The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1911-04-13
d. HYDE GRANTED
ANOTHER TRIAL
E.S- 2'ri Supreme Court Hands
own Sweeping Decision.
May FATAL ERRORS FOUNL
Finding is 80 Severe Against conten.
tons Of State 10 to Make Sec
ond Trial on Same Lines
Impractical.

Kansas City, April 12.-The su
preme court of Missouri reversed an1
remanded the Hyde case. just one
/ year, almost to the minute, from the
time when the trial OF the world
famous murder case began in the
jackson county criminal court. The
opinion was written by Judge Frank
lin Ferriss Of st. Louis and concurreC
IN by Judges John Kennish and John
[. Brown, who with Judge FERRIS
compose division No. 2 of the SUI,
preme court. 1t ordered new trial
for DR.. Bennett Clark Hyde and re.
versed his conviction, May Is, 1910
by the criminal court for the murder
Of Col. Thomas Hunton Swope, mil
l!onaire philanthropist of Kansas City
ard independence.
The Errors Discovered.
I: brief the supreme court held:
That the indictment was at faul;
in that the state failed to prove tina,
the "other deadly drugs and poison:
GUS substances by which it was al
leged that Col. Swope was killed
We're unknown to the jury, as the in
cictment charged.
That the trial court erred in I'd
hitting testimony regarding the
deaths of Moss Hunton and Chrisman
Swope, the poisoning of Margaret
Swope and others, which was char,
acterized as irrelevant, incompetent
and immaterial evidence.
That the trial court erred in ad.
hitting the expert testimony, because
Drs. Ludwig Hektoen, Walter S.
Haines and Victor Vaughn, the ex.
perts, did not carry out their poison
tests far enough.
That the trial court erred in giving
the states instruction that the jury
should find the defendant guilty if the
evidence showed that Col Swope
came to his death by "poisons I'M
known to the jury but administered
by DR.. Hyde; and in withholding GER
tain instructions asked by the de-
PENDANT.
That the trial court erred in revok
ing the defendants bond during the
trial.
That the trial court erred in permit.
ting the prosecuting attorney and
James A. Reed, special counsel for the
state, to make statements to wit
nesses prejudical to the jury.
And the opinion sustained severa.
other minor points raised by the ap
pellant when the case was appealed.
The State Hard Hit.
Will DR.. Hyde be tried again? This
is the question that legal men are
discussing. Many lawyers Of exper
fence hold that the opinion of Judge
Ferriss has not left the state a leg
to stand on. The conspiracy feature
was completely knocked out, the testi
money as to the other deaths a1ll
sicknesses in the Swope household
was held to be irrelevant and incom
petent, and the cyanide feature, on
which the prosecution based its case
was held by Judge Ferriss to count
for nothing.
Facts-cold, hard facts-eliminat
ing theories, are what Judge Ferriss
deals out in his 16,0OO-word opinion
embracing as It does ~ closely type
written pages. So strong is the re
versal of the lower court that attor
ueys marvel. Men who have spen,
years at the bar are open in saying
that, robbed of the poison plot and it
mass of theories, as it now stands the
case will never 60 to trial. TIE,
consider it sweeping victory fc!
Hyde.