Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-30
7HAW TRIAL
NEAR; CRAZY
HIS DEFENSE
HINSANITY" TAKES PLACE OF
"UNWRITTEN LAW"
MEMBERS OF FAMILY RALLY TO
HIS SUPPORT
Chorus Girl Wife of Defendant VIII
Again Go on Witness Stand and
Relate sordld Details
of Her Life

BY Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Dec. 29.-One week from
tomorrow Harry X. Thaw will be called
a second time before jury to make his
defense to the charge of having murdered
Stanford White There have been several
postponments of the date of the second
hearing of this noted case, but It is SAID
now there will be no further delay.
1t is announced that Mrs. William
I'haw. mother of the defendant, is ex-
pected in the city by next Saturday. Mrs.
Thaw has been in poor health, 1t Is
said, but believes she will be able to come
on to be with er son during the opening
hours of his second fight for life and
freedom.
Other members of the family circle, in
cluding Mrs. George l.. Carnegie, Harry
sister. and Josiah and Edward Thaw
his brothers, are also expected to reach
the city during the week and will remain
throughout the trial. The countess of
Yarmouth, the defendants sister, is at
present IN England and is not expected
30 attend she second trial.
Evelyn Visits Tombs
Mrs Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, who has
been a daily visitor at the Tombs ever
since the first Thaw jury disagreed, save
will, OF course, be one of the first arrivals
in the courtroom on Monday next
There have been many rumors as to
the plans of the defense for the second
hearing of the case, and it has been pre-
dicted that an entirely new line OF action
might be followed. It can be authori-
tatiyely stated, however, that the defense
win again be the same, that Evelyn Mes
bit Thaw will again relate her story to
the jury, and that an imposing array OF
expert alienists viii again undertake to
establish the theory that Thaw was in
sane at the time he killed Stanford
White in the Madison Square roof gar
den, but has so far recovered his mental
balance since that time as to be no
longer a menace to the community, and
therefore is entitled to his freedom.
In the coming trial. it is declared, there
will be no mention made of higher, or
umwritten, law, but the defense will adj
here strictly to plea of legal insanity
at the time the act was committed.
There were mistakes made at the first
trial which 1t will be the attempt of
Thaw's attorneys studiously to avoid
during his second hearing.
In the expert testimony, for Instance
they have been able to separate the
wheat from the chaff, and will only offer
that which proved most effective before.
And having once felt the sting of Dis
trict Attorney Jerome's skillful cross
examination on all phases of the diseases
affecting the brain, several of the Thaw
experts will be in much more secure
position than they were at the first trial,
when the prosecuting officers wonderful
knowledge of medicine fairly amazed,
and IN one case completely dumfounded
a witness.
District Attorney Jerome will, OF
course. be prepared to combat the testi-
mony of the insanity experts. His formid-
able hypothetical question, which was
asked before in omnibus style to nine
state experts in a row, and upon which
they based opinions entirely opposite to
those entertained by the experts for the
defense, will be taken out of the archives
and polished up for use in rebuttal.
State Has New Witness
The states direct case will again be
very brief. 1t vii have added to it the
testimony of James Clinch Smith,
brother-in-law of Stanford White, who
met and talked with Thaw the night of
the tragedy. Mr. Smiths testimony,
which Mr.. Jerome regards as highly i'm
portant. and as showing a cool, calcu-
lating state of Thaw's mind, but a few
minutes before he fired the fatal shot,
was taken before in rebuttal, having
been discovered after the trial was well
under way.
Martin w. Littleton of Brooklyn, who
nominated Alton B. Parker for presi-
dent at the last Democratic national con-
vention, will act as leading counsel. He
viii have the assistance of Daniel O'Reilly
and A. Russell Peabody, both of whom
went through the first trial. O'Reilly is
rr-ff h he
well again when the trial starts.
Thaw is looking forward anxiously TO
the beginning of his new fight He feels
that all chance of further delay is past.
and will enter the court room with tho
same confidence of acquittal which has
marked his attitude from the start The
work of securing a jury will be more or
less laborious and may occupy two or
three weeks. The special venire sum-
moned for the case numbers 300. 1t has
been definitely decided that the jury Will
be locked I'm fhr0i1pho1ff tba +,.fo1