SUPREME COURT OF WESTLAND.

West Coast Times, Issue 14514, 19 September 1908, Page 3

SUPREME COURT OF WESTLAND.

(Before His Henour Mr Justioe Gooper,

Friday, September 18tb.

Hii Honour took his seat at 10 am. Rex v David William Jokes.

Theasou«sd wasoharged witbjhaving between Aogast 22nd and October 10th, 1907, stolen from tbe Big River Gold Mining Go, Reef ton, a quantity of gold to the value of abont ;£2O, Tbe accused pleaded not guilty* The following jary was empsnielled: F Forsytb, A Parkbtll, J H Morris, H Batland, T Croagh, D Stewart, B Fen* diok, W (Goocb, AE SUpleton, J MIU ekell, J Graham and E Growcott. Mr H Bntland was ohosen ss foreman. Mr Park appeared for khe Grown, and Mr Joyce for tbe defence, Mr Park reviewed the tvidence to be adduced. Jehn Henry MoMahon. mine manager, for she Big Biver Gold MiniagOoy.de* posed he knew tbe accused who worked at the Company's miae. He wss employed at the break down at the No. 0 level, It waajmpostible to oheck any person fcak* iogJboneoi? specimens from the j workings On being shown a sample of atone contained in a fl&ftk, witness laid it was very sisajUr to that which Is beiDg worked at

Big-giver* It was similar to that being treated- on khe No 0 level. Had net seen X exactly the same quality from other ' mioes. The value of the slent was very small as tha quart* Jseem to have been dollied, and the beat of the gold taken out. Two men Heensn and Palmer Were working with aooiatd. By Mr Joyce : SLnow the stone in the Big Riytr district, ;8t George stsne ws«

very different. ■ Enow the Wellington

l«aae, all graund close U the Big River claim has been taken op, includiag savjaral prospecting areas since last Objnstaai. On being asked to distinguished Bam< pies oentained In another bottle produced by Mr Joyce, witness stated that be Weald not oare to swear where they oame x from. Hubtrt Lee, Secretary Big River Gold Mining Ooj-, deposed he had been employed by the Company for about ten .years, wouli consider that the best part of the gold - bad 1 beei taken eat of tbe oontents of the flask (produced). The ■usple was very like the quarts from the miae, quarts often differed ;in appear* ano*. It wasdiffirtft to see ike gold in some stone. Had seen Blaca water quartz. By Mr Joyce : All stone in No 9 level irta.Very good. Hungry qiarta baaring abont 8 dwti was treated from other. lsrtlSk It was not for the wsob of gold that shares in ithe Company could at times be bought at a very low price. Would not swear that the sample of stone had come from the Big Rwr mine. There had been a good deal of prospecting; in the vicinity during the paat fow months, PatriskNeii Rodden, deposed he was •mployed at the Big River minejao-. ensed was employed at the mine last year. In answer to His Honour ts to whether the men wero starched as they left the nine In order to prevest them from tak~ ing specimens therefrom,} the witness ■tated that this was never done, V Wm Rodden. deposed, he was battery macager at the Big Biver mine : was previously mina manager at the Lyell : knew accused, who approached him with regard to crushing some tp'ounens ; re* plied that it was not wo»th while ; did not see tke specimens, bub accused said they were worth from £20 to £23, to tha best of my belief the samples contained in the fla»k wera frem the Big Rivtr mine, hot could nob swear to it. Patrick Fennel deposed, know accused slightly ; he resided in a but belonging to me ; received telegrams from him •bout 6 v b March, asking me to go to the hot for tho purpose of scouring a bottle and to break it ; went to the hnr, but •onld not find the bottle ; the telegrams were not signed, Mary Jan© Welch, wife ot George Welub, licensee of a hotel at Lyell, deposed accused gave her the bottle bi specimens produced. Received a tele. gram (copy pioduoed) from Jonw', taking bar lo go to his swag, g t a tin containing tpscimen'. These, with the flask he 3 wished me 4o pus out of the way. Gould find nothing in the awag. Afterwards tore the telegram np. Handed •ver the flask 'containing the specimens lo OensUbleßnttermore By Mr Jojee : Th« aeoused saade me * present of the specimens i« ths presence of a number of people, Constantino Mangos deposed ; Am a saining agent at Lyell. Saw accused, who asked me if I bad seen tbe specimens in Mrs Welch's possession. I laid yes, and that they were not from the Alpine Mine. Acoosed said— Ne, Big River. Gaorge Welob had shown them to mo one evening previously. By Mr Joyce ; No person was present when the conversation took facef 'ace with itousod. Wm Buttermoro deposed he was a police constable rationed at Lyell. Aoqosed showed me a number of specimens, the largest being about the size of t hen's egg. They were rich wttb gold. Asked Jones if the quarts was from the Alpine Mine. He said Oh no! He offered me the largest piso<>, bit I teok tbe smallest one. He said be had much better specimens at home, and be would show them to me some day, This was about three month? before I got the flask from Mrs Welsh. He did not t'll me where they came from. Henry William Clare, Chief Clerk in the Hokitika Telegraph Office, identified the telegrams (produced) sent on the 6th March to Mrs Welsh and P Tennel, y The telegrams were signed by the same person. Henry William Campbell, detective stationed at Greymoutb, deposed he spoke to Jones abont the charge laid by Heenan against him for stealing gold from the Rig Biver Company, Aeoused ■aid that ft man (^stranger) bad come to bim and said he had better square Thomas Jones or be would be pinched fcr stealing from the mine, and as a result accused bai given an order for £20. He said he gave the order beoauso he was frightened- The order was afterwards countersigned. Accused said lie did net kaow Tom Jones who had a letter from Tod<*, g ring full par* ticulars of tbe gold stealing from tha mine. Mr Park addressed the jury, followed by Mr Joyce. His Honour then summed up, dealing at some length with the evidsnee, out of whiob, be etitedj arose ctrtdn peculiarities, which he pointed out to jurymen in order to assist them in. fcbe fcdiflg ot their ?«r»

