Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-02-07
STATE ALIENISTS
(Continued Irom Page one

into the records Saturday when Dr.
Paul Bowers, state alienlst, stripped
Hickman to the waist and then wrote
across his back and chest, with a
thumbnail, the letter III"
If the letter was still visible after
three minutes, said the doctor, it
would indicate condition Of der
photographic a condition sometimes
present when the subject is suffering
from dementia praccox, the mental
ailment ascribed by the defense to
Hickman. Ii not, the alienist held,
there would be nc delnentla praecox.
! Defense Attorney Walsh contended
that the H" was visible after three
minutes. DR.. Bowers said it was not
clearly visible. that the marks were
diffllsed and that the indications OF
dementia praecCx were absent.
! State attorneys carried the discus
SIGN farther, emphasizing by ques-
tioning the doctors contention that
diffused and not clear mars re-
niaineG after the given period.
Walsh also wanted to know how
much DR.. Bowers was to ge5 lor hio
services as a state alienist. The
witness, however, declined 10 name
any amount saying that it had not
yet been stipulated
DR.. Herman Schoor, mental and
nervous disease specialist Of Los
Angeles. followed to the witness stand.
DR.. Schoor opened his evidence for
the prosecution with the opinion that
Hickman was sane. In reaching this
conclusion, he said he had been
{,aFI INxy no
and physical examinations of the
family history.
The witness asserted that Hickman's
facial expressions were evidence to
him, at least, that the prisoner was
falsifying when he expressed the be-
lief he had been under divine guild
ance" in his criminal career.
The defense did not cross-eHamine
DR.. Schoor
DR.. Parkin who is a member OF
the Los Angeles county insanity conn.,
mission, then was called, testified that
he believed Hickman was sane at the
time OF the killing of Marian Parker
and that he was sane now.
He quoted eXcepts from Hickman's
conversation to support his assertion
that the prisoner was able tc dis
tinguiSh between right and wrong.
! Constitutional psyclopathic inferi-
ority next came up for discussion.
The defense asked the witness if this
did not sometimes result in insanity,
quoting from the doctors own records
| to indicate that it did The doctor
confirmed his records, indicating
| first named condition Psychcsis, he
explained, was a degree OF insanity.
| Then predisposition to insanity was
brought into the cross examinations
Defense attorneys drew from Dr.
Parkin the admission that Hickmans
family constituted predispositicn to
insanity, put, the doctor added, 1t
was not a necessary development.
! A difference Of opinion between DR..
Parkin and DR.. Cecil Reynolds, an
other state alienist, developed on the
subject OF epileptic fits.
( DR. Reynolds said las, week that
/ the term meant nothing to him, the
! true designation Of the condition
being commissions" DR.. Parkin
testified that he recognized the eX-
! istence OF epileptic fits as such
/ A brain and nerve surgeon was tie
next witness. DR.. Mikels. He testified
1 that he found the prisoner was no
I and is not insane" The witness said
! he examined Hickman closely as to
/ his emotional reactions in the belief
that these provided o definite lndica-
ton OF mental balance.
! Attorney Walsh objected to DR.,
Mikels reading" from a paper which
he held in his hand Judge TrabuccO,
however, repeated his ruling OF the