New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-23
THE PLEA OF 1NSANll1 l.

HAVING A LOVE LETTER INTERCEPitp
Mr. seoyille continued but did not hnisii Ills
onening address for the defence III the Ouiteau
ease Yesterday. AS previously mtlmated' ,ho
defence will rely upon the plea OF lnsai'y'
Mr. Scovile gave an account OF the "u',o""
family and stated that several OF It's lnenioIiS
had died in insane asylums. The father u ."o
assassin. he said, was weak-minded anu 'ne
nr;soner himself hadlong been OF unsouhd iilho.
He gave sketch of the prisoners ille anu VI
his nersonaI peculiarities. Some OF the so.i.e-
ments made offended Guiteau's vanity ana ne
promptly pronounced them false. others Vi
the statements he approved warmly. Mr' oco,
Vile revealed the fact that the prisoner iho
recently attempted to carry ON loye corre-
spondence and stated that letters written py 'le
prisoner had not been sent to their adoiess,
whereupon Guiteau become furiously angry ana
denounced his counsel as liar.
GUIrEAU FORTUNATE IN HIS COUNSEL
AN INGENIOUS ADDRESS BY MR. sCoVllLE' "ho
ARTFULIY CoNCEALs HIS ART AND WEARS THE
AIR OF ONE FROM THE BACKwooDs-A SOME
WHAT DRAMATIC SCENE BETWEEN IAWAEh AND
CLIENT
fry TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUSE'l
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22-The usual crowos
greeted Guteau on his arrival at the court
House this morning and the usual wel-dressed ana
decorously behaved throng awaited his arrlvai
1itbio tbe conr-troom Mr. Scovile's speech was the
ON Yesterday very ingenious His is the art that
conceals art and as his subtle sentences howed
forth il was difficult to believe that he had hau
sixty wears experience of affairs, and had been 1or
several decades lawyer in active praftce' hc
seemed some next friend just in from the PACK
woods He was gentle, so unSophstcateu Ill
every way so candid and calm that he won io'
IL tha furxy
audience. but their sympathy, so that when he mace
a particularly good point and again when he gave
Dist ict-A .torney Corkhill home thrust. he was
heartily applauded OF course, Guiteaus wild in
1e,ruptions broke the continuity of his though'.
But he rather liked them. They adorned ms tae'
If they didn't point his moral.
The scene between the brothers-in-law when Gull
teau called Scoville iar because he had deceived
him about his matrimonial correspondence, was
very dramatic. Guiteau never stands up to speak,
but he pounded on the desk before
him vigorously as he shouted in the most dram
attic manner. " You're liar You're 1ar! but you
can't fool me-"
Mr. Scoville is winning considerable respect for
himself Detestable as was Guiteaus crime, detest-
able as is the criminal no can help feeling re-
spect and even admiration for his brother-in- law
who. believing him 10 be insane stands by him II
his extremity at great personal sacrifice.
MR.. SCOvILLE'S ADDRESS UNFINISHED.
ATTEMPTING TO SHOW THAT CHARLES ]. GUITEAU
IS AND HAS LONG BEEN INsANE-A SKETCH OF
THE GUITEAU FAMILY BY A REGAIIVE-THE AS
sAssIY GIVES HIS COUNSEL THE LIE-CoNDUCT-
INCA LOVE CORRESPONDENCE WHILE IN PRISON.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22.--Upon the opening
of the court this morning Mr. scovile took his stand in
front Of the jury and deliberate and conversational
tone continued his address. lie called the attention OF
the jury the defence set up insanity lie expected
the Jury to treat fairly and canddy and to weigh ii
uBon The evidence. The prisoner since he had been IN
court mad done many things which might have influenced
the minds OF the jurors They might already have
TO conclusion 10 what sort of man he was IL was
impossible for 1t have been otherwise but it not
exactly the proper thing TO do The jurors should keep
their minds open that when the evidence was
produced before them, they could weigh it and accept
what was shown TO be the fact 1t was accepted by
nearly all the courts now that though man might
know that act wrong when he did 1t,
YET in certain forms of insanity the person might be
urged Oh by impulse which lie could not resist ana
might do wrong act under O7erpowerng impulses, and
In such cases the courts had SAID that insanity might be
defence Other courts step further, and held
that The whole question OF the crimnaty OF the accused
person depended upon whether the act was done by
man insane; that where it the result of an in
sane deranged mind, and that that was question
which must be entirely lett to the jury.
The Court-That is the New-Hampshirc doctrine.
Mr. seovile-Yes the New-Bampshire doctrine. II
this Court took that position, would make another
step of progress. That step this: If man were
proved to be of uUsound mind If it shown to the
satisfaction Of a jury that he had been man whose
mind unbalanced in respect that he was Insane
on any suiject-f in that condition he committed a
crime. the whole question should be left to the jury
whether he would have committed the crime If he had
been man Of sound mind. He would call attention TO a
ease which occurred in this court, where colOred
woman was convicted Of murder but the judgment was
set aside in the General Term Soon aterward II was
ndisputaby discovered that she had always been in
sane In that case also it had been held that,
the defence of insanity having been brought forward the
burden Of proof was the prosecution Where a mans
mind of its base, where he had not good reasoning
faculties where evidently there defcien cy, where,
when he undertook business lie did not the proper
means to succeed, because OF that deficiency in his
mind insane. He not what would be called
an imbeciie or a fool because ia certain things he
shoed sharpness. But he could not put what he knew
together with something else. dcduee conclusion and
act upon that conclusion. started out 10 bug great
newspaper thought he could do It without money,
without friends without influence, while person Oi
common sense would know that 1t required money and
experience.
There was another phase OF insanity, namely, where
started out with false premise and began To red
son from II. Having started from false premise O
course he would 10 false conclusion, no matlei
how good reasoning. No two Of insanity were
alike The that of Guiteau would be re-
lated by Dr. Spitzka OF NewYOrk, who lad told OF an
insane man who into politics. mingled with the
great Of the day, and supposed that he OF
them. lie labOred under the deuson that he OF
great deal OF importance in the campaign Being met
with such treatment "a might ex-
pect. he became disappointed his mind revert
ed on itself, and he might have committed
crime in that condition. insanity than anything
else was hereditary tant and the first question which
always arose was parents and ancestors OF the
insane person. Irritability sign Of insanity