The herald., 1897-05-28
Some Pertinent Testimony
Stricken Out
IN THE HASTINGS CASE
A HARD DAY FOR MISS ALICE
HORTON
The Supreme Court Passes Upon an
Entangled Land Case-A Second
Charge Against w. Taylor

The trial of "Dr" Hastings, on tn
charge of having murdered Lillian Hat
terry, has developed an added interest
inasmuch as some of the purposes of thu
defense have been made apparent. From
now on, in addition to the interest thu
public may have in all the particulars
surrounding a very nasty and very
sad case, will be the interest in lega
contest offering in some respects ex.
ceptional scope for all the resources Of
the legal mind.
So far the attack of Messrs. Gage and
Jones, council for the defense, has been
of the negative kind necessarily. Equally
of necessity, however, will they have to
present through their witnesses later on
reasonable theory Of the death of Lii
ian Hattery. The only glimmer of light
upon what ie coming was cast by Drs.
Bryant and MCGOWAN, when they tes-
titled on Wednesday. When the defense
opens will have been reached the con-
structive point of the case, from their
standpoint, and meantime all the ener-
gies of counsel are being directed to
breaking down the claims and conten-
tions of the prosecution. So far meae-
urable amount of success has been met
with in this direction. Miss Alice Hor-
ton Is the principal witness for the pros
ecution, and with all the laxity that
distinguishes the lay mind generally
she has in many important matters OF
detail failed to distinguish between what
she herself saw and heard at the Has
tings establishment In sitting the mat
ter down Mr.. Gage has contrived not
only to have some of her testimony ex-
plunged from the record, but has in
weighed her into contradictions which
will prove useful later on.
For moet of the day yesterday Miss
Horton was upon the witness stand
subjected to rigid cross-examination.
The court room was. as on the previous
day. crowded with people, including a
fair springling of ladies.
MOTION TO STRIKE OUT
When the further hearing of the caee
was resumed Henry T. Gage, Esq. made
a series of motions before resuming his
examination Of the witness. First he
moved to have stricken from the record
all that witness had said regarding hav-
ing seen foetus, it being entirely hear
say evidence, Mrs. Weaver having told
her; also because it was the opinion OF
the witness regarding a matter for the
giving of which no foundation had been
laid by showing that she had skill to de-
termine what it wae.
The court sustained the motion 80 far
as Miss Horizons own statement was
concerned, but what Mrs Weaver told
her he permitted to remain on the record
as evidence. The jury were thereupon
instructed to altogether Disregard and
discard what the witness had said with
regard to having seen foetus, and then
Mr.. Gage made a specific motion to have
expunged from the record the statement
of Miss Horton that Mrs. Weaver had
told her it was a foetus, on the ground
that the statement, if made at all, and
Mrs. Weaver herself may have some
thing to say about that was not made
in the presence of DR." Hastings; such
a statement was outside the issues of
trial; no foundation had been laid for
it, and last, but not least, it was merely
hearsay.
The motion was promptly overruled.
Then Mr.. Gage made similar motion
regarding witness testimony relating
to Lillian Hattery having had mis-
carriage.
Mr.. McComas saw possibility of the
strong points of his case being alto