Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-02-28
Junior Court, Iowa University,
Brings Indictment Against
Shakespeare's Hero
DEFENSE WILL PLEAD INSANITY
The Fair ophelia May Also Appear in
the Trial Which Will be Conducted
According to Laws of Iowa-WiIl be
of Great Value as Practice for Law
Glass of University.
Special to Times-Republican

Il
Iowa City, Feb. 2S.-Hamlet. prince
! of Denmark. has been charged with the
crime of murder in the first degree by
the grand jury Of the Junior law court
of the University of Iowa. The inves-
| legation of the law which Shakespeare
SPARED his great character has been
given him at Iowa by the direction of
Hon. Horace E. Deemer, judge of the
supreme court of Iowa. r. a. Cook, of
independence, has been chosen to rep
resent the prisoner by procuration, and
| is now at liberty under bonds to appear
before the court to answer for Ham,
let's crime.
After due legal advice from three
states attorneys appointed by Judge
Deemer the grand jury returned the
following Indictment:
Junior Law Court of Johnson Coun-
ty Iowa-February Term, 1903.
State Of Iowa VS.. Hamlet, Prince of
Denmark-ss.-Indic
THE grand jury of the county of
Johnson. in the name of the state of
Iowa. accuses Hamlet. prince Of Den
mark, of the crime of murder in the
first degree. committed AZ follows:
The said Hamlet, on or about the
18th day of January, 1903. in the county
and state aforesaid. in and upon the
body Of one Claudius, king OF Denmark.
then and there being. v'illfully, DELHI
erately, premeditatedly. feloniously and
Of malice aforethought did commit an
assault with deadly weapon. being
then and there rapier and held In the
hands of the said Hamlet. and then and
there the said Hamlet did, and then and
there with specific intent to kill and
murder the said Claudius, willfully,
feloniously, deliberately. premeditated-
lw and of his malice aforethought
thrust the said deadly weapon in and
thru the body of the said Claudius
thereby willfully, feloniously, deliber-
ately, premeditatedly and Of his malice
aforethought inflicting uron the body of
the said Claudius mortal wound. of
which mortal wound the said Claudius
then and there did die.
"And so this grand jury. upon their
oaths, Go say that the said Hamlet
prince of Denmark. thea and there. in
the manner and form aforesaid, felo-
niously, wilfully, premeditatedly and of
his malice aforethought, did intention
ally kill and murder the said Claudius
contrary to the form Of the statutes in
such cases made and provided"
The law students who are to prose-
cute and defend Hamlet have been Sc
lected by Judge Deemer. The states
attorneys will be: Merritt Bracket of
Iowa City. w. K. Herrick OF Cherokee
and John e. Cross of Newton. The de-
PENDANTS attorneys will be: Sam d.
Whiting of Iowa City, A. A. Brown of
Storm Lake and G. p. Linville OF Coun-
ell Bluffs. Colonel George Ritter Bur-
Eett, U S. A, the university command
ant, will be sheriff of The court, and
Ralph A. Durham, of Manchester, will
be clerk.
The witnesses will be selected from
the members of the class. They will he
coached for two weeks to properly In
still the facts of the murder in their
minds. AS fair reading into the lines
of Shakespeare's report will be per-
mitted, it is thought that the two sets
of witnesses will have quite different
tales to testify to when put upon the
stand by the state and me defense.
The defense will be Hamlet's insan-
ity. This will be proved his own ac-
acknowledgement to Laartes in Act V,
Scene III, and by witnesses who saw his
actions, his seeing ghosts and other pc
culiar conduct.
The state will produce expert wit
nesses from the medical college to show
that Hamlet's own acknowledgment of
insanity is to be taken as a proof of
sanity, as insane persons always deny
their madness.
The woman in the case, the fair
Ophelia, is expected to appear in the
trial If the lawyers for the defense can
get requisition paper for the only
coed in the law college thru the fac
ulty. Miss Crosenbaugh is senior and
a special permit will be necessary in
order to secure her presence at the trial
Judge Deemer who will direct the
trial and preside over II, believes that
the case will prove of great value to the
junior law class, because OF the points
practice illustrated to the students. The
trial will be conducted according to the