THE DEATH PENALTY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 46, Issue 14131, 1 June 1920, Page 5

THE DEATH PENALTY.

AUCKLAND MURDER TRIAL. WHAT THE LAW PROVIDES. The Crimes Act requires that a sentence of death shall not be carried out until the pleasure of the GovernorGeneral with respect thereto is made known. The sentence must be executed within seven days of the receipt by the sheriff of notice that the GovernorGeneral will not interfere with such sentence. It has long been the rule in England to allow a condemned man three weeks between the pronouncement of his sentence and his execution. In New Zealand no definite period is lixed, but in general, unless there is a delay in re-

viewing the ease —when the depositions and report of the judge are forwarded to the Executive Council —three weeks is the ordinary period of life allowed to the criminal. ACCUSED’S BROTHER COLLAPSES. Tn the course of the trial the accused’s brother Charles, who had been a witness for the defence, was seized with a tit outside the court. After the jury had given its verdict he suffered another attack. lie was carried from the vestibule into the open air, where he recovered.

It was reported in Auckland, says the "Star,” that a constable who approached Charles Gunn as he came out of court was '• knocked out” by three men in the crowd, who, it was alleged, resented the officer’s manner of addressing the accused’s grief-stricken brother. The police, however, definitely deny that any such incident occurred, and their statement is borne out by the fact that there was a large force of constables in attendance, and that no sounds of any disturbance found their way into court.