, the accused being convicted of manslaughter Connolly, charged with the Westport murder, was another of Mr Hanlon's clients. The case was tried in Christchurch before Mr Justice Denniston, and the accused was convicted of manslaughter. He appeared for Harland and wife who were charged with the murder of their infant child. The two accused were acquitted. The Wyndham poisoning case, in which a man named Arnott, a half-caste Maori, was charged with attempting to murder several men in a camp, was another of Mr Hanlon's cases. In the first trial there was a disagreement, and in the second the accused was convicted of attempted murder. An interesting case in which Mr Hanlon was concerned was that in which a man was charged with murdering a comrade on board the steamer Otarama. The grand jury threw out the bill, whereupon the man was rearrested and again committed for trial. Again the grand jury threw out the bill, the belief of each jury being, it is thought, that one of the Crown witnesses was the real offender. An outstanding case in mhich Mr Hanion was engaged was the charge against Kerry, Mumford, and Freke for casting away the overseas yacht Ariadne at the mouth of the Waitaki River. Mr Skerrett (afterwards Chief Justice) and Mr Hanlon appeared for Kerry, the owner, and Mr Stringer (afterwards judge) and Mr Myers (present Chief Justice) for the Crown. The case aroused great interest, not only in New Zealand but at Home, where the yacht was heavily insured. The Crown relied upon a document signed by Kerry agreeing to give I the captain a large sum of money if the ship was totally wrecked. Mr Hanlon

suspected that as Kerry was not likely to put such a thing in writing the document was a forgery. He had a photograph made of the exhibit; it was enlarged and thrown on a limelight screen, when it could be seen that whereas the incriminating words had been added the first portion of the document had been gone over with a pen and ink to make it the same colour as the added part. Prosecuting counsel then abandoned the document. Mr Hanlon addressed the jury, making perhaps the best speech he ever made in a criminal case. On all hands it was admitted that the defence would secure an acquittal, and this it did. . Mr Hanlon also engaged in a large divorce practice, and appeared in two of the most important cases of the kind heard in Dunedin. He appeared for the Crown on the Marine Scandal Commission in 1900. The case' occupied about three weeks, and resulted in the exoneration of the then Minister of Marine. The Nightcaps colliery case also called for Mr Hanlon’s services. A commission, which sat for three, weeks at Riverton, inquired into a fire in the mine whereby several miners lost their lives. The result was satisfactory, but the mine manager was afterwards charged with manslaughter. Mr Hanlon appeared for him at Invercargill, and the verdict was an acquittal. The last murder case in which he appeared was that in which Hardie was charged with the murder of a Chinaman at Kyeburn. The facts of the case are of recent date, and it need only be added that Hardie was convicted of manslaughter. It was a most difficult case to defend, and it was the general view at the time that the man could not escape from a verdict of guilty. Many other cases might he cited in which Mr Hanlon has been engaged. He made a close study of navigation and nautical astronomy, which is probably the reason that he has been engaged in all the nautical inquiries held in Otago and Southland for many years. Though he has not aspired to any civic office, Mr Hanlon has rendered valuable service to the community on the administrative side of many branches of sport, For several years past he haa s filled with distinction the office of president of the Dunedin Jockey Club, and he has given close attention to its affairs, on the social as well as the business side. He is an ex-president of the Otago Rugby Football Union and the Grange Cricket Club, and formerly held office as a vice-president of the Otago' Cricket Association, the Alhambra Football, Club, and the Dunedin Amateur Boating Club For many years he was actively identified with the affairs of the Otago Yacht and Motor Boat Association and the Otago Yacht and Motor Boat Club, being an ex-president of the former and/ an ex-commodore of the latter.