SUPREME COURT

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14538, 6 September 1911, Page 6

SUPREME COURT

' CRIMINAL SESSIONS, ' The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court opened before His Honour, Mr •Justice Denniston in Trmani yesterday. GRAND JURY. The following were sworn in os a Brand Jury :—Messrs D. C. TurubuU (foreman), D. Byers, H. Clarko, W. D. Fitzgerald, A. Eraser, AV. J. Hugens, J. E. Hurdlov, G. R. M. Jones, ETLowrie, T. C. Mullions, F. OldiieU, V. Palleson, U. Parr, G. Parry, D. Soott, A. H. Sliirtcliiie, R. W. S.mp«on, H. N. Smith, H. SnnUlridge. «■ J. Taylor, G. L. Tweutyninn, G. Watts, Ji .Withell and B. Sparrow. HIS HONOUR'S CHARCE. In charging the. Grand Jury H:s Honour said tho calendar contained wn cnaxges; ot these, however, two vrae ogajnst the same person. In none ot taio cases should tho jury find any trouble in comiiig to a. conclusion. Thar duty was not to try the caies, but simply to decido whether there was & prinm lup'o case to go bet'oro a petty | jury. His Honour then deaLt w.th-tho various casesTto como before the Court. iWm. Clausen would be charged on two . counts, with the theft of a bicycle, and several articles iroin tho residence of ALolville Gray. The stolen goons had been found m his posscss.on, and the circumstances wero such that Hansen would require to give a reasonab.a account as to how he came into possesgion.of the goods. The clothes and tno bicycle had been stolen on different dates, and both were found in tho possession of the accused. There was a. charge of attempting to carnally know a young girl, against one Rowan, and, the evidence of the girl was very clear and convincing. Tnen there, was a case of sheep stealing against Daniel Sargent. In this caso the jury would have no difficulty in .coming to the conclusion that the case should go to the petty jury. There was a, charge of perjury against one Turner, this be- j ing a, Waimate case, and a ver/y simple one. - A number of the assertions made by the -accused had been proved to be false, and the accused practically admitted that he had committed perjury. At 11 the jury retired to-their room to consider the cases. By 2 o'clock tlie grand jurors were finally discharged, having returned a true bill in each case submitted to them. -- ", A FEMALE PRISONER. : Daisy Alenandria Lund, who had pleaded guilty to charges of breaking, unbaring, anoS theft, appeared tor *ontence.. ilr S/ G .Raymond appeaiied for acoused, vrho, he said, was a. girl -s!l. years of age. ' She was oho of a largo 'family, -her parents beiais respectable people who had resided at Pleasant X'oin'fc for tho last 36 years. Mr and Mrs Lund had brought" up their large family. well and this was, the <>nly ca so •gainst; any one of them. The accused Siad been living for four, years as .** eervjuitjion a farm near the Point, but about Christmas last she came- into Timaru, and her departure from the pathdf rectitude dated from that time; she having stolen from Wexry's hotel, the Melville, hotel, and. from the house of Mrs Fenwick, at Hei could not account for her conduct and the girl herself said that she simply said she did not know what she *vas doing. He asked that the girl be leniently treated and admitted to probation, i : ' His Honour read from the report of the Probation Officer and said that this was certainly not favourable to the, accused. It indicated that she had developed distinctly criminal tenden.eaesi Tie caso was not one iot. pi»)bat»ni .:.'■■ :■ .-• ." Mr Raymond asked: tli'at she.be '.d;jnitted: to the Salvation Army Honio for reformatory treatment. ' .. _. Adjutant Middlemiss appeared in Coui-fr and.said that the Home would .fe willing.to receive the girl. -.''. ■ His Honour said the case was a diffi- : cult onie to deal with, but he sair no reason iwhy the Army should take the 'girl: over. There should bo .something , more severe than that. -. Tie Crown solicitor read from police report to show that the accused had committed more thefta than' had been - made public. . His Honour said that the- accused .'*- . (juired some definite experienco of the consequence of orimo l / She would bo ord-eredi'to be detained for 12 months for reformative' treatment. /"'- ■<■: PERJXIRY. James Turner, a young man belonging to Waimate, pleaded guilty to bavin-* committed perjury at the enquiry into the fire at tho CF.C.A's. building at Waiimate. . Mr J. H. Moore appeared l for the ac-. cused and said that the periary -tss accounted for bv the fact thsi accused Was drunk on the night of tho fire and simply told the police the first story that came into his head next day. In addition to -this, the accused was a inan of weak intellect. The Crown solicitor said that accused was 28 years of age, and * labourer. Nothing was prevJously known against him. - Sub-Inspector Phasr said the accused strongly denied that he had -a weak intellect. He scouted the idea; and he (the speaker) had Been no signs of a weak intellect about him. His Honour said the offence of perjurv was a a very Serious one, especially when, as in thnj case, it was done deirberatelv by a person to protect himself. Accused • would be sentenced to -fliree months' imnrisonment. A STOLEN BICXCLE. A true bill was returned against U'm. Necular Clausen for the theft of a bicycle,, value £lO, the property of D. Cossrove. Prisoner ."was defended by Mr - .Wc Emslie, and pleaded not gu.lty. , . 'The case was heard before the _ following jury:—C. G- Snow (Foreman), R. P. Kilgour, A. Irwin. A. E. Butt. R. Randall, A. E. Prosser, H. Meeehen. J .C. Whitelaw, C. Eliis, A. Donn, T.

