CO129-584-14 Commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment. Includes 9 photographs depicting- [CN 3-42] Commutation of... 22-12-1939 - 17-9-1940 — Page 82

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prisoner determined to take the law into his own hands,

picked up the chopper which he knew was there and pursued

Leung Ki and cut him down. If that is the view you take

of the matter, gentlemen, then that is Murder. It is

difficult to imagine a clearer and more complete case of

Murder.

fully entitled to retaliate, but he is

On the other hand, you may be disposed to think that

the threat of exclusion from Chinese Street coupled with

the tap on the shoulder so provoked the accused man as to

cause him in his just and proper resentment to retaliate.

If you take that view, the law is equally clear.

For a

blow with the fist or for a tap with the open hand, a

man is entitled and

only justified when he retaliates with a similar or a

comparable weapon. That is to say, if after a tap on the

shoulder, he struck out with his own fist and hit Leung Ki

on the jaw and knocked him down and Leung Ki had fractured

his skull - there would have been a good deal to be said

for the prisoner, but the law does not allow you to take a

dangerous weapon such as a chopper and wreak your vengeance

and work off your resentment of the insult as in this case.

When a man does that with a dangerous weapon such as that

it is Murder and nothing short of Murder, and so - if you

accept the story told by the Crown witnesses that there was

no fight, no altercat on or wrangling, but a chance blow

struck, but no fight there has been nothing said from

UND

beginning to end of this case that can reduce the charge

here from that brought against the accused in the indictment

for the murder of Leung Ki.

On the other hand we have the evidence of the

prisoner