Evening star., 1950-01-06
Psychiatrist Presents
Further Testimony on
Chambers Condition
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ing for verbal fluency are often
connected with pathological ly-
ing"
d. c. Pediatrician Testifies,
Before DR.. Binger resumed the
witness stand today. the prosecu-
ton presented. out Of order, a
rebuttal witness, DR.. Margaret
Mary Nicholson, Washington
pediatrician.
DR.. Nicholson said that she
treated Timothy Hobson, Mr.. Hiss
stepson, at her Washington office
on June IL and August Is, 1887.
Mr.. and Mrs. Hiss have sworn that
the boy was with them at Ches-
tertown, Nd, all that summer and
never went to Washington.
Thomas F. Murphy, assistant
United States attorney, brought
out further that the defense knew
that DR.. Nicholson's records
showed these treatments. The
witness testified she had been in
terviewed frequently by John
Davis, a defense attorney, during
and after Mr.. Hiss first trial,
which ended with a hung jury
last July.
Promised to Let Defense Know.
She said she had promised Mr..
Davis she would let him know if
the Government subpoened her.
II felt I owed it to Mr.. Hiss she
said. because, you see. we doctors
always think first of the patient" !"
The trial adjourned until Mon-
day shortly after noon, when one
of the jurors. Harry ReSsler, COM
planned that he was feeling i'll
and had a heavy cold. A nurse
was summoned, who said he had
a temperature, and Judge God
dard thereupon announced the
adjournment.
This development came just at
the end of the direct examination
of DR.. Binger. Prosecutor Murphy
had to postpone cross-examina-
ton to next week.
In addition to reading from the
medical text. DR.. Binger read
passages from Mr.. Chambers
writings. which he said supported
his view : that the Government
witness was "psychopathic per-
sonality."
Magazine Article Quoted.
He concentrated particularly on
an article Mr.. Chambers wrote for
Life Magazine two years ago. en-
titled "The Devil" portraying an
imaginative conversation between
the devil and Mr.. Chambers. In
this dialogue, Mr.. Chambers was
contending there is good in the
world. which the devil hotly de-
MED. = II
Mr.. Chambers quoted the devil
to the following effect:
IT succeed in making man
destroy himself - and t. shall
destroy myself with him"
The witness pointed out that
Mr.. Chambers has said recently
that in testifying against MIR. Hiss
he Is gradually and grudgingly
destroying himself"
Writings Called Revealing.
DR.. Binger summoned up his
verdict: when a man is as ego
centric as this, everything he
writes is self-revealing."
DR.. Binger said his observation
of Mr.. Chambers on the witness
stand would not in itself be an
adequate basis for a diagnosis of
his mental condition, but that it
did confirm an opinion based on
his record and his writings.
DR.. Binger introduced a dra-
matte new element into the
case in his testimony late yester-
day. He did not say Mr.. Cham
bers is insane. But he asserted
Mr.. Chambers occupies a sort
of middle ground" mentally-and
on this ground he threw the book
at him.
DR.. Binger said Mr.. Chambers
is suffering from a recognized
mental disease, and he listed its
symptoms as follows:
Persistent and repetitive
lying, stealing, alcoholism. decep-
ton and Misrepresentation. alb
normal sexuality, vagabondage,
panhandling. inability to form
stable attachments and a tenden-
cy to make false accusations"
Question More Than Hour Long.
DR.. Binger rendered his dag
nosis yesterday at the end of
a hypothetical question-exactly
one hour and II minutes long
in which Defense Attorney Cross
summed up all phases of Mr..
Chambers career which might
cast doubt on his mental condi-
ton.
At Mr.. Hiss first trial, DR..
Binger took the stand and was
asked a hypothetical question
similar to the one posed him yes
terday. But on that occasion,
Judge Samuel H. Kaufman ruled
that he could not answer.
Mr.. Murphy entered strenuous
objections for the prosecution.
He said there are no Federal
cases supporting the admission OF
this sort of psyehiatric testimony
where there Is no clear presump-
tion that a mental disorder exists
Judge Cites State Cases.