Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-05-03
A PLEA Of INSANITY.
Will Be Entered By
Counsel for AImy.
TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS
Will Be Taken in the Hope Of Securing
For Him New Trial.

PLYMOUTH, y. H.. May s-Frank &.
Almy, murderer OF Christie Warden,
insane The idea will seem absurd to
those who have looked upon him as cool
and calculating villain, yet nevertheless
II is upon the ground OF his insanity, at
the time Of the murder, that his counsel
base the motion for a new trial, which
will be argued in court here today
before Chief Justice Doe aud Judge Allen
OF the supreme court.
Attorney General Eastman aud County
Solicitor Mitchell arrived yesterday after
noon, and Judge Doe and Allen came here
this morning.
Sheriff Brigham has gone TO Concord
witha couple Of his deputies to bring
Almy here, aud all the arran gements for
keeping The prisoner during the hearing
are complctesl
Attempted secrecy has avsiled little
more than to put many people to consid-
erable trouble, and unless the time of Al.
my's removal Jhall be changed at the last
moment, tho public will know when he
wilt 1osve prison and reach Plymouth.
The court will come in at 3 O'Clock, at
the court house in which Almy was first
tried. While he Is in Plymouth, Almy
will DE kept In the room on tho second
story Of the court house, facing the
square. In which he was before confined.
He will be guarded closely day and night.
The sheriff knows that he has now
An Able-Bodied Prisoner
to deal with, and not one who needs the
aid OF crutches, and will take precautions
accordingly Almy's broken leg is we'll;
he is in as good health "a any closely con-
fined prisoner can be, and tho thought
Of escape must be ever present In
his breast. But no chances to put into ex-
ecution any plans he may form will be
given him.
The hearing will claim public attention
equally with the prisoner, and people are
asking how IL came about. In the ab.
sence of evidence from Messrs Burleigh
and Story, exact information il lacking,
but IT il only fair to presume from all
that has happened that the motion was
made quietly to Judge Doe and that he
found sufficient reason accompanying 1t
to grant n hearing. This was what was
done in Sawtelis case, only that hearing
was before the full bench, where now &c
will be before the justices who were on
the bench at the trial And as i'm the
Kind, the prisoner
Ifebeht.
In the present case where the sani ty of
the prisoner is to be determined, 10 Is
more than ever necessary that he should
be present, in order that the court may
judge from his looks, acts and words. as
well as from evidence presented, what his
mental condition really is.
Just what evidence as to insanity will
be presented is not known at present.
10 4 ha nj l,rt
l. reason to believe that it will be mainly
Of an expert character, and that DIR.
Burns of this place and DIR. Bancroft of
Concord, both experts In this line, will be
among the witnesses
Neither is il easy TO Judge OF
The Effect OF Such Evidence
on the court. but to the outsiders who
have watched The trial and all proceedings
in the Amy case most intently, the
chances Of proving Almy insane. or even
of convincing the court OF IL, so far as to
order new trial, seems very slim.
In fact the chances are all against the
success Of the effort to secure new trial,
and by many people it is regarded as u
sort Of forlorn hope, a last resort, even IL
1t Is shown that there was Insanity In
Almy's family.
There are those, however, who ara skep-
tical of even a forlorn hope, and point sig
nifcantly to the opportunities the hearing
affords. Coming as IL does at an adjourn
ment Of the November term OF court at
which Almy was tried and not new
term, 1t affords an opportunity for the
court
To Correct Any Error
that may have been committed at the
trial
Was the announcement OF Almy's SEN
tence when he was not present, an errort
And does Judge Doe SO consider It, aud
will he take this opportunity to correct iti
There are many who believe that he does
so think and that he will improve the
opportunity now afforded him. At any
rate the next few days will tell and may
settle for good the vexed question Of the
right of prisoner to waive being present
when bis sentence is being pronounced.
But above all other things rises the ever
recurring question, will Almy hangi
There seems to be no reason why q self
confessed murderer should escape q de-
served fate on the gallows through q
technicality, and unless all present In
dcations are at fault, whatever may bs
Judge Does action, Almy will be hanged,
though the drop may not fall st the time
orioinallv scbedulsd