The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-04-20
NEW TRIAL MEANS
ACQU|TTAL Of HYDE
IS LEGAL COMMENT
So Limits Evidence His
Conviction Again is
Nearly Impossible.
SCORES THE JUDGE
Trial Court R%eprimanded for
Revolving DR.. Hyde's Bond
in Midst of the Trial.
SCORES THE JUDGE

NeVOkllB III. nvOe S6OnQ
in Midst of the Trial.
Kansas City. Mo.-Upon hearing
that the state supreme court had
granted him a new trial upon the
charge Of numbering the millionaire.
Col. Swope, DR.. B. Clark Hyde. who
was sentenced to life imprisonment
after his first trial. gave out the fol-
lowing statement:
"Of course l am disappointed that
my case was not reversed outright.
shall. however. struggle on with
an unbroken spirit, confident that I
will convince not only the officers
of the law. but the world. of my COM
plete innocence of the terrible
charges laid against me.
Sin the darkest hours of my afflic-
ton l have been sustained by the
loving kindness Of countless friends
who believed in my innoncence, as
we'll as a firm belief in the idea that
under u system of laws, while mis-
takes of judgment upon the part of
courts and juries may temporarily in
%tervene, yet in the end, Justice is
sure to prevail.
Il look forward with serene con-
idence to my acquittal in my next
trial. have learned that a man a
stand anything with a wife like mine
believing in him and sustaining him"
Mrs. Hyde's statement said:
81 was sure that the supreme
court would free my husband. The
law is a mystery to me. was at
Clark's side during every hour of the
time he is charged with committing
these offenses against those who were
near and dear to me. 1 know the
utter falsity of the charges against
him.
81 would suffer again what has
been worse to me than a thousand
deaths rather than to have had a
hand in the attempts to destroy the
life and character of an innocent
men, such as my husband.
"Of course, I will hope on and on.
believe. l know the law will give
my husband back to me. not because
l love him and he loves me, but be-
cause he is innocent"
Court is Unanimous.
The supreme courts decision
granting a new trial was unanimous,
sustaining practically all the i'm
portant contentious made by the at
torneys for Doctor Hyde. The opin-
ion, written by Judge Franklin Fer
ris of st. Louis and concurred in
by the other judges throws out of
court as unworthy of comment"
much of the testimony upon which
the physician was convicted. OF so
sweeping a nature are many of the
comments of the high court that un-
biased attorneys said today that a
second conviction of Doctor Hyde
practically would be an impossibility.
%Latshaw's Conduct Improper.
The action of Judge Latshaw in
revoking Doctor Hyde's bond during
trial and sending him to Jail was
highly prejudicial, says the opinion,
and is pointed out as sufficient
grounds on which to base a reversal
of the verdict. But the opinion does
not stop there.
The states experts came in for
severe comment. Except for the tes-
timony of DR.. Victor Vaughan, the
opinion say the state offered little
to prove that poison killed Colonel
Swope. The tests we're made, the
high court emphasizes, two months
after death and, according to expert
testimony, were not complete, while
Colonel Swope's age and infrmity
made it reasonable to believe that
senile debility caused his death.
But perhaps more important as
ASAosAA6 " d ScCOuU ITlal OF DOCIOr
Hyde, the high court rules that all
testimony relating to the other
deaths and illnesses In the Swope
hcme, save and except that Of Colo
mel Swope alone, was irrelevant and
improper. The pretext that the tes-
timony vas admissible because it
was in line with 'Hyde's alleged plan
to exterminate the Swope heirs and
get a larger share of Swope's mil
lions for his wife, was not seriously
taken by the court.
Unworthy of Comment.
Typhoid germs, the opinion says,
often are used by doctors and there
was more reason to believe that the
fever at the Swope home resulted
from the illness Of q negro servant
than from incubation by Hyde.
Hyde's taking bottle water to the
Swope home was the natural thing
do. the iudRea hold. and the