The Red Cloud chief., 1907-02-08
TIAy AL|ENIST ON GRILL
JEROME PLIES DR.. WILEY WITH
voLLEY OF QUESTIONS.
EXPERT ON THE WITNESS STAND

Pittsburg Physician Declares Defend
ant was Insane When He Fired the
Shot That Killed Stanford White.
Plea of Insanity Strikes Snag.
New York, Feb. 6.-The task of
proving to a jury that Harry Thaw
was insane through heredity and men.
tai stress when he shot and killed
Stanford White was taken up by II
defense in this famous case, but when
adjournment was announced 1t was
the general opinion in the court o
that but little progress had beer made.
Thaw's attorneys endeavored in vain
to place before the jury evidence
tending, 1t was said, to prove a strain
of insanity in the collateral branches
of the defendants family, but they
were blocked at every point by Dis
trict Attorney Jerome, whose objec-
lions were upheld by the rulings of
Justice Fitzgerald.
The defense did, however, get be-
fore the twelve men in the box the
testimony of an expert, that in his
opinion Harry Thaw was suffering
from insanity" the night of the trag-
edy. Mr.. Jerome attempted to break
down the evidence of the alienist, DR..
c. G. Wiley of PittsDurg, and for three
hours put him through a cross-exami-
nation as severe as was ever heard in
a New York court. The prosecutor
was relentless in his attack and be-
fore he had finished DR.. Wiley protest
ingly declared: IL did not come here
as an expert. | came as a witness to
q fact, and | have been converted into
an expert without being prepared for
it,"
The district attorney astonished
every one by his intimate knowledge
of medicine and it's technical phrase
ology, demonstrating the care with
which he had prepared himself to
meet the very defense which Thaw's
counsel have entered In his behalf.
Mr.. Jerome searchingly inquired into
DR.. Wiley's record as a physician and
as an expert on insanity. He hurled
volleys of technical questions at the
witness, who at times was mute and
at other times declared he could not
answer, or gave evasive replies. OFTEN
he brought upon himself sharp warn
ing from the district attorney to make
a reply and not an argument. DIR
Wiley said he predicated his opinion
as to Thaw'3 insanity upon his actions
the night OF the tragedy as described
to him in a hypothetical question pro
pounded by the defense n upon the
incident which he witnessed on {
Pittsburg street car during the sum
mer of 1905. Thaw, said he doctor
acted ~irrationally on the car, coming
in suddenly and jerking up one o
the window blinds, slamming 1t dow
and then lifting it again, the Will
engaging i'm a wordy war with the cor
ductor.
Tie district attorney then drew
from the a~lienist the opinion tina
/, Thaw's acts on the Madison Squar
roof garden, when he killed Stanton
White, were not acts Of insanity wheI
> taken singly. but constituted evidenc
! of insanity when c%onsiderej collective
y ly. At times DR.. Wiley seemed entire
ly baffied by the questions. He hes
tatcd at each, and before he had al
swered Mr.. Jerome had framed anotl
err query replete with impressiv
sounding, technical terms and appa
emily offering a problem no less diff
cult than it's predecessor. The wi
ness admitted that many OF the test
; to which the district attorney referred
such as the Romberg test and the A
gyll Robertson pupil test, were N
known to him, and when he was aske
. to quote from any accepted work @
. insanity, declared he could not Civ
v the exact language from any book.
: Mr.. Jerome's well OF knowledg
. however. seemed never to run Dir
He carried his cross-examinatio
:, through practically the entire NOR
y ing session and for an hour and tive
y ty minutes after luncheon continue
:, to ply the witness with all manner
uupStiOnS.