CHAPTER X
Insanity and the Law
Harry Kendall Thaw shot and killed Stanford White on the 25th
day of June, 1905. Although most of the Coroner's jury which
first sat upon the case considered him irrational, he was
committed to the Tombs and, having been indicted for murder,
remained there over six months pending his trial. During that
time it was a matter of common knowledge that his defence was
to be that he was insane at the time of the shooting, but as
under the New York law it is not necessary specifically to
enter a plea of insanity to the indictment in order to take
advantage of that defence (which may be proven under the
general plea of "not guilty"), there was nothing officially on
record to indicate this purpose. Neither was it possible for
the District Attorney to secure any evidence of Thaw's mental
condition, since he positively refused either to talk to the
prosecutor's medical representatives or to allow himself to be
examined by them. Mr. Jerome therefore was compelled to enter
upon an elaborate and expensive preparation of the case, not
only upon its merits, but upon the possible question of the
criminal irresponsibility of the defendant.
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