Refusal of an Important Witness to Appear Before Tribunal London, July 9.
The appeal of Oscar Slater against his conviction for the murder of the aged Marion Gilchrist at Glasgow in 1908 was heard today by five judges of the Scottish Criminal Court of Appeal at Edinburgh.
The appellant Slater was pres ent in court with his counsel, who called three witnesses, namely, the widow of the Glasgow physi D, Adams, who first saw Miss christ's body after the murder but who was not called for the trial, Ins, Roughhead, the Edinburgh lawyer who edited a book on the trial, and Mr. Pinekley, assistant to the United States Marshal at New York.
Mr, Pinckley testified how Slater was identified in January 1909 prior to his extradition. He said that when witness and Slater were going into the court they passed group of people in the corridor consisting of Mr, Fox, the attorney: for the British Authorities; Helen Lambie, Miss Gilchrist's maid; another woman and two policemen. Witness heard Mr, Fox say: "that is the man."
Counsel for appellant said that Helen Lambie declined to attend thu appeal and there was no machinery to compel her attendance. He invited the court to pronounce the trial of appellant to be a miscarriage of justice—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.