Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-12-09
Judge Ten Eyck Hands
Down Opinion in
Sanity Probe.
MURDER TRIAL TO
Mother of Ocey Snead Declared
Her Sanity Throughout
Whole Inquiry.


of this inquiry, that the said Caroline
b. Martin Il not insane and should not
be discharges from the Essex County
Jail. where she is now held awaftfng
trial, nor removed therefrom to m In
sane asylum an insane person.
tsisned) sJAY TEN EYCK..
Closing his nineteen-page opinion
with the above lines. Judge Jay Ten
Eyck, In the Court Of Common Pleas
today, declared Mrs. Caroline B. Mar
tin, who lis under indictment for the
alleged murder Of her daughter, ocey
w. Snead, sane.
The court reached this decision after
an inquiry which had grown out of
petition filed by. the Rev. Albert Q.
Wardlaw and Mrs. Bessie Spindle. of
Christiansburg. Va, asking that their
sister be declared insane
For a month the court listened to
lawyers, alienists and lay witnesses
tell strange, almost weird. tales of Mrs.
Martins actions !.
Witnesses were brought here from
her Southern home to tell how the
eccentric old woman In black had
always been "a woman of mystery"
Lawyers and alfenists fought every
point trying to fix q term OF insanity
to describe Mrs. Martins actions. but
all to no avail. She has been declared
sane. and will so to trial on January 9,
together with her sister, Mrs. Mary
Snead. who has also been indicted
Opinions Of Court House attaches,
lawyers and people who heard the In
quiry differed a. = whether Mrs. Mar
tin was; sane or insane. but there was
apparently NO doubt In her mind
througnout the whole proceedings. She
stoutly maintained that shs was sane
and argued that she was being perse-
cuted by lawyers who were after her
daughters insurance money.
In the early part OF his opinion Judge
Ten Eyck cites cases of insanity hear
ings similar to the Martin case; he re-
views the laws touching insanity which
can be applied to the case under dis
cussfon. He then takes up the testi-
mony of the lay witnesses In this
part Of the opinion he says:
Presumptioa of sanity.
The presumption is that Mrs. Martin
duct on her part may not necessarily
be due to insanity. Insanity In very
many cases Is a mental disease, the
existence of which is difficult to de-
terInine. 1t would be dangerous in
such a case to rely upon the opinion
of any lay witnesses, particularly of
those who, though entirely honest in
their opinions and having no intention
or desire to mislead, may be considered
to have a natural bias or prejudice in
favor Of the proposition of insanity In
the particular. 1t is common knowl-
edge that many persons have been COM
mitted to the asylum by weL-meaning
but mistaken friends.
81 remember several cases of this
kind in this county which came before
the courts and where 1t was found that
the parties were Sane and had been
Improperly committed on the petition
OF friends, certified to by two ply
sicians, as required by the statute Nor
is II at all uncommon In such cases that
honest and competent experts are
wrong on one side or the other
In considering the various cases and
authorities which he had cited earlier
in the opinion the court says:
my opinion is that it is not suf-
f1cient merely to show insanity OF some
kind OF degree, but that it must ap-
pear that the defendant Is at the pres
ent time incapable by reason Of in
sanity of making reasonable defense
This may involve the question as 20
whether she is in fact insane at all.
But even If 1t should appear that
she is insane that would not be con-
elusive as to the final points OF this
inquiry. II 1t appears that, although
possibly insane to some extent, she is
still capable of making a rational de-
fense. 1t is not necessary to go further
and decide the questions as to whether
there is any possible form or degree OF
insanity"
The court gives but little weight to
the testimony of the members of Mrs
Martins family. He says that there
mere opinion that she is and has been
insane for years is not sufficient They
never had her examined by experts or
made any efforts to have her sent TO
an Institution.
Testimony of Experts.
In considering the testimony OF the
medical experts, Judge Ten Eyke first
takes up the testimony OF Drs. Wash
ington and Cotton. who claimed that
Mrs. Martin is insane and then re-
Views the testimony of DIR. Hicks,
Behling and Clarke, doctors for the
State who claimed that the woman is
sane. Weighing the various lines of
medical testimony. the court finally ar
rives at the conclusion of the question
Is whether Mrs. Martin has or has not
insane delusions."
The court concludes. from the evil
dence, that although Mrs. Martin has
In many cases used bad Judgment and
her actions in court during the inquiry
was altogether unusual. at times hys-
fericnl she is NOT n within Of inaa r.a |