The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-03

OpihOn o. an ImpartaRt massachusetts,
state OnIefaI.

To THE EDIToR or TIE sCN-Str: A. .
man who has given his whole professional
life to the study and practice OF legal medi-
cine l am much Interested in your article
thu other day on An EKtra-lsgal Appeal
for Patrick. There can be no question
that the crime Of which he IPatrickl has
been found guilty merits the inAiction OF the
severest penalty authorized by the law. "
But doesn't THE Sun beg the question:
The courts lave on the evidence decided
that a crime has bean committed. but Ia Il
the factp Is not that just what IL In dispute2
From what ] have read IL would seem that
the cause Of death was and b In dispute.
II the old man died OF natural causes, a. there
was evidence 70 show. there was no crime
and no one guilty. The claim that the death
was caused by violence depends on the
accuracy Of judgment Of certain physicians.
together with the confession a. OF ths valet.
who is said to be un%truthful,
When $500 physicians OF repute say that
the opinion OF some two or three other doc
tors 10 unwarrGnted by the alleged appear
anOes shown At the post-mortem dissection,
is IL not worth while to consider whether. after
all, there might not have been a mistake on
the part Of the experts for the Statep I. Of
course. may be misinformed as to the facts.
but I do know what will happen in the at
tempted combustion Of ether and chlorofOrm
respectively. and the reported testimony Of
the valet would seem to indicate that in ig-
norance he has described the effects OF at
tempted combustion Of ohloroform. which
could only obtain with ether.
Again there " no absolute. certainty that q
man OF tho age OF the alleged victim, with the
natural aTterio-solerosis and other LESSONS Of
the clrculatory apparatus, might not have
died from natural causes.
Again, there can be no doubt that the aver
for embalming OF other fluid TO be forced into
the lungs after death owing to- the construc-
ton Of the main organ of circulation. with Ito
50 long after death az TO have the blood ooagu-
lated, But on the other hand, assume that
s soer o seea ssa,b So he s=m tSe bIond was st d11 Ana 20
and that actual experiment should show that
the valves give way under the ordinary pres
sure used In embalminR. would there not be
serious doubt thrown on the question as
70 whether the appearances observed at
autopsy might have been caused by, the em;
balming rather than by the Inhalation OF
chloroform?
Certainly the cause Of death is such a vital
that it would seem TO the man In the street"
that it is worth while to have that point set
tied, and surely the opinion Of half a dozen
sidering where life Is at stake,
That Patrick had a trial fair according to
forms so OF Law + gnqHestioned but after AL
In the most important part Of the evidence
the evidence which tended to show that any
crime whatsoever had been committed. Is
II after all an eXtra-leRal appeal? Does not
the State provide for an appeal TO the Chief
Executive after all forms Of judicial proceed
ure have been observed? And II such appeal
is provided for, why eXtra-leVal? Surely
the Chief Executive has a right to ascertain
whether. first Of all. a crime has been COM
United. As to this he has a right 70 the best
and most scientific information which is at
| his disposal. and on this he should act. Really
IL is not so much a question whether the game
has been PLAYED according to the rules, but
whether the decision made is in accordance
with the facts.
II does not seem to me that any great harm
could be done TO the State or its Jurisprudence,
or Justice in the abstract, il a commission Of
eminent physicians should pass on the ques-
tion on which the whole matter depends.
whether on the showing at autopsy and the
story of the valet a. to what did tor must
havel happened in the commission of the
crime ~ would warrant a belief that a crime
had been committed at all, or whether the
death resulted from natural causes.
FRANCE A. HARRIS, NJ. ID.
BosToN, October ?.