The jury retired at 12.15 aud returned at 1235 with with a verdict of "not guilty." REX V, OCTAVIUS FOOTE— BOBBERY AND ASSAULT. Oct&vius Foote was charged with assaulting and robbing Thomas Heenan at Deiniston on July 31st, 1908. The accused pleaded " not guilty." Mr Park appeared for the Crown, the aeoused being undefended by counsel, The following jary was empannellud : J Hughes, W Mitchell, F Hughe*, v? Mitchell, F Hoghes, W O'Brien, A Seett, E J O'Brien, I Brown, J Marks. H "Williams, A Biadley, J Graham The following jurymen were ordered to stand down :— R McMillan, B B Mabin, Vf Shannon, Grewoott, H Lynch, J Henderson, C Foley, W E Perry, and W Hall.

The names of available jurymen was exhausted, and those ordered to stand by war* again drawn for, when R McMillan wai called, He was then elected foreman.

Mt Park called Thos. James H«eaan, minefj at Denniston, who deposed that ho remembered 81st Jnly last. Went down (o a store to pay an ftceoaatei £2 15s lid, Got change of a £5 "note. Then weal aoruas to a draper's place, and obtained articles to the value of

10s fid, and afterwards 3s 11s. Went down the street, and met a man uamed Hoffenai. Had a drink, and thenaa other. Left Hoffaiann aad went to the T R»jal Hotel, aad afterwards to the Oennlaton Hotel with Seams, and a oonple of others. Accused then asked for a ooaple of bob. The men went outside, and Foote rushed me and pnnohed me on the face. Tried to avoid him. and in doing* so fell ever a heap of rnbbiih. Accuied then got on top of witnew, and stood on his head. Then started punching aim, while another mau got hold of his lets and " went through " bin), About 16s was taken out of his pockets, 2 packets oigarettes, a silk bandkerobief, and be heard one of them say, "Ho must have a £5 note-" Accused again punched him. Then got up. The assault took place about 9.30 pm. Recognised Foote by the light from the doorway. Did not call out. Thought; it was a joke at first, His clothes were all {mud, and his lips were cut, Accused and) the other persoa had him down "for about 6 or 6 minotas, Afterwards went to the Royal and saw a man who said " Gome on down and we will find bim," Later went and informed the polioe.

