Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-16

Most frequent among the danger signals
are insomnia and constipation. In fact
so common are these symptoms that the
experienced observer anticipates their
presence and expects an Affirmative an
swer to his queries respecting them.
IL must be borne in mind, too, in deter
mining insanity that q patient generally
makes unreliable, misleading statements
regarding him or her self, even though in
other respects he or she may be perfectly
truthful. Not long ago 1 pronounced a
certain prisoner insane and another p.is-
oner sane. Several newspaper men, inter-
viewing both of them, reported to me that
the former declared himself perfectly sane
and the latter convinced them of her in
sanity. Insane persons declare themselves
sane almost as a rule. the truth or falsity
OF certain Statements made by the insane
being only determined by evidence from
otner sources. On the other hand many
hanucinations expressed by the insane are
30 manifestly irrational as to need no fur
fner corroboration; as, for instance when
q man declares he is a king or the Saviour
or that his legs are made of glass and he
refuses 10 walk for fear Of breaking them.
or q woman that she Is the Virgin Mary
or queen or an angel.
All sorts of absurd arguments ara ad.
vanced by defendant counsel occasionaIIv
70 prove their clients insane. Recently
a
because his ear nrorot.
tories did not correspond in size ana aIso
because the prisoner was bowlexeed 7 took
pains TO observe the ears OF that 5i,rv and
round that seven members OF n had the
ear defects mentioned. On the other hand
,s wnen TINS point was introduced ventured
that majority of human beings wera
guilty Of just such ear defects and that the
.1Wyer himself was observedly mora how.
legged than his client. Retiring to the furv
room, those dozen men studied ons an,
otner's ears and promptly returned a YER
dict of guilty.
Just now the public Is singulariv At sea
as to the exact status OF insanity as a de-
renee for homicide. The revised Code ~
Criminal Procedure provides that A nerson
Is not excused from criminal liability as
an idiot. imbecile, lunatic or insane person
except on proof that at the time OF COM
mitting the alleged criminal act ba was
iaboring under defect OF reason as aithar
NOT TO know the nature and aualitv a,
the act he was doing. or S@'' VI
z. Not to know that the act was wrong
insanity at the time OF the ACT msv bs
.s5s," soieiy Dy the jury. Insanity at the
time OF the trial IL never passes nnon bv
the jury. Technically considered. fbe AZ.
renee OF temporary insanity is the onIv
legal attitude defendant can talxa to,Uars
MS mental condition which viii. n n nrs.
r,,s; ,s,,,; e,iaole hin 70 go free Among our
nolacs, or, In other words. victims ~ dai,,-
sionai insanity. Many Victims ~ th1.
mental arrangement, contrarv 70 ,1oouI.r
peheI, Dut as every experienced aIienIst
NJ noMs: possess perfectly clear knowledge
OF right and wrong in the abstract ana
also comprehend abstractly the nature ana
lessu consequences Of acts similar 10 those
Wnach they have committed Your nara
hoiac Is prone to premise falsely and IN
tuda Sr1 r,nt,1,a r,s,lnterpret the conduct. atti-
while ne often reasons logfcaIlv he res sons
would not do. sane person
TO set up legal test or standard a, in
sanity which Is not in harrnonv ,vltb ,ha
teachinss OF medical science, ana al the
ciude from its benefits the vIefime ~ 49,
noaA. who represent such q large portion
OF the dangerous insane simply beeausa
they possess knowledge Of rfeht ana
wrong, Is a disgrace 10 jurisprlldence and
a taveety OF justice. The real question of
fact Tor jury 70 determine IN cases OF
alleged insanity in criminal trials would
seem TO be the foli0wins:-
/ DID the defendant at the time az thu
alleged crime have sufficient mental ca
paoity TO appreciate nationally the nature
and consequences of the act. and, II 50.
had he sufficient power OF win 20 enable
him TO choose between doing or not doing
itf
q II ne had lost the power OF choosing
with reference 20 the particular act was
the loss due 20 disease, and not to heat OF
passion, tntoxication or other seif-induced
temporary mental disturbance7
plainly a correct solution Of these ques-
Tons. Involving human life and liberty, Ii
Of most vital importance. and inasmuch
az they relate directly to disease the facts
can properly be interpreted for the jury
only BY competent medical testimony.
the same tests should be ap-
piled in criminal cases as are now re-
1,lired by law for the commitment Of an
Individual TO q hospital for the insane,
namely. q compulsory examination OF the
raentai condition OF the accused by ply
s,cians familiar with the phenomena OF
Insanity. II this were done It is safe to
predict that much OF the discrepancy and
conflict OF opinion in our courts and az the
bar OF public opinion respecting the ques-
ton Of responsibility in criminal easss
wnsrs insanity u alleged would vani.h.