The Dickinson press., 1917-01-20
DECISION OF JUDGE
NUESSLE IN FAMOUS
MAN OF MYSTERY CASE
Continued from Page s.

interest that attaches to this case l
will make some statement explanatory. of
my finding of the particular facts in this
case.
ut is not necessary for the Court to
to the issues here. This is an action to
quiet title, or in the nature of an action
to ns quiet tS;s ti tile ;nt As c / reeol iefd the he,,r ple a1d
attempts to quiet title as against the
defendant to a large amount of land.
and seeks further relief in the way of
money Judgment for the rents and profits
of that land during the time he alleges
that the defendant has w~rongfully used
and occupied the same. In bringing this
action he attacks a certain judgment
rendered by this court, some time in the
year 1911 and proceedings had subse-
quently thereto under which title is held
by the defendant, SO we are met at the
question as to the identity Of this. par
tic9 oE nd plai IL # ;sh amd Se be Sets as to %h fbat
or not in q case Of this kind he can at
Of law. If either Of these matters b
found contrary to the contention Of the
finding. of fact be made in accordance
with his contention, and the holding as
to h lay ;y Is contrary to his his contentiG on
whether or mo- he is Jay. A. Caldwell
Coming into this court in a proceeding
Establish abb n't by a pre epane epe Of the he evil
dence in this case the fact tina he is
Jay A. Caldwell. The question here is
he is ". Jay A. Caldwell. The defendant
does not have to- come into court to
establish that he is not Jay a: Caldwell,
pre]ponderance Of the evidence, that is.
by a greater weight of the evidence,
that he is in fact Jay A: Caldwell, as
might entitle him to recover in this
action, if he is to recover.
THE court in passing upon a matter
of this kind must necessarily bear in
mind the rules that are laid down for
the conduct of juries in the consider
alton of all questions Of fact: The court
ing upon the evidence for the purpose of
determining any particular fact. does so
as a . a a man man bbr pr Gin ~ Wit the III nari the kpGwlS
in life with which he has had experience.
He must necessarily view the testimony
R thst is eifef Se must in the con iiset IF fbe S witn
nesses Who testified; the interest they
may or may not nave in the result OF
onableness of their stories; their demean-
or and conduct; motive which may impel
them to testify; in fact everything which
on any evidence in a case where any
question of fact is involved must also
be considered by a court passing upon 4
"Knowing the particular interest which
attaches to this case and the very great
interest which each Of the parties to th e
my undivided attention during the days
that we have been considering the case;
I have sought to keep from my mind
affairs or any other official matters that
might otherwise have come before me-
and considered the matter very care
this case either for the plaintiff or for
the defendant and make somewhat of a
fair presentation of their respective con
offered in support of those contentious
Aside from the Legal phases and the
suits, it seems to me that in this par
ticular case there is a matter of pshycho-
L see Which to has me a t Sefy E Ereia Is m neaIhin srs aete;
called to support his contention, a very
hsigghp onmo of jay of t 4. c Sls 9HienS Most a1 %
cation or without much hesitation that
and the same person, and they base their
propositions:
l.. Their general recollection of the
man Jay A. Caldwell.
2. That recollection as refreshed and
reinforced by certain physical or mental
8. That recollection as reinforced and
refreshed by reason Of VARIOUS rio t ef +
which they have submitted this plalntlf1
In the first place, human mem9ory is
any of use meet an Individual and pc
very distinct impression i'll our mind as
to how he looks and how he acts, and
yet yetIni if b we W WERE afteE to go 70 de a%nX ana him By BY
word of mouth to my, other person, that
description would doubtless fit any one
Of a great many indiyi Mr 81 sa III I IL We" Mr
had never seen them, while i might
h hsSoi,a mHsslf and a T1 ps a abia fe a recos eliae
them years. afterwards without having
seen them in the interim, notwithstand
ing. the DESCRIPTION w eud nee hefeS imail;du nf
CIRCUMSTANCES, Identity the man that ]
d dessriDfS to m him; 1T a any on wof 81 m sha'
people whom he might afterwards see
yet I would be absolutely sure re- in IN my my
N.Y. SMn B mrne ' and Mr. T Register, be no mis-:
them positively. On the other hand
bep of Years g9 away anS p aaa rema a meet nHs t a some
one who purported to be Mr.. Casey, OF
Mr.. Burnett or Mr.. Register, who hao
p possib Iy some Some p Of their me mannerisms, and
I should meet the man who purported
for instance to be Mr.. Casey. I would
| nave III lily OWL LII LILY AStlloh PNN-
ture of what he used to look like, ano
if it didn't agree with what he seemed
to be when I met him after many years
absence, 1 would naturally unconsciously
read just my mental vision as to how
Mr.. Casey used to look to conform tei
the vision that was presented to me az
the time that I met him after q lapse OF
years, taking probably unconsciously m:
to account the changes which ! Woulo
assume had arisen by reason of years
BY reason of inirmity or by any Other
reason which I might think had come te
exist, and unconsciously so I would re;
adjust my vision, and after a time if
were to describe Mr.. Casey I would de-
scribe him not as I knew him years be.
fore, but as I knew him at the time OF
my last meeting of him. So much as te
the matter Of general recollection. 1t Is
satisfactory to the individual who pos.
sesses it, but 1T is more or less subject
and liable to error which cannot possibly
be corrected and which necessarily must
be taken more or less into account.
"As a matter of recollection refreshed
by any physical characteristic it seems
to me that physical characteristics may
be divided into two classes: Those
which are substantial and %congenial ano
those which are artificial and more OF
less transitory. If a man has blue eyes
no lapse Of time can change the color Of
those eyes, it may change the expression
h;c o1yobrouys NAV whiten. but the COIOl