E. Yellaml, and T. \Y. k\-r. The Cruivu solicitor atuled _th • cps;for I'tho prosecution.. On Saturday in>ht of October 22nd. 1910. the Qwnur of the bicele lef tit at his back door, from which place it was stolen. It was not again found until .August ' last, at Oarnaru. Accused said lie bought the bicycle in Oarnaru from a man in the street, but tie ic-a'd show no ha had' lost it. Ho said he bought a. bicycle and a swag at the same t.me, payiiig £7 for the bicycle and 10s for the swag. A friend, at the same time, paying £7 for tho fore he loft Tiinaru. Tbo bicycle wa* in ' tho - possession of tho accused on tho day following that .in wh'ou it was stolen. In the swaij referred to, clothing was found which had beeu stolen from tho residence < f Mr Melville Gray. Daniel Cosgrove, storemnn for tuo C.F.C.A., hi Tiniaru, gave- evidence as to the theft of his bicycle from lis home. The bicycle (produced) was las. Valued it at ±lO at the time it was stolon. - . ■ To Mr Emslie: Accused's wife and witness's wife were old friends. Accused had never been to witness's house so far as he know. Constable McGregor, .of Oarnaru, gave evidence os to the.arrcst of aooiU'Cd. When tho accused was at the police station -he said heThad seen the nian from whom he bought tho bicycle, iu Thames street, three weeks , previously. When asked to show a receipt for the bicycle, accused said ho had carried it so long in his pocket that it was torn. The nam© of the man from whom ho bought the bicycle was Johnson or Thomson. : Be'fore leaving Timaru,, he said he received. £7 JOs from a friend, and with this ho boughtthe bicycle and also a swag, both from the same man. To Mr Emslie: Accused went to the police station voluntarily, and asked to be given back his bicycle and swag. He denied having stolen tho articles. Detective Fahoy said he arrested the accused on August 11 at . his home. Took him to the police station and charged' him. The clothing (produced; was shown to the accused who said he bought it with the bicycle. Witness detailed tho .conversation, which ensued. There- was a chain and a pocket book in the pocket of the coat. Accused said nothing, to witness.about the £7 10s. .. -.■_''

