The Washington times., 1922-09-12
INJURY. In
WAR; | | BASIS
IN DEFENSE.
She'll Shock Viii Be Made Plea
When Former D. c. Man
49,. ,... Faces Jury.

' When Former D, 9. man
~. s... Faces Jury.
HUNTINGDON, Pa, Sept. g12.
DIR. Herbert Bryson. hero Of
the world war and former prom
inent Washington physician and
surgeon, goes on trial for his
life here next Monday with one
chance Of cheating the electric
chair.
Shell Shock Defense.
Sheli,shock, growing out Of the
horrors OF the war, will be set up as
q defense Of capital crime for the
first time In the United States.
DR.. Bryson will be charged with
the murder Of his pretty mate, Mrs,
Helen Irene Haines. with whom no
lived a year in the peacefully remote
village Of Cassville, in the mountain
businesses OF Huntingdon.
The crime for which DR.. Bryson
viii be held to answer here next week
was committed on the afternoon OF
April s.
=. Mrs. Haines, who deserted her
husband, Bruce Haines, and fled
AhOul w Will bts
was shot through the abdomen
about $50 o'clock on the fateful
afternoon In April.
No one witnessed the shooting and
no one heard the shot flied. But
Mrs. Haines. in an ante-mortenl
statement, made In the presence OF
the district attorney and witnesses,
declared she had quarreled with
DR.! Bryson, that he had pursued her
to the second floor Of their homo,
broke down the door Of her room
and shot her.
Chair for Bryson.
This statement, It IL believed, will
send Bryson to the chair unless the
plea Of shell-shock Is successfully
entered. ,-.-
The burden Of proof Of shell shock
rests with the defense. The prosecu.
tion is concerned only as to whether
DR.. Bryson fired the shot which rc-
suited In his consort's death.
Her dying declaration that he did
fire the shot is, Of itself, considered
sufficient evidence to send the &C.
cused to the chair.
She was told before she made
the accusing statement that she was
dying. The law assumes dying
person who has been apprised OF
che nearness Of death would not ac-
cuse falsely.
Both District Attorney Chester
Fetterhoof and his associate, Samuel
I. Spyker, declare they have \
case which viii leave no doubt In
the minds Of the jurors as to who
killed Mrs. Haines.
But, IL William Wallace Chisolm
and Harry w. Petrikin, both ex-
pefienced in countless homicide
cases, can convince the jury that
DR.. Bryson was rendered mentally
incompetent by his war experience,
the death chair may be cheated, and
"shell shock" may take its place
among the successful defenses Of
capital crime.
The accused physicians attorneys
are dealing with a pathological dts
turbanoe the exact limits or wnich
have not been defined. They must
first convince the jury as to the
exact nature of the disease, and
succeeding in this. must next prove
that DIR. Bryson was afflicted with
n at the time of the Staying OF
Mrs. Bryson.
officer Overseas.
The accused mans former fellow
officers overseas will probably testi-
~ in his behalf at the trial. He
was medical officer Of the 117th
Ammunition train Of. the Forty.
second Rainbow) division. He had
.an enyiable record in the war, and
was Shell shocked in the Argonne.
His actions since the war, in COM
parison to his prewar record, have
bceY, as those Of Mr.. Hyde to DR..
Jekyl.
DIR. Bryson Is a graduate Of the
George Washington University. He
served his interneship in Pennsyl-
vania and then returned to Wash
inston, where he opercd an office
and successfully practiced his pro-
fession.
He was a medical officer Of the
national guard. and when the Mexi.
can crisis came. in 1915, he saw
seryice on the border. In 1917, when
America entered the world war, DIR.
Bryson took his place in the famous
national guard division. whose units
were taken from the militia OF States
from coast to coast.
DIR. Bryson was treated in hospit.
ais overseas for shell shock and re-
ceived postwar treatment at the
Walter Reed Hospital at Washing.
ton. Alienists from this institution
will probably testify in DR.. Bryson's
behalf at the trial next week. They
have volunteered to come here and
do what they can for their former
cbmrade and patient.
The trial promises to be dramatic
in the extreme. In reality II will
:. he a fight between the State and
I Mrs. Elizabeth Bryson, Of Washing.
ton, for the shattered life Of her
boy, -.
whose presence suggests nothing so
much as a lavender and old lace
Ioveliness, will lead the fight for
her son.
News OF the tragedy at Cassville
came as q blow from which she re-
coiled at first. But the day after
news of the staying reached her she
had forgotten her own feelings and
was on her way, to the son who
needed her.
Since then, in spite OF her advafle.
ed years, she has worked unceasing-