The sun., 1895-01-06
HYPN0TISM AND CRIME.
THE INCREAsE OF THE LEGAI PEA
OF HYPNOTIC INFLUENCE. .
Cases In the UnIted states In which ThIsN
Plea Has Prohted the Actual Perpe.

true extent ana meaning or hypnotic Influences
there arc many and nccruing evidences Of thu
rapid growth of an interesting unanimity among
criminals and their lawyers concerning its use.
fulncss as plea in extenuation The column,
Of THE Sun show that scarcely day now passes
without it's record Of some lawbrealcrusing ,hs
excuse OF hypnotism for the commission ~
every crime from petty lnrcCny to mar.
dor. ~ II the direct successor OF emo.
tionnl insanity" aud there IN much reason
To believe that new and complicated IHgs
hus been added to tho already encountered
library OF medical Jurisprudence. Sporadic
cases Of this new form ut malgn tcnptaiion or
weird control have been lin evidence" ipr
some time the first modern cSpmpic IL Is Ire.
licvcd. OF It's formal Introduction ia II court VI
Law being IN that home OF the revival OF hyp.
nots'n, France. But now II il distinctly cpi-
deniC, and lcgalizcd hypnotisn Is az general IN
this country as It Is among the French. How
serious u question this new embarrassment to
the procedure Of our criminal courts has become
the record pf sin gle month will SHOW.
The murder of Catherine Cling occurred out
side Minneapolis Oh the night of Dec =, 1894.
She was u good looking dressmaker Of sporting
prOcivltics her associate In her gambling cu.
terpriscs being IL rather swell young fellow ot
Minneapolis named Harry T. Howard. Howard
was arrested on SUSPICION. as was a useful com.
panion of his named Blixt. When in Jail Blixt
made n number Of confessions and rctractions,
the gist Of them being that lie had committed
the murder, but had done so under the hypnotic
control of Harry r. Howard. Then llarrys
brother. Adry Howard, was nlso arrested on
suspicion. and he, too, began making confes.
sons, the pith OF these also being that Harry
possessed n power which, when exercised rrc-
sistibly forced him, Adry, to carry out his broth.
..t.l,..
inal they might bc Further. both Blxt ard
Adry Howard agreed that tho woman lived con.
sfantly in a hypnot!zed condition. induced by
Harry T. Howard her subsection to him. when
in this condition, being 30 complete that she
would do exactly what lie told her to do"
While yet the papers were giving space TO tho
story of Miss Ging's wretchcd life and tragic
death under the fatal hypnotic spell Of young
Howard, n curious but far less serious story WAS
b ing telegraphed from Eau Claire, Wis Two
2irls. Mabel Briggs and Alma Leonard, ma 10
public and official complain, against certain
DR.. George w. Pckn, also n resident of that
place, alleging that they had been hypnotilei
by the Doctor and then assaulted. Mattel
Briggs had most to say In the matter. her story
being that one day, while riding her bicyc,s
past the Doctors house, that evil man had hyI.
Noticed her into entering his Office, thou b
on she was hypnotiaed into taking q
railway trip with the Doctor to Chippewa Falls
and into going to Little Niagara, n lonely pl co
in the neighborhood, where she remained with
the Doctor for two days all the time under Ls
hypnotic control. Alma Leonard was Nlabelt
conidante and companion, her especial control
being the Doctors son, Aslgal Picktn. For .
long time after their weird adventures neither
was able to tell what had befalen her, but
Mabel first cleared herself of the hypnotic spell
and told her strange story, whereupon Muhel's
parents brought suit against the Pickins, and /!
became n cause ceebre to all Wisconsin.
The Briggs-Pickin case was tried in the United
States Circuit Court on Dec. 20, and on the very
day that Judge Bailey was wrestling with post
hypnotic suggestions" and curiously debating
whether a long bearded doctor could throw an
hysterical girl into trance at a mile range hyp-
nOtism was being considered as q factor in two
other trials of much more serious character. |
One of these was the celebrated Kalb case
tried at Columbus, .. Here the hypnotic plea
wore n decidedly novel complexion The III"
ory was ad anced that Kalb was his own hypnO
tizer. that he WIS a subject of what is technL
cally known AS auto o-hypnoss, and that while in |
like the gentleman in the song. is not himself
at all. The magnificent opportunities that are
opened here by the e. tntr9duction % OF such s mys,
need not be enlarged upon.
The other case is Of q very plain, matter of
fact hypnotism compared with the Kalb auto +
hypnosis. but 1t had much more serious con- F.
clGsion for not only did IL result in the dismit /
derep r. but t it also attained the the Climax Of new
sensationalsm-that of the arrest and convic. +.
tOn Of the hypnotzer.
Donald, in the employ of anderson Gray, a land. /
owner of Conway Springs, Kan. shot down
witness against Gray in an important lawsuit /
and when Macdonald was arrested he freely
told the story of lying in wait for his victim and
employer, Gray, had hypnotized him To comm! .
the murder. On this plea the Kansas Jury ths
ceedingly Important precedent of acqpittins
Macdonald and condemnin2 Gray to death
On that very day-possibly through hypnots:
laws was made In a case here In New York city. E
The case was a trivial one, but the application
servant siri named Freda Miller stole s5a from
her mistress, Mrs. Rachel Richards OF "iS Esn
broadway. The girl admitted the theft but De. F
clared that she had been hypnotized and MADE
TO steal by a companion named Minnie NOll.
Freda further declared that Minnie's influence
oyer her was SC. wonderful and complete tina,
she was compelled TO do everything that Minnie
commanded her to do. Her mistress thereqpon
took Freda 70 the Essex Market Cont ,i,rs wnfrs
Feitner took the same view Of the matter thst
Mrs. Richards did, and issued an order for ihe
her employers testimony that Minnie Wolf had
been her faithful servant for eighteen months.
Here, then. are ivc criminal cases neaTu ~ uo
month in which hypuotlsm has been seriously
advanced as an actual reason for the commls-
sion Of crime and as an excuse on which 10 bahe
d plea of non-responsibility. Moreover, in two
cases that excuse has been accepted by JudlciM
officers ~ being so valid rs to warrant them 10
allowing the actual perpetrators OF the crime 10
20 free and in netting out punishment 10 the lh-
stiEAt0rs and that largely. if not solely, upon
the evidence of the actual criminals. Nl
Is n proceeding that certainly opens up
unlimited possibilities for the extension
Of the plrtiCeps crlminiS argument while IN
granting immunity % tho hypnotized subject
and inhicting punishment on the implied criln'
nal there is a IaYk departure from the admins
trntton Of Justice under the law as applied ~
the case ut original sin under hypnotic infu'
ence. Adam laid mis- crime 10 the most power
full OF all hypnOtiLers. the woman, and the "o-
man claimed 10 hnVr fallen under the fasrina;
tiOns OF the first hypnOtizer on record ~" od
serpent of evil the devil; hut all were punished,
and, while the hypnotizor was doomed forever
10 the most undignifed mode Of progression
known. the two subjects were driven ont into
the fields Of hard work. Tat,
In the report of the meeting OF the American
Association Of Psychologists at Princeton PIX
lished in THH SUS Of Dec, 22 IL was shown tu w
tho Cun7rnsus Ot opinion that crimes cumhlt'ft
by "A pcrsun IN "A hypnotic condition can ~
taken ms prmR f1cio evidence of crlmlNnl ~.
s'incts in that person, and that no crinlihil ats
can he performed by n hypnOuzed person WI" -
norm ~, hale4t and law-abidng Here "a ''
.s difert issuu between scientists and lAr
wish l'4r jlrists giving practical illu, STRATUM