The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-01-12

New York Jan. 11.--At no time since the
night of June 25. 1896 when he shot Stan
ford White. the famous architect. mas
Harry Thaw been in as little danger of
Sing Sing or the death chair as he is now
on the eve of the actual opening of his
second trial for the killing.
At no time has he been In such imml-
nent danger of Imprisonment in a cell at
Matteawan. New Yorks asylum for the
criminal insane.
ASK ten men in New York tonight if
they believe Thaw will be convicted. ana
nine of them viii tell you no. The tenth
one will be in doubt Ask ten newspa-
per men or court attaches who have fol-
lowed the course Of the two trials If they
believe Thaw insane at the present time.
and the chances are excellent for the en-
tire ten answering in the affirmative. Ask
Martin W Littleton if he believes his
client sane at the present time. and
Opening Statement by LittIeton.
But here is the answer as Littleton will
give it either late Monday afternoon or
early in Tuesdays session. when the de-
fense will make its opening statement.
following the presentation Of the States
case, which is only expected TO consume
a few hours.
The present plan is for Littleton 10 open
with q twO-hour speech 20 the fury. He
will mention no unwrltten law. nor hint
at self-defense- He viii not undertake 10
prove that Thaw had a brainstorm, nor
win be argue that this brainstorm passed.
and that few days or a few weeks later
his client was sane. Dolphin VI. Delmas.
Thaw's former attorney, tried those tac-
tics on New York jury with disastrous
results
On the contrary, Littleton, having first
secured control Of ThaW who In the pre-
vious trial controlled his attorneys, will
make a plain. blunt insanity plea for his
client. He will announce TO the jury that
he intends to show that Harry Thaw was
a victim of prenatal influences which af-
fected his mind; that he was born in con-
vulsions; that during HIS youth Thaw was
Of deficient mentality. and that to cap the
emma AAAE 0tNAE VI 4<fE4NA Il -Nt1B4t--Lilt
narrowing recital of her alleged ruination
by Stanford White-shattered the fran
structure Of Thaw's already weakened
mind and converted him into a violent
man, unaccountable for his actions.
Old Evidence to BE Heard.
In support OF his statement, Little
ton will declare his intention Of in
PRODUCING most of the evidence pre-
sented at the former triel. and in ad-
dition. much of that barred out by
Thaw's own attorneys. evidence of ir-
rational and unnatural acts committed
by Thaw in America and on the IA
nous European trip with Evelyn in the
years Immediately preceding the
tragedy. Littleton will dwell on the
state of his clients mind from the night
in Paris when Evelyn told her story
to the night at the Madison Square
Roof Garden. when the whirlwind cul-
minated. There he will stop
The shot that killed White will ring
down the curtain on LittIeton's Iurid
narrative. He will make no attempt
to prove that his client is a sane
man now. He will not seek to show
that his client has been aided in the
preparation of his case by the Wild
eyed. nervous, and undoubtedly &C
centric young man who sits at his
elbow during the progress Of the trial
By his stand he viii not only score a
fOTceful common sense point with the
jurors, but he will gain a tremendous
tactical advantage over the prosecution
It will not be necessary for the defense
10 go into the present state of its clients
mind. If the district attorney cares to go
into Thaw's present mental status. It viii
be necessary for him to require a lunacy
commission
Even If this is done. Littleton will have
scored a point. as he will have shown the
jurors that he has created a reasonable
doubt in the mind of Jerome as TO his
clients sanity.
May GO 10 the Asylum.
What the end will be, should the in
sanity commission be called, is only a
matter of conjecture. Rumors from good
sources have it that the defense will
readily accept a Matteawan commitment
for Thaw, relying on later efforts to gain
his freedom from that institution.
During the first trial it was Evelyn
Thaw who went through the most nerve
wreeking ordeal In this instance she will
not bear the brunt of the fight alone.
Though Thaw will not be put on the
stand real ordeal is in store for the
prisoner. Thaw, one of the vainest Of
men. will be forced to sit in silence while
his acts are recited, and hear himself pic
tured not as a chivalrous knight errant
as DpIuoaS sought IN draw hin, not % q
justice-backed avenger OF a wife's wrong.
but as a mental weakling sprung from
tainted stock.
If Harry Thaw stands the test un-
fiinchingly he will surprise those who
have watched him day after day in the
court. Nervous, twitching, impuIsive. he
appears constantly on the point of an
outbreak even during the ordinary mo-
ments of the trial And If during the
most trying part of his arraignment the
prisoner should suddenly rise and seek to
thwart his counsel. or create a scene. his
action would occasion no surprise to those
who are acquainted with his tempera-
ment
''StupOFOus MeIanchoIIa.v
Late this afternoon it was announced at
Attorney Littleton's office that the term
'stuporous melanchoia" would be the
designation of Thaw's mental weakness
The announcement is unimportant. save
that it shows the determination of the
new counsel to get away from "dementia
Americana" and all the other phrases
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