The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-01-06
SECOND TRIAL OF
HARRY THAW IS
BEGUN TODAY
Slayer Of Stanford White Again
Before Bar.
Counsel For Prisoner Base Their De
tense Solely on Ground Of Tenn.
porary insanity.

NEW YORK, Jan. b. = The secon,
trial of Harry X. Thaw opened her,
today before Judge Victor bowling II
khe supreme court
District Attorney Jerome. II is said
win attempt this time to bar the test
meny Of Mrs. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw
wife Of the accused man. At tn,
ilrst trial her testimony was allowed
to 30 before the jury with the consen
Of the district attorney, who said tn,
precedent set In the case Of the stat,
against Wood seemed to cover tn,
matter. Several criminal lawyers OF
prominence In their profession have
argued the point with Mr.. Jerome
since the close Of the first hearing anG
have urged him to oppose this line OF
testimony at the present trial
These attorneys declare vital prin
ciple of law is involved and that II
should 60 to the highest courts for de
termination. Mr.. Jerome has given nc
definite answer to his fellow members
Of the bar, and he may feel impelled
to consent to another recital of Mrs
Thaws story to prevent an appear.
ance Of inconsistency with his course
q year ago.
But the representations made to him
as to the Importance to the community
at large Of testing the legality of such
testimony have been unusually strong,
and many of the prosecuting officers
closest friends would not be surprised
II he should rise In his place when
Mrs. Thaw is called as witness and
contend against the admissibility OF
her testimony with his characteristic
skill and yigor.
Young Mrs. Thaw was allowed to
testify at the first trial upon the the
ory that 1t was her story, told to Thaw
IN Paris In 1908, two years before
their marriage, that planted the seeds
of temporary insanity In his brain.
The prosecution was not allowed to
test the truth or falsity of the story,
the court rule being that, regardless Of
It's truth, the issue had to do solely
with the effect upon the defendants
mind Mr.. Jerome offered witnesses
who, he declared, would contradict GER
tain Of the girl wife's statements. but
they were not allowed to be heard.
The prosecution had its only recourse
In severe cross examination, but even
this was allowed only on the ground
Of testing the credibiity of the wit
ness In general way.
Already the rule laid down in the
Thaw case has served as a precedent
IN another. A former Judge in yir-
ginia recently shot and killed young
man against whom his daughter had
made charges Of having drugged her.
The lawyers who have approached
Mr.. Jerome on the subject are inclined
to the opinion that there are vital diff
ferences between the Thaw case and
that Of Wood which served as a prece-
dent at the trial before Judge Fitz-
gerald. The Wood case was one In
which Woods wife told him that her
father had been guilty of improper re-
lati0ns with her before her marriage
and had but recently sought her again.
Wood In the heat Of passion straight
way emptied a shotgun into his ia
thex-in-law, killing him instantly. The
defense was one of insanity, brought
on BY the awful story Of the wife.
The difference pointed out is that In
the Thaw case the killing did not occur
until three years after the recital
which is alleged to have melted the
deed. The lawyers say the difference
is just as vital as that which the law
makes In various degrees Of murder
a homicide committed in the heat of
passion being widely distinguished
from coolly planned and deliberate
one.
District Attorney Jerome has con-
sistently declined to discuss the Thaw
case for publication. His course as re-
CARDS the all important testimony of
young Mrs. Thaw is watched, however,
with the keensst interest. IL her story
Is deemed admissible by Justice Dowl-
Ing 1t is declared that the cross exami-
nation to which she will be subjected
VIII be far more severe even than the
first one. Assistant District Attorney
Garvsn spent several months abroad
last summer and covered much of the
ground included in the travels of Har-
ry Thaw and Evelyn Nesblt during the
two trips abroad which preceded their
marriage.
Thaw's attorneys base their defense
solely upon the ground that Thaw was