Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-04-03
HYPNOTISM AND CRIME.

HYPN0TIsM AND CRIME.
DR.. j. NJ. Charcot, in the Forum. con-
siders question that interested the
RECORD UNION when the Eyraud case
was brought to the attention of the French
Courts. The proposition in that case was
to hypnotize the woman under arrest and
induce her to go through the dramatic
features of the crime, in the hope to thus
gain clue for evolving the truth. DR..
Charcot puts this problem before his
readers:
! set subject to sleep and place him in
know A; he is contemplate fellow and is
ever trying to injure you; he must be put out of
the way, Here is a dagger. To-molrow''-or
zen days henee, for the suggestion may extend
your way to his home; you will wait till he
QUITS the house and you will stab him without
pity, He must die You are not to remember
at all that told you to kill him, even if you be
hypnotized again." The subject takes the sug-
gestlon ana promises to kill the one who has
'ecome his enemy. At the appointed hour he
-s,-u be at the place named, and will deal the
blow with steady hand. Whether arrested or
not for the deed, he will find it out of his power
to reveal the name of the one who put the dag
attractive
one, but can the thing be done?
His answer is "Experimentally, yes"
But, he adds, fit subjects for such expert
mental tests are rare; mainly they are
women, because their peculiar constitution
renders them subject to hysteria, and hys-
terra and hypnotism are near kin. Then.
too, the subject, to be well under control,
must be trained by repeatedly frequent
hypnosis, and finally there is always the
possibility of resistance to the suggestion
of the operator.
While in the laboratory these Subjects"
have been made to obey the suggestion to
commit crime, the doctor, who is an ex-
pert in hypnotism and foremost student
of it, does not have much faith that in
real life the hypnotized can be thus con-
trolled. In the Eyraud case, we remem-
Der that the proposed experiment was to
secure re- enactment of phases of the crime
by the woman aecomplice But it ap.
pears to us that in such case ''sugges-
ton" must be eliminated. For, if who
ever hypnotizes the suspected criminal
fails to suggest action, there is usually no
result. But the doctor is confident that
hypnotism can be made useful to the
Courts, if handled by experienced, intelli-
gent operators; so, too, it is means to
the cure or alleviation of human pain, but
in the hands of the unskillful it is dan
.gerous weapon, and may, indeed is pretty
sure TO, result sadly to the patient.
The conclusion is reached also that
when one claims to have committed crime
under hypnotic influence, it is valuable to
the Courts to prove by experiment whether
the claimant is hypnotizable. The infer
.ence is left for us that if she proves not
TO be a Subject" her defense is weakened
But we confess that such tests as that in
Court of justice would smack of the DAYS
of witchcraft, when, if a suspected witch
floated, it was taken as proof of guilt, and
she was then duly burned at the stake !;
but if she sank and was drowned 1t was as
sumed that she was no witch. Suppose
that under the latter conditions the
prisoner resisted or was not susceptible to
hpnotization, would it not be cruelty to
assume that she had not therefore at an
other time been deprived of her free will
agency?
DR.. Charcot admits that it is not posi-
BILE to define the rules of expert testimony
in the matter Of hypnotism. If so, then it
can never receive recognition as means
TO the detection of criminals. But DR.
Charcot gives two cases where innocence
was established in the French Courts by
hypnotic experiment. A man accused and
protesting innocence, was hypnotized by
Dr. Molet and made to perform the act
with which he was charged. On being re-
stored to normal condition he had nc
memory Of it, precisely as he had no mem
ory of the original act committed in first
period of somnambulism. So, too, a girl
charged with theft, in hypnotic state had
her memory awakened, and repeated the
crime, and her innocence was thus estab-
lished-to the satisfaction of a French
Court.