Several questions were put to witness by accused.

[ The Court adjourned at 1 o'clock: pm]

Hia Honour amaounced that the charge of perjury against Gonnelly would be taken on Monday, 21st inst, at 10 o'clock, and that the Otira robbery case would come on for hearing on Mon« day morning, the 28th inst, at 10 o'clock, All witnesses in the latter were notified that their services wonld not be required until that date. AFTERNOON SITTING, The Geurt resumed at 2.30,

Wilson Kearnes, Miner, of Dennisten, deposed tbot he was with Heenan on the night of the assault. They bad Beveral drinkß together. Heenan left [the hotel before the witness. He came back about a quarter of an later covered with mud. Wituess did not eeejthe assaßlb. Hesnaa was nearly dro«k at the time. Witness bad a distinct recollection of what ©o« ourred that night.

The deposition of Joba Goomker Har« riogton, licensee of the Den ale ton Hotel, whose non -attendance was excused ow« ing to a medical certificate being pro* duoed on his bahalf, were read by His Honour.

Frederiok Wallace Cbapman, police constable of Denniston, deposed that in consequence of a report mads to him by Heenan he aira-fcod accused on a charge of assault and robbery, 1 He fonnd the cnoa of seven shillings and sixpence on accused andj other articles, When Heen*n\ reported the assault tt to him, his (Hcenan's) clothes were cevered with mud. The mttd was quite fresh and seeoed to have bees on accused's olobhes q• te recently, Heenan was nearly draak but was sober enough ,to explain the nature of the assault, Aeoused did not attempt to explain where he not tke seven shillings and sixpeßoe.

This closed the ease for the Grown, The accused then stated that on the night of thi alleged asstnlt, bein? I pay night be had £4 18s on him. He had a drink with a friend, paid £2 3s for board «nd 10s for tobacco, He then met a tailor from wbom he had ordered a suit of clothes, paid him £1 10s oajacconnfc of the 3uit and took toe snit away and put on the coat and vest, He then went down to the Deoniiton Hotel with his friend Hoffmann aid met Kellett and several others; they went in and had several drinks, He shouted and paid four ahil-

lings and had half a sovereign left. He wanted this to pay for bis groceries, Kellett then asked hut for a loan of halfa*crown aud he told him he only had a half«3overeign,with which he wanted to pay for bis groceries. He subsequently lent the half-sovereign to Kellett. He then borrowed half-a crown f ram Heenan with which to about for some friends, Heenan included, Afterwards Kellett gave him seven and Bixpenoe and premised to repay the other half-crown next day. Accused then left the Dennietoo Host in oompaay with Gage and went to the Royal Hritl, where hs boarded. He ■at in his bedroom and talked with Gage t ; tf abont half-past nine, when Gage asked him to go down and have a drink. They went do urn, and when there accused was arrested by the oonstable and taken to

the- lockoap. By the Grown : He had not asked Goatea to try and square tbe'matter for him, as he had been;m gaol since he had been arrested. Joseph Kellet, miner, Dennieton, deposed that he saw aaonaed on the night of the assault, and borrowed half a sovereign from him, afterwards return" ing 7b 6d, Sydney Page,, miner, Denniston, des posed thab he was with accused oa the aight ot the assault. He corroborated the evidence of Jaconsed, ia explanation of his whereabouts at the time of the£aisanlt. Mr Park elected net to ad drew the jary. Accu-ed did not address the jary.

His Honour in ■amming ap et&tt d that it wae impoaaible for the jury to convict the accused on the evidence adduced by the Grown. In the face of Gage's evdi* ence they most either acquit, or else Gage was committing perjuryj The jary without retiring brought in a tordict ol * not gailty ," i Ths Oomt rose until 10.30 th'» caor«.