Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-22
EFFECT ON THE JURY.
Yesterdays Proceedings and the Pos
sible Result.

NEW YORK, February 2.-Wnetnef Inc
developments In court yesterday were OF
benefit to the prosecution as going to estao-
lish the incredibility Of Evelyn Nesbit as
witness or were Of benefit to the defense In
their appeal to the sympathies Of the Jury
may be a question Of expert opinion. To the
observant lay mind It seemed as II these
developments had only resulted In digging
up lot of unpleasant facts with reference
to the childhood Of Evelyn Nesbit and the
career Of her mother: in making a great pit
eous scene in the court room which ought to
have been avoided and with the possible In
tensifying Of the impression made upon the
minds of the jury by the story first related
by Mrs. Harry X. Thaw. So far as the de-
the witness. they were not really OF the first
Importance. They were probably Of some
Importance in the impression which these
scenes may have left upon the minds Of the
jurors
For the first time since this memorable
trial began the days developments served
to drive from the court room without any
previous warning by the presiding Justice
suance Of their professional duties. When
the scene was SO narrowing that trained
women writer's of the press voluntarily re-
signed their valued seats in the spaces set
apart for the press it may be imagined how
deeply the scene burnt itself into the minds
of the twelve men In the jury box.
Story Moved tho Court.
The jurors were visibly affected by the
touching scene which Mr.. Jerome brought
about, and, to speak the absolute truth,
1t seemed as IL the sympathies of every
body in the court room. including those
of the presiding justice, were with the
little woman who had SO bravely under
taken the task Of helping her unfortunate
husband against the spectacular district
attorney.
Evelyn Nesbit has now been on the
confronting one of the ablest lawyers in
this city. During large part Of this
time she has been unable, because Of the
nervous tension, to take any solid food
months she has suffered the anguish Of
anticipation of the ordeal through which
she passed. That she has been able to en-
dure the great ordeal which even the dis
did. and that she has been practically de-
serted by her own mother and brother in
this great trial, and that she finally gave
In to her feelings when the peculiar line
OF cross-examination dealt more with
others than with herself, discloses the lit
tie actress as altogether the most remark
able woman heard In New York court
room in many years.
Girls Lapses Of Memory.
There is no telling when Jerome will
be through even with Evelyn Nesbit 1t
is still a question whether the chances
of Thaws conviction have been increased
by the lapses of memory upon the part
Of the witness brought out by the ordeal
which Jerome has conducted with an ex-
pressed unwillingness to shock the feel
ings of the community. 1t Is a question
whether the embarrassment Of the wit
ness under this fusillade of interrogations
contrasting the advantageous position of
the able lawyer with the practically de-
fenseless position of the young woman.
people with the twelve men in the jury
box. Delving deeply into the past Of
Evelyn Nesbit and her mother may show
that neither the mother nor the daughter
ing the jury that Thaw was ever of abso-
lutely sound mind, and thus far 1t has not
wholly shaken the foundations Of Evelyn's
credibility as witness. OF course. Mr..
with eloquence and with Indignation. as
sumed or otherwise, upon Evelyn's fall
ure to remember the month, week or day
of the terrible affair in Stanford Whites
studio. But the jury will doubtless see that
her failure to remember the month may be
a genuine lapse of memory, for the occur
renee was nearly six years ago, and events
in the career of the actress were then fol-
lowing each other in very rapid succession.
Unconscious Of Her Errors.
The facts furnished the district attorney
by Mrs. Holman for the purpose of show
ing the incredibility of the lady's own
daughter have been the revelation of a
feeling of a mother toward a child which
Is seldom met with. and Is not likely to
create sympathy for the woman out of
court at the expense Of the woman in the
witness chair! The important admission,
in so far as the credsbility Of the witness
ho hrn, iYfn
her relations with Stanford White continued
after the man betrayed her in his own stu.
dio. The community was not greatly
shocked by this revelation, because that fact
of the world. Evelyn maintains that she
was unconscious Of the wrong in it, and
upon this point there may be conflicting
opinions. 1t is pretty well established that
White tried to make her believe 1t was
not wrong, and what he said had great
weight with her at the time.
Whatever her excuse for continuing
with White. surely the disclosure does
not help Jerome in his work Of re-estab-
fishing the reputation of the slain man.
For 1t must be remembered that at this
time Evelyn Nesbit was only sixteen years
Of age; that her mother and her brother
there is no evidence to show that the
mother ever told her that the relations she
sustained with White were wron4-even If
the mother was cognizant Of them.
May Rebound Against Jerome.
In the failure of her own mother to tell
her and with the insistence OF White that
such things were the rule with those in
society-only don't be found out-the
girls statement that she did not know
that she was doing wrong is by no means
incredible. That Evelyn Nesbit broke down
yesterday was OF less real consequences in
the Anal result than that Mr.. Jerome should
have been caught breaking her down In
connection not 80 much with her own past
as in connection with her mother, who
has turned somewhat unnaturally from
her own child in the crucial period In her
life.
The contrast between the mother seeking
to convict her own daughter OF perjury In
the witness chair after the mother had ac-
cepted the bounty of her daughters mar
ried male friend, and the daughter weeping
on the stand over the revelations concern
ing the character of her own mother, lent
the weeping child wifes tears not only
pathos. but eloQuence as well
If the hearts of the jurymen were touched
by the spectacle of this young woman in
tears. breaking down finally over implied