Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-05
Probably Will Be a Duplication
of the First Trial.
BRAND-NEW LEGAL TALENT
Expected That Temporary Insanity
Will Be the Defense.
MASS OF EXPERT EVIDENCE
Evelyn Nesbit Will Be Called on
Again to Tell the Story Of Her
Life-Prisoner in Good Shape.

The second trial of Harry K.
Thaw for killing Stanford White
on the roof of Madison Square
Garden on the night of Monday.
une rs, 1906, will begin Monday.
The trial will be in the same
courtroom the supreme court,
criminal branch. Justice Victor
J. Bowling will preside.
The first trial, held before JUS
tice James j. Fitzgerald, began
January 23 and lasted till April
II, 1907. 1t was one of the long
est criminal trials ever held in
New York. and one of the most
expensive. The cost to the de-
fendant is estimated to have been
more than 100000, and to the
state about 100000.
The defense, as conducted bv
Dolphin M. Delmas, was the un-
written law and "Dementia
Americana"
This time the defense will be
that the condition of Thaw's mind
was such at the time that he killed
White that he did not know the
nature and quality of the act or
that it was wrong. This is the
legal definition of insanity.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January f-The second
trial of Harry X. Thaw for the murder
of Stanford White, the architect which
is to begin Monday. will last. in the
opinion of many. fully as long as did the
first one, when three months elapsed from
the time of the selection of the first Juror
until a disagreement resulted. 1t is gen.
difficult to secure jury this time, and
it is not a remote contingency that the
| trial will have to be changed to another
county. The announcement that the
jurors will be locked up from the very
beginning will undoubtedly result in many
taesmen trying to be excused. Justice
Victor ]. Dowling has announced, how
ever, that he will hold night sessions
unit! a jury has been secured
Jerome Is Busy.
Today preparations were being made
in the district attorneys Office for the
second attempt to convict the slayer Of
Stanford White. District Attorney Je-
rome and his assistant, Mr.. Garvan, went
over the papers in the case and got every
irc
let it be understood that he will tolerate
no unnecessary delays, and both the dis
trict attorneys Office and the counsel for
| the defense are not taking any chances
to incur the displeasure of the court.
The trial in many respects promises to
be duplicate of the previous one. Mar
tin w. Littleton. A. Russell Pc abody
and Daniel OReily. Thaw's new battery
of legal talent. have all said that the
defense at the new trial will be insanity
1t will be contended that Thaw was in
sane on the night he shot White and that
he is sane now. There will be no refer
ence to "dementia Americana" the phrase
Lawyer Dolphin Delmas coined. The un-
written law a defense is not likely to
be invoked again or the subject even
mentioned.
The star witness will again be EVELYN
Nesbit, the former chorus girl, Thaw's
wife, and it is expected that she will tell
her remarkable story all over again.
There will probably be new developments
as the result of her story. for District
Attorney Jerome has not been idle since
the last trial. Last summer he had AS
sistant District Attorney Garvan go all
pupr 1xhio I'D hi
traversed on their European trip before
their marriage as she told in detail while
on the stand. Mr.. Garvan, it is said,
has brought many new facts to light
The district attorney has said that his
case would be brief He will not oc-
cupy more than two hours in presenting
it, but he will consume a great deal of
time on rebuttal as he did last time
feature of the new trial will undoubted-
ly be the same old batteries Of experts
principally medical. There will be as
many to swear for the defense that Thaw
was insane when he killed White as
there will oe to swear that he was not
There will be many new witnesses, and
the testimony for the defense will be
greatly extended. These new witnesses
Will give testimony regarding the actions
of Thaw on the night of the murder.
New Legal Talent.
Not the least interesting feature of
the new trial will be the elimination Of
most of Thaws former lawyers, Dolphin
Delmas the orator of the Pacific coast.
who was retained at great expense for
the last trial. will be succeeded by Mar
tin w. Lttleton. Mr.. Littleton has
reputation as an orator himself, but he
generally strikes straight from the shoul-
der. Lawyers Hartridge and Gleason
have also been eliminated.
The first jury panel, consisting of 800
men. will report Monday morning at the
criminal branch of the supreme court and
the selection of a jury will begin. Sew
eral panels are expected to be exhausted
before a jury is obtained. Owing to the
recent changes made in the courtroom
where the trial is to be held there not
seats enough to accommodate half this
number. Altogether. there are only 40
seats in the room, including the places re-
served for the newspaper men. Most OF
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