To Mr Emslie: Mrs Clausen reported to witness on October 21 that the accused had left his home. This was the case for the prosecution. Sir Emslie outlined the facts for the' defence. When accused left Timaru he borrowed £7 from a friend, and on his road to Oamani (walking) he bought the bicycle for £6 10s and the. swag for. 10s. Eg . was ■ unaware that the good} had been stolen until he was told so at the Oarnaru police station. There was not a part.cle of evidence to connect accused with the thefts. Ho had a bicycle atiiisown home so had no need to steal orie. ; Accused gave evidence in support of counseFs statement. Ho stated that he left ins home between 3 and 4 orcloe.i on a Saturday morning, his reason being that he was m ill-health and in financial difficulties. Left a ndt>a for his wife telling her that she would nor see him again.- His intention then was to "make.a hole m the water." Went to, tho. wharf, but the longer he Sat there tho less inclination he had to go iu> and finally he decided to "make a break," and clear out of Timaru altogether. This he did, a. friend, Philp Honks, lending him £7. On the night tho bicycle was stolen he was at Otaio, oh his,way south.. Slept that n-ghi, with a swagger on .the. road side. A man (Harry Thomson) overtook accused 'on the road and asked him to buy his bicycle and a swag. Accused had seen the man previously in Timaru. After a lot of. haggling accused closed. the deal for the bicycle at £6 10s, and for the swag at 103. Went to Papikaio that day (Sunday, October 23) and obtained work.. To Mr White: Was not well .when he left Timaru. ;His heart was weak and he could .not sleep at night. The >etter which witness loft behind on the night he left; his house, was now in th; possession of the polico. (The letter .was', produced and' His Honour said it contained practically what the witness -had. said). First knew Harry Thorns.>n by "seeing Vm .in Timaru. Did not. know his name until he gave witness a receipt for the bicycle. Philip Hinks, wharf labourer, said he remembered Clausen leaving Timam about the en dof October last. He weni to witness's place between 5 and, 5.30 a.m. one Saturday morning and asktnl for the loan, of some money. Lent him £7., AVas surprised to hear later-on that day that accused had left Timaru. Clausen had repaid the money. To Mr White: Witness had previously lent money to accused., This concluded tho evidence.

Mr Enislie addressed the jury at some . fcisgth. He contended- that there tus mot a .particle of evidence to prove that Clausen had stolen these goods and. he had given a reasonable account of how he came in possession of them. Mr White replied. . His Honour said there • was no direct evidence against the accused for stealing this bicycle, but being in recent possession of the stolen property threw upon him the onus of proving that he came by it honestly. Bicycles changed bands frequently, and if the -accused had said nothing when he was arrested it Would have been difficult to prove anytliing against him. But he admitted being m possession of it the day after it_ was ; stolen, and it devolved upon him to i prove that he came by it honestly. The accused left a letter to his wife when he left home, in which he said: "Good-bye; in ten minutes it will be all over." The theory of the police was that this letter was written byaccused to cover up his guilt. _ Accused, on the other hand, said he left home with tho honest intention of doing away with himself, _ but he subsequently changed his mind and left for the south. If that wore true the accused was not in Timaru on the night tho bicycle was stolen. Itwould be for the jury to decide whether thev believed that,- remembering

that accused" had every incentive to i.'iMicqcb ;i story. His Honour poin'.-'-d out olio or two inconsistencies in t'ho story told by the accusqd, audjtold the jury that it was for thein to weigh the evidence carefully. The jury retired at 4.18 p.m., and shortly after 5. o'clock returned to say that thoy were unable to agrao. .' His Honour said they would have to retire to their room again and remain there for the prescribed period of four hours unless_ they .could agree upon' a verdict earlier. At 8.18 the jury returned again, and the foreman announced, that thoy had been unable to agree. His Honour theroupon discharged them, and . adjourned the Court until 10 o'clock this morning. Tito Crown Prosecutor asked for a new trial of Clausen, and His Honour said this would be considered this morning.