The San Francisco call., 1901-10-09
THINKS ADAMS
WAS INSANE
DR.. F. w. Hatch Gives
Expert Testimony for
Defense.
Says Alcoholic Stimulants
Affected Ex-Minister's
Mind.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call
LIS Rrno Sr,-n,- nnr @

LILO bIOaOWaY, OCT. 3.
Expert testimony. designed to establish
me theory that Charles G. Adams was
insane at the time he shot Dr. John G.
Jessup was introduced by the defense to-
Gay in Adams trial for murder. DR.. f.
". Hatch, president of the State Board
Of Lunacy Commissioners, taking the wit
ness chair and asserting his belief in the
responsibility Of the accused when he
fired the fatal shot DR.. Hatch has been
q spectator Of The proceedings of the trial
since it began and his opinion as to Ad-
ans sanity is based upon the testimony
Of the several witnesses who reviewed
events in the life Of the accused man. and
a personal examination of him since his
Incarceration in the County Jail.
Attorney Church, for the defense
broached the subject Of Adams sanity by
reading 10 DR.. Hatch an extended hypo-
rhetical question, dealing with Adams
heredity, his excessive use Of intoxicating
liquors. his habits, his inebriety and all
his actions prior to the shooting, to
which the witness replied that in his opin-
ion the person described must have been
insane and wholly incapable of appreciat-
ing the enOrmity Of his crime.
VIII you please explain why you think
Hatch replied:
I base my opinion upon the ancestry
OF the man. his history as related by his
daughter and his excessive drS king hab-
trs- 1 md upon reviewing his lite that
when he entered the ministry he was we'll
educated and full Of zeal for his work
Within a few years he had become ad-
dicted 10 drink. He exhibited unusual
symptoms, at times being very eXcitable
ano al others mOroSe and drowsy. He
frequently had delirium tremens, which
certainly had their effect in destroying his
faculties and intellect
Illusions and Hallucinatfons.
"One Of the results of his habits was TO
= l,,ITs
tons. He frequently mIstoOk his wife for
his daughter and his daughter for his
wife. After his wife was dead he called
his daughter by the wife name, having
Inc illusion that she was still living. He
pushed his daughter dOwnstairs-a thing
he never would have done if he had been
sane. He thought he was being attacked
by demons and he was so frightened at
one time that mis- hair stood on end One
Of the Episcopal clergy here testified that
he sang in an upstairs room in his night
clothes while the family was q breakfast
and another said he drove around the city
in a Sulky, arTaYed in a long coat and silk
hat. His daughter tells how he craRled
about his home on all fours, barking like
q dog: -, 49,. .,.,,,,u- .o,..,, - .,.noo
ton with the mans uncle's insanity, tend
10 show that he was unbalanced-they are
not things that a Well-balanced man of
the cloth would 90. Taking into consid-
Grafton Adams career, the fact that his
brain and body were subjected to a con-
stant drain. that his will power had about
become exhausted, that he suffered a
series Of attacks Of delirium tremens and
that his periods Of sObriety were few,
should say that his mind had been de-
ranged TO such an extent that he had no
command over his faculties and that he
had no realization of the nature of his
crime when he shot DR.. Jessup- In other
words, he was insane when he shot DR..
JeEsUp."
Drunkenness His Natural State.
District Attorney Allen asked the wit
ness in crOss-eXamination what effect the
continued use of alcoholic liquors had on
q human being.
1T first acts on the brain" was the re
ply 1t produces gradual changes in the
brain structure that finally result in i'm
pairing the faculties. The liquor acts by
absorption and reaches the brain through
the blood. 1t disturbs the equilibrium
What do you think Adams condition
was during his periods Of sobriety?'
I think his condition was an unnatural
one for him. He had been addicted 10
drink so long that he was not in 2 natural
state unless he was intoxicated"
What do you think these illusions and
Authorizations that are spoken Of here
gnean?'
They indicate a representative condi-
ton Of the brain due TO excessive drink.
The examination Of the physician occu-
pied all the afternoon and will be con-
tinued tomorrow morning