Evening star., 1949-11-10
Burgman Trial
Reaches Climax
In Sumnlations.
Final PIeos Mode;
Treason Case to Go
To Jury Monday


The Herbert J. BurRman treason
trial reached a stormy climax In
District Court today as prosecu-
tion and defense attorneys made
final pleas to the jury of five
women and seven men.
There was q marked contrast
between the summation speeches
Of Assistant Prosecutor Victor O.
Woerheide and Defense Attorney
James j. Laughlin.
MIR. Woerheide took up where
he had left of in yesterdays ses-
sion summing up the evidence
against the defendant, former
clerk in the American Embassy In
Berlin.
Burgman, he said, was more
than the unwilling tool of the
Nazis that he has claimed to have
been. He made more money as q
broadcaster on the German propa-
ganda radio than he had as an
Embassy clerk; he took an active
part in the creation Of the broad
casts and stated to many people
his hope that Germany would win
the war.
Reviews Overt Acts.
Calmly and relentlessly the
prosecutor reviewed each Of the 13
overt acts Of treason which the
Government has attempted to
prove in the course Of the trial.
He cited the witnesses produced
to substantiate Burgman's part In
the propaganda broadcasts and
reminded the jury:
I'VE have the admission of the
defendant himself that it was his
own voice on the broadcast record
ings that we played back here in
court.
1T is for you to decide whether
these broadcasts constituted psy-
Geological warfare or war propa-
ganda against the United States.
The defense summation speech
was as dramatic as that Of the
Government was restrained. Mr.
Laugl1lin shouted at the jury
quoted literally from the Bible
sneered at the evidence produced
by the prosecution and patted the
defendant af1ectionately on the
shoulder.
TT will be tor you to say
whether this defendant is stamped
with the brand Of Benedict Ar.
mold, or whether he is and always
has been a good American who
loved his country"
Mr.. Laughlin took as his text
an Epistle of st. Paul which reads:
When He was reviled He re-
viled not; when He suffered, He
threatened not, but He delivered
Himself upito them who judged
Him unjustly."
The Government had produced
mot one shred of evidence" to
show that Burgman was not "flat
on his back" with a heart at
tack and unable to leave Germany
1T the outbreak of war, Mr..
LAughlin said. THE Embassy
stan deserted him." Mr.. Laughlin
shouted. He was left behind for
months and years to bear the
brunt Of pent-up NaN hatred"
The Governments case, he con-
tinued, is based on the evidence
Of. former Nazis-"$10-a-day
men," paid by the Government to
testify and who would be happy
to have bigger and better and
longer treason trials"
Sanity Under Question.
Because of the legal holiday CT
Friday. Judge Alexander Holzof1
indicated the jury will not get the
case until Monday.
In its final stages, the tria
boiled down to the important
question of Burgman's menta
condition during the perioe
covered by the treason indict.
ment. The defense does not dis.
pute the finding that the de.
fendant is sane now, as de.
termined by a psychiatric ex.
animation since his return to thil
country last spring. It contends
however, that Burgman was In.
sane during the war period ane
has since recovered.
To bolster this argument, testi
mony was heard yesterday from
DR.. Ferdinand D. Whitby, a col
ored Washington psychiatrist, wht
said he had examined Burgmar
yesterday morning. AS the resul
Of that examination, DR.. Whitb.
testified. he believed the defend
ant had suffered from psyche
pathic personality" and was G
unsound mind during the perio.
from l941 to 1945."-
The, prosecution, in turn, callet
DR.. Marshall D. Ruffin. a membe
OF the psychiatric board tha
examined Burgman last spring
DR.. Ruf1n stated fatty that Burg
man is now, and always ha
BEEN" sane. He said that, evel
II Burgman had been sufferin
from psychopathic personality. h
would not have been insane with
IN the legal definition OF the word
AS to other defense testimon
that Burgman's mental condition
had been diagnosed several time
In the past as schizophrenia, d.
Ruf1in said:
II would say definitely tina
those doctors were wrong"
IFIorido Ticket