Judge Makes Charge Against
pp. 11-12 · Read in the full issue
Crown Law Officer
August 19, in the Supreme Court at Rabaul, Judge Wanliss found Brother Lucidius Zimmer, a Catholic missionary, not guilty of a charge of illegally killing
a native. The case is reported else where.
The judge then made the following statement: One serious aspect of the case was that the accused was charged by the Crown Law Officer, whose duty it is to frame charges in the Supreme Court, with man slaughter. His Honour then read defini tions of unlawful killing, murder and wilful murder. “In this case uncontra dicted evidence in the coroner’s court, was that at a range of 75 yards accused affixed the stock to his Mauser pistol, thus making a rifle of it, stuck a heavy spiked walking stick into the ground, and sitting down, used the handle of the stick as a rest, he took deliberate aim and shot down the native Anduangi, who was moving towards the bridge, through the head, killing him instantly. It was a clear prima facie case of wilful murder, “In spite of this the accused is charged with manslaughter only. The Crown Law Officer deliberately deprived the court of the power of considering whether he was guilty of either wilful murder or murder, and left it with the power only to deal with it as a case of manslaughter, no matter how clear a case of wilful murder or mtirder it might have been.
“It so happened that the evidence brought out in the court has resulted in an acquittal, but it will be a sorry day for this territory if a Crown Law Officer can prevent in this manner persons being tried for offences they ought to be tried on; a sorry day if a person or class of persons is charged with an offence on the same evidence with more serious crimes; where what is deemed to be a murder in the case of a minor it is to be treated as manslaughter only in the case of a missionary or a Mason.
“I trust that no Crown Law officer will ever in future lay himself open to criti cism for such a misuse of his power; a misuse which usurps the functions of the court and stultifies the administration of justice.”