The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-01-22
Expert Testimony Abol-
ished States Theory.
REBUkED
judge Jone> says While Verdict wa
Proper. the Treatment OF The
Patient by Defendants Wa
.iforriIpIc"-THd Of IA
rnoiIS Case.

Al about half after i've o'clock ye
e.say afternoon tho jary in thc case
II the hospital attendants under in
iictment upon i charge ~ having
beaten - death TIL" patient Thomas
Nan, Of Chatham county. during MS
attempt to escape. brought in The an
.icipatcd verdict 81 mot guilty a. t.
Oul ham and High. the only TWO de-
.enlauts l,ft ia tn" ease.
AS stated yesterday. the solicitor
raj asl,ed On "Wednesday ~ J YET
lict II aot CUNTS n The ease ~ Fe"le
mont Yesterday il developed that a
similar course OF action had been de-
siGed upon as t. King.
Eiag and Peeie were respectively
thc tWo last nlcl To reach the seen,
of the struggle on Tho hin from
Whence The witness Massey had trsti
led To hearing tho sounds OF repeated
blows.
AS To the other two defendants. the
evidence against them was that he
witness Massey had seen them follow
Nail To the Scene Of the ~strugglr ami
.~estitied that ne afterwards heard tllr
sound Of repeated heavy blows and
! vote" which Hc recognized as that
# the deceased. who - accOs;cd him
N the road, cry Out. Lord hava
mercy and Il give up" after which
le heard other blows delivered that
Nall subsequently died and that an
autopsy held under the direction Of
Or. Taylor. Of Chatham, and DIR. jon
IAN, the then coroner Of Wake. re-
veaIed cuts on Nails head, what APP
pearcd to be bruises on his body,
which the doctors concerned in the
autopsy stated had evidently been
oauSed by blows given before death.
md the presence within the skull Of a
ent membrane ANA the formation Of
4 blood clot near the base Of the brain
md between its two hcmispheres.
In the opinion Of Drs. Jordan and
Taylor the injuries found upon Nails
lead might either one have caused
ieath and death resulted on account
# them ali, the cause of death aSc"lb-
.d by Dr.. Taylor being compression
# the llain. modified upon hearing ~
Nall's symptoms after his capture az
having resulted from c1ncussion OF
the brain.
Against this evidence M state pro-
luced the fiat denial of the four at
.tendants that they had stricken Nall
1t all their testimony tending to show
that his injury reSulted fr0m fails re-
,eived in the course Of his race in an
attempt t. escape from the hospital
md against the medical conclusions
If the doctors holding the autopsy thc
positive opinion of several admitted
Xperts that the death of Nall upon
he ymptoms exhibited resulted from
tilatation OF the heart brought on 10y
excessive eEertion and not from either
eOncuSsion or compression Of the
brain.
Upon the testimony Of these expert
witnesses ii appeared that the clot Of
blood discovered by the autopsy was
o located in the brain that it could
;CarcelY nave produced compression
At all and certainly not in the ahcr.
While intervening between NalTs
Heath and the alleged receipt OF his
injuries at the hands Of the defend
lntS.
The only other evidence Of the
state to c~orroborate the Inference Of
violence raised by the witness Massey,
tthe presence of the bruises upon the
bOdy) was also discredited by the ex-
pert witnesses who testified thar. 81
tong after death, marks upon the body
apparently bruises might readily have
occurred from trivial causes after
teath, and that it was dangerous ami
Well-nigh impossible to speak with
certainty as to the origin Of such spots
upon Il cadaVer.
cuiSt ZONES 1ItDikt.
Wen the jury brought in its verdict.
after having been out only five min
uteS. there was q burst IF applause
from the court room which, Judge
Jones sternly suppressed saying that
this IS not q dime museum" II
that there was no occdSaSion
tor an expression of enthusi-
asm. The Investigation which had
been held of the matter ne de-
clared TO have b=cn entirely proper
and it met with his iull approval. II
he had been uDOn the jury ha should
ave felt constrained 10 return the
verdict upon the eEIdorc- which ther
had given, but he wante2 it der
stood that the treatment accorded the
patient Nall by III ATTENDANTS hal
shown to be crlc!. heartIs~S Ini
repellant. 1t was. he said, horrible,
ard while il was proper IL ;tc1uit
them. there was nothing in the v~er.Iiet
- Justify applause.
\ Famous Case Ended.
The verdict marks the end Of q
Ease which excited the widest :rf"r-
est. Nall. Il patient afflicted with
icEte mania with lIomictdll t~ondcncy.
attempted 70 escape from the HOSPITAL
Pn AuguS 24th, 1905. He vas pIr-
seed by the four attan3@ns. Dur
ham. High. King ana Peele. .iftcr
| race OF nearly two miles. he WI,
zen on the county roads 6v u Wit.
iess. j. p. Massoy. wnom ne badly.
by attempting t. jufnp into
MS wagon and then striking his mule
with a heavy oak slat which he car
ried in his hand. Following Nail
Massey saw two Of the attendants IN
pursuit who passed his 2 Later
he heard from a hillside the sound Of
the blows and the cries detailed above.
The next seen of Nall VIZ when he
was brought to the yard Of tie Car
Phosphate mill III a dying coli
dition and kept there for SINE time,
before being removed 10 tne hospital
he died within an hour. IT was
treatment Of the patient while a
mills. in his being permitted to
lie IN the sun. with his hands tied. III
having his head pulled back T., thc
hair and in being dragged 10 2 pump
in the yard, that occasioned the scatll-
remarks OF Judge Jones when the
applause followed the verdict. Thal
matter at the time created 4 sensation
which was heightened when the COR
jury upon the testimony adj
!uced by the autopsy. committed the