, 1879-04-27
TEMPORARY INSANITY

The States Attorney then tells what murder il,
and characterizes The crime of Stevens
the most horrid and brutal act that
ever man committed against fellow
being. *'Nhat Is the defense: How DO
they explain that deed, or seek to Justify the per
petration Of the act: The counsel have tue audac-
ity, justified perhaps by the absolute necessity
Of desperate case. to come into this courtroom.
confront Twelve men Of sound heart and common
sense, aud say that he committed that
net because he was controlled by an
invisible impulse, and, therefore. was not
responsible. In Cur West, believe. no similar
defense has ever been presented. slcklcs. McFar-
the murder Of men charged with improper reia-
tlons with their wives, interposed the defense
Of moral ineanlty; Those men were acquitted,
but IN no Appellate Court wlcrc presumably
the law is best interpreted, has this defense OF
morsi, emotional, .transitory mania been adopted
or, IN. my way approved"
And then Mills goes Into tho question Of moral
insanity or trnnsttoEE mania at some length. and
sass OF tho cases referred to above that they will
their own class, s,-cascs in which the vcrd'c:s OF
acqufttal can be accounted for: cases where in-
hnences we're al work; cases surrounded by PC
nothing, have no Significance, aud are barren Of
authority as decisive Of the question.
The subject OF insanity next occupies attention.
he admitted TINT tfsert had been IN advance since
the day OF Lord hale but in the last ten years,
result OF the horrible verdlcts in the sickles, Nc
Farland, and Cole cases. there has been a just aud
proper going back to the old stern position that II
i man knows the difference between right and
wrong, and is not in such condition OF insanity
that he cannot control his will. he ia morally ac-
countable for every act. The vtrdicts in those
cases shocked the country, outraged pub
lie sentiment and law. and men OF
science, who had been drifting, scntimcnta1ly,
into loosr and vague notions, OF great
latitude as to fnsanfty,-began to think and ask
themselves the question, ~ TO what are we drift
ing!' They reasoned, and rightly II d man may
commit a murder or any crime, and come into q
court OF Justice aud clalm at the moment Of Conf
mitIfng the crime he controlled by IN impulse.
We lni1ht we'll close up our Criminal Courts.
burn dawn our jalls and prisons and let crime walk
rampant, for there would be no such thing as pun
iahing guilty man. II is the approved law OF our
country. especially Of Illinois, TINT the test by
which to determine the insane condition is tho
ABILITY to distinguish between right ind wrong.
At this point MIR. Mills adverts t. tho
experts, and defends them. calm. attention to
the fact that the books quoted foC b. the defense
were written by experts The hypothetical case
was fair. truthful, and honest statement Of the
evidence tho pnrt Of the prosecution and the de-
fenee; contained all the salient points. stevens
presumed condition at the time Of the tragedy his
state OF health. thu circumstances Immediately
surrounding the homicide. his GOODNESS and COM
posure after bis wife was dead, his condition tn
the Jail aud to-day. his conduct during the tf1al,
lis appearance the witness stand. and tue fact
that there was no evidence of hereditary insanity