The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-01-29

AN EXPERT TRAPPED.
A Sharp Lawyer Puts an Insanity Expert in a
Highly LudicrOus Position.

CHICAGO. Jan. 2S.-The trial of Mrs.
Rawson for shooting the lawyer of her mill
ionaire husband for assailIng her char
acter, ended this afternoon, so far as the
hearing of testimony is concerned. The
feature of the day was the ludicrOus trap
into which fell one of the noted experts
who were put on the stand to show that
she was not insane. The victim was DR.. J.
q. Herman. His testimony was notable
for its rather sensational bearing on the
evidence which sent President Garfield's
slayer to the gallows. Mrs. Rawson's
lawyer, Seth Crews, had asked the witness
If he did not testify at the Guiteau trial
that the assassin was insane. He said he
did.
''Still," said the lawyer, "Guiteau was
hangeds'
s"Yes, but the experts who swore that he
was sane perjured themselves. They gave
testimony contrary to their own writings.
/ want TO say, too, that several of them
have since been dismissed from the lnstitu-
tions which they controlled for mismanage--
ment. Those so-called doctors, medical
politicians, who testified for the prosecu-
tiOn In that case, were paid by the govern
ment, while the experts for the defense
were dragged to Washington by the
government and got nothing"
After this outbreak on the Guiteau case
Mr. Crews picked up q book, which he said
was Rays Medical Jurisprudence Now,
Doctor" he said in n bland way, 81 want
to read you two cases which / read to the
experts who testified before you. They are
as follows: h. j., woman aged forty
years; cause of attack, great domestic
trouble. She was woman of quick. active.
strong mind. AID known amopf that class
as strong min0ed. The physician iu charge
OF the hospital ives asked how woman of
such q mind could become insane, and he
replied she could not bend, hence she broke.
A. j., a woman of very active, strong mind,
and of a highly nervous and eXcitable
temperament. This case. like the previous
one, was the result of domestic difficulties
of trying character. which had mortified
her greatly. She had shown suicidal
tendencies, but her friends had supposed
these were over come. She had shown great
excitement at times, followed by great
prostration. Excitement was aroused on
the mention of the name of a woman she
supposed her husband to have been
intimate with. She became incurably in
sane"
Dr. Herman thought the lawyer was
reading from the book, but those who were
sitting behind Mr.. Crews saw that he had
tw! sheets of manuscript. closely written,
inside the volume.
THAT first case You read" said the expert
witness, Il remember very well. / have
read it, but that was q chronic case of
hysterical insanity"
Look here, Doctor" said Crews, taking
the two sheets OF paper. out of the book and
handing them to the witness. these cases
are not i'll the book, nor in any book; 1
made them up my self"
The Doctors face became very red when
he saw what q trap he had walked into.
They are very similar, Mr.. Crews, to those
in the books in general USE"
Mr.. Crews said he based his fictitious
cases on Mrs. Rawson's history and ex-
perience. The Doctor was allowed to depart,
while Mrs. Raws0n lay back in her chair
and laughed until the tears rolled down
her cheeks.