Second Edition. A JUDGE'S DUTY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 83, 8 December 1913, Page 6

Second Edition. A JUDGE'S DUTY.

o PRpSE€UTION DIRECTED. [Feb Press Association.] . AVanganui, December 6. A civil case which was heard in the Supreme Court on Friday and Saturday had an interesting conclusion. J. y. H. Xicholls, of Marton, sued J- C. Mayer, of Marton, for £790 on a promissory note given by Mayer for a " carrying business. Plaintiff's evidence • was to the effect that Mayer purchased the business for a man named Gibson.

The plaintiff was cross-examined a,t considerable length in connection with letters supposed to have been written by Gibson, giving Mayer instructions to buy Nicholls' place. The handwriting,and illiterate spelling in documents produced weret sworn to by expert witnesses as being identical. After a strong summing-up, his Honor put. the following issues to the jury : _Did the plaintiff write and send the Gibson letters to the defendant? Did the defendant act, in dealing with the plaintiff, on the assumption that these letters were genuine, and was he misled by those letters? The jury, after one and a-half hours, returned a reply of "Yes" to each issue. Judgment was therefore given for defndant. ■His Honor instructed the Registrar of the Court to put the documents into the hands of the Crown SoJicitor,in order to see whether there were grounds for a prosecution against Nicholls for perjury, or, if not, for forgery and for attempting to obtain money by false pretences. His Honor said that he felt it was his duty to the country to do that.