The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-03-02


ed revolver might have
when he put that pistol in his
pocket" said Mr.. Jerome, do you be-
lieve he knew it to be a proper in
strument for defending himself from
danger?'
He probably did
| Doctor, what is the characteristic
system of brain storm-calmness OF
| excitement?'
"A brain storm began DIR. Evans
| Hold on" interrupted Mr.. Jerome
| II don't want to know all about the
brain storm generally. I simply want
to know if brain storms are character
| lied by calmness or excitement"
| Mr.. Delmas said he thought the wit
| ness should be allowed to answer in
his own way.
| "All 1 want to know" said Mr.. Je-
| rome, sis whether a person suffering
| from a brain storm, who commits an
/ act of homicide, goes about the deed
in a calm, cool and deliberate man.
| ner."
He would not be calm and deliber-
| ate in the internal operations of his
mind" said DR.. Evans.
| "Outward1y he might be either calm
| or excited. You might not tell from
the manner of approach whether there
was a storm raging in his mind. Take
for instance, the principal character in
Hugo's Les Miserables'-'
Hold on, DOCTOR" interrupted Mr..
Jerome, we've kept the suicide club
| out OF the record ana we q better Keep
| Les Misera bles' out, too"
| DR. Evans, in response to Mr.. Je-
rome'S questioning, said he recalled
one case of homicide committed dur
ing a brain storm, the patient being at
his institution.
I'm fifteen years you have seen but
one such case ?''
eff you want me to look up the rec
ords, 1 can find many. 1 remember
one case we have of a woman who
Ii 1a1 hor- oh n
child's head Off"
During a brain storm? %
81 believe So"
"As understood it. you say Thaw
killed White While suffering from
brain storm %
You may call 1t a brain storm or
whatever you like, or a case of mental
excitement"
A long argument took place over
brain storms between the prosecutor
and DR.. Evans.
He did not know how many cases he
had known and refused to guess. The
witness would. if desired, bring the
district attorney a transcript of some
of these cases, but not all of them, nor
would he allow the district attorney
to send to the asylum and verify the
transcripts from the original records;
they are not public records, he said
at is customary, doctor, for a per-
son committing homicide while suf-
fering from a brain storm to be cool
and collected ?"
81 don't know that there is any Gus
tom"
After reading that part of the hypo-
thetical question describing the shoot
ing, Mr.. Jerome asked:
rs there anything that shows
brain storm %
yes. the manner in which he did
What thought did Thaw have in
mind when he turned and said to his
wife after killing White, L have prob
ably saved your life'?'
II can not say
Mr.. Delmas objected to Mr.. Jerome
repeating questions, and Mr.. Jerome
said:
but. your honor, we are just get
ting down to it now
1--WE have been a long time at it,
said Justice Fitzgerald.
You don't think it is my fault, sir;
you have heard the answers" replied
Mr.. Jerome.
81 didn't say whose fault it was;
said we. had been a long time about
it, said the justice.
Mr.. Jerome asked the witness if he
knew of the famous cases of a person
killing an enemy in brain storm. The
witness cited the case-of General Dan
iel E. SickleS. who, he said, killed the
defamer of his wife. He also cited
the Observation-Disclosures and the
Hanson murder cases
us it not fact that in the McFar-
land cases and the SickIes case that
the defense was emotional insanity"
Mr.. Delmas' objection was sustain
ed.
Have you ever known any person
who killed in a brain storm to re-
cover?"
Yes
us paranoia durable %
Some forms of it, yes
rs the percentage small?"
Yes
''In testifying in the case of the
state against Grant, didn't you say
that paranoia is, as a rule, clronic?"
LAS 1 looked at it at that time-ten
years ago-yes.''
"And that paranoia cases rarely get
welI?"
And that it yields only slightly to
treatment"
Yes
And that some authorities go as
low as per cent on recoveries?"
Mr. Jerome asked DR.. Evans if he
agreed with a certain medical author
ity who said he had never seen a re-
covery in 1000 cases of paranoia.
Justice Fitzgerald said that state
ments in books were not evidence.
Mr.. Jerome asked DR.. Evans if he
had read paper by DR.. Allan Nc
Lane Hamilton.
Yes"
He is an expert in mental diseases,
is he not?''
II do not think I should be called
upon to pass on a practicing physi-
clan"
Mr.. Delmas objected and Mr.. Je-
rome argued the point, saying that in
the Preusser case an expert witness
was allowed to give his opinion of
Drs. Hamilton, Mcdonald and Mason.
The district attorney looked up the
record in this case and started to read
what the expert in the Preusser case
thought of the physicians who are to |
be called for the state in the Thaw /
case.
Justice Fitzgerald asked to have the /