He would still have in prospect his regular
jury trial, but if this board found him at the present time
insane, the court could immediately commit him to an asylum
pending recovery, precisely as under the present procedure,
while if they found him sane at the present time, but reported
that, in their opinion (whatever test, "medical" or "legal,"
they might have applied), he was irresponsible at the time he
committed the crime, it is unlikely that any prosecutor would
bring him to trial. If, however, they reported that he was
not only sane, but had been sane at the time of his crime, it
is probable that any proposed defence of insanity would be
abandoned, while if it was still urged by the accused, the
opinion of such a board would carry far greater weight at the
ultimate trial of the case than the individual opinions of
experts retained and paid by either side for that particular
occasion only, and having had only a comparatively limited
opportunity for examination. At any rate, if the court called
in the services of such a board of medical judges to assist as
amici curie in determining the defendant's condition, while
their opinion would not be conclusive upon the jury, it would
at least do away with the present lamentable necessity of
learned men answering "yes" or "no" to a hypothetical question
fifty thousand words long, when the most superficial personal
examination of the accused would settle the matter definitely
in their minds.
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