Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-03-14
HYPNOTISH PLEA
SETS lawyers
ALL AGOG

murder case ever tried in Honolulu
and one that will probably go down in
the history of criminal Jurisprudence
of the world as one of the most re.
markable cases ever known was de
cided by the jury in Judge Clemens
court early Wednesday evening after a
small minority of the jurors had held
out against a verdict of murder in
the first or second degrees for over
nine hours. The murder case in IT.
self was in no way remarkable for any
other reason other than the scnsa-
tional defense that Attorney Lorrin
Andrews made for the defendant Lee
Hin Jou, alleging that the young
Chinese lad was under the hypnotic
influence of the man he shot and
killed In other words. it was alleged
that Wong Fook, the murdered man,
virtually committed suicide by influ-
encing his assassin, by hypnotic sug-
gestion, to shoot him.
Lawyers all over town this morning
ing were agog over the unusual de-
Tense, and were discussing the action
of the jury in accepting the plea so
far as to give Jot the comparatively
light sentence of maximum of ten
years; were discussing too the wis
dom of the court in allowing the plea
to stand and to be seriously consider
ed by the jury.
Nothing Like It :..<
After a long search through the
case books of several attorneys, it
was not possible to find any similar
criminal defense, a defense in which
the accused man alleged that he was
under the hypnotic influence of the
man he murdered. In very few
cases, a defendant has stated that he
committed the crime under the hyp-
motto influence of his partner in the
crime. There are two cases of this
nature in the legal history of the
state of California. In one case
Calf. 105-a man by the name of
Worthington declared that he had
been influenced by hypnotic suggest
ion to commit the murder charged
In Calf. III, man by the name of
Ebank entered the same plea In
both of these cases thecourt specific
ally stated that there was no law in
the United States which could recog-
niZe defense built upon the grounds
of hypnotism, and the jury was so in
structed. A similar case came up in
Minnesota, man named Blixt de-
clared that he had committed MUIR
der under the hypnotic influence of
his partner in the crime, a man
named Hayward. Here again the
court refused to sustain the plea, and
Hayward was executed while Blixt
received long term in prison. In
Kansas there was a similar case, and
although the man charged was &C.
quilted, Chief Justice Horton of the
Kansas supreme court stated that he
did not consider .hypnotism an ele-
ment in the case.
Europe Has One Case
1t is necessary to turn to the rec
crds of the courts of Europe to find
hypnotism accepted as legitimate
defense. This is probably due to the
fact that the French and German
school of criminal psychology, after
making an exhaustive study of con-
ditions. have decided that under the
most favorable of conditions man
may be influenced to commit crime
by hypnotic influence, although they
declare that it is rarely ever that such
may be the case and that it is doubtful
il it ever is. The famous Czynski
case which was tried in Munich and
which for three DAYS attracted the
attention of all Europe, was decided
pom grounds of hypnotic suggestion.
Cyzysk was a Pole who, in 1890, had
keen a teacher of French in Austria,
but who had then turned his attention
to giving public exhibitions of hyp-
rotic power He went to Dresden
finally and met there baroness
whom he so influenced by continually
associating with her and after great
effort that she agreed to marry him.
II was held by the court that the con-
ditions for hypnotic influence had
been most favorable and that Czynski
was guilty of having induced the lady
T.! marry him by the power of his
mind over hers. III.
Features of Local Decision.
In the case of Jou, which was de-
cided in the local courts Wednesday
evening, it was admitted by the de-
PENDANT that Immediately preceding
the shooting he and the murdered man
had had a quarrel. This itself would
appear to discountenance the plea
that he had been hypnotized, because
it is recognized psychic fact that
the mind of the man hypnotized must
be in accord with the mind of the man
who is trying to place him under hyp-
motto influence. 1t is extremely
doubtful. say psychologists. if mind
at war with another mind can exert
hypnotic influence. Again it is stated
by psychologists that in order to be
hypnotized a subject must consent to
the act. Munsterberg, the Harvard
specialist in psychology, declares that
il is not possible to hypnotic man
who is unwilling to be hypnotizee.
A well-known writer. Thompson j.
Hudson, author of Psychic Pheno-
mena" and other standard works
states that hypnotism has no Mace in
criminal Jurisprudence. He de-
clareS that in rare cases a criminal