England every person in that ship owed allegiance to the Jaws of England; every person who committed an offence anywhere in the world under that fig was as liable to punishment by the English Courts as if he had committed the offence in England; and was triable before Courts of any colony under the Imperial Act which made the Admirality jurisdiction extend to Colo- Dial Courts. These men, for their offences committed in the Pacific Ocean, were as answerable to this Court as if they bad committed the crimes in the Queen's Road; this was beyond doubt, as Elis Honor would instuct them. He referred the jury on this point to the report of the case, Regina » Anderson (the Garonne case) re- ported in vol. 1, Crown Cases Reserved, the reference being to the Merobant Ship- ping Act, 267 section. Mr Russell concluded by again referring them to authorities bearing on the question bound up in the count which charged them with the murder of the Chinese boy, producing several decisions to prove that, if under a well- grounded apprehension of violence which would result in death, a person commits an ast which causes the loss of his life, the person who so threatened him is as liable ito be convicted for murder as if he had stabbed or shot him, or done some other act which directly caused his death. He ressed strongly on them the fact so alearly proved that the Captain's death was a premeditated murder, deliberately planned, and carried out jointly by these men, Whether they had also pre-arranged to kill the other officers, or whether, once having tasted blood, they had ""run amok" as the Malays were liable to do, was not to be easily gleaned from the facts before them. But the result was the same in the end, for if it was proved that they had agreed to seize the ship, that is to do an illegal act, and to use what violence was necessary to accomplish that end, and if in ita accomplishment these men were killed, then they were all guilty of murder with malice aforethought, even if the hand of no one of them really struck the fatal blow. He had no doubt bia learned friend for the defence would endeavour to prove that the murders were justifiable if ever they were committed, I but that in point of fact that they never were committed at all. He simply asked them to look carefully to the evidence as s whole, and reminded them that it was not a alight or frivolous doubt which a jury was called upon always to give the prisoner the benefit of, but a reasonable doubt. He sub- mitted that there was no reasonable doubt in this case, and with confidence claimed a conviction at the hands of the jury, on all the counts, save that concerning the carpen- ter, on which count he was content that they should return by direction of the Court a verdict of not guilty,
Mr Ng Choy nexs addressed the jury on behalf of the prisoners. He ran through seriatim, the serious charges against the prisonere, remarking that if the "jury son. vioted them of any one of these charges, that conviction, save in the piracy charge, carried with it death to his clients. He would not therefore promise to be brief, but would be as brief sa he could.
His Honor particularly desired that Mr Ng Oboy should not hurry over the ground through any mistaken leniency to the jury or the Court. They were there to do their duty, and he was aure every one would
· tatuer subject himself to much more - serious inconvenience than this, than allow of the possibility of any word or argument that could be used on behalf of these men whose lives were at stake being held back.
Mr Ng Choy thanked His Lordship and the jury. At the outset he urgently and repeatedly pressed upon the jury, at the risk of his frequent repetition of the caution be coming tiresome, that they were to utterly
If
cast out from their minds any outside impressions with which they might have i become imbued concerning this case. this was necessary for a jury in an ordinary case how much more so was it when the lives of three men were at stake? They had, according to their oath, a true verdict to give according to the evidence. When the news reached this Colony abuat this unfortunate Kate Waters affair, naturally accounts of the whole tragedy appeared In the local papers, containing of course all facts that could be brought to light with regard to it, from one source or another. Those who read these accounts could not help becoming imbued with certain notions and impressions of the unfortunate case. And therefore, what he particularly desired them to bear in mind to-day was that, in consider- ing their verdict they were to give no weight to, they were to dismiss from their minds, they were to forget if they could anything and everything they had ever heard of the case, aave and except the evidence laid before them here to-day. He asked them to con- sider the nature of the evidence, the cha- Iacter of the witnesses. Feter, Brahim, On and Sudeen were members of the crew of the Kate Waters. They were man who, whatever happened on board that abip, were there when it happened. They must, if they did Lot see with their own eyes the acts which led to the death of the officers snd others, the sinking of the ship, &c., have been cognisant of what took place there and then; therefore he said they were, so to speak, sort of accomplices. If they were not accomplices to the crimes alleged in the indictment, they came very near to it. And they were all in the same boat, to a very serious extent, They were appre hended together, and all except Peter had been charged at the Police Court with being participators in the felonies bis clients were now called upon to answer. It would therefore not be out of place, if, with the consent of his Lordship, he read to them a short passage from Taylor on Evidence, as to the testimony of an accomplice.
His Lordship: Yes, an acomplice.
Mr Ng Choy then read Taylor's well- known passage as to the evidence of an accomplice being received with oution by the jury, who were not to believe the same if uncorroborated by circumstantial or other evidence. He read a long passage as to the general question of the credence to be given to witnesses of this class, in which Taylor pointed out that the question of oredence was of course one for the jury. The judge usually instructed the jury that they were not to conviot on the unsupp rt- ed evidence of An accomplice.
He submitted that they had no evidence here save that of accomplices. The first few witnesses were purely formal of course, and had nothing to say about the charge. There was no doubt the Captain was killed. The question was,-who committed the murder? What was the evidence against the prisoner. Absolutely nothing, Great weight had been laid on their use of the word :-"Suddah." Now, that word simply meant,"have done," or "have fiuished." They did not say what they had done; the worst meaning attachable to it was not to be gratuitously tacked on by the jury to the condemnation of the prisoners fat the bar. In the same way there was not a tittle f evidence as to who committed the murder of the officers. These three men seemed to have been pounced upon by chance, and charged. There was nothing more to connect them with the murders than any or all of those who were that day on board the Kate Waters. He was about to address himself to the alleged murder of the car. penter, when-**
His Honor said that that would be un. necessary, the Attorney General having agreed to a verdict of not guilty on that ¡ count.
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