The Courtroom Scream
A witness in a railroad injury trial lets out a blood-curdling set of shrieks from a locked room, sending the entire Federal Court into a panic.
A sensational incident occurred yesterday in the United States court before Judge Beatty. The case, in which Peter O. Longworth is suing the Northern Pacific Railroad Company for damages for a broken limb and failure of hip received in a derailment in 1891, was in progress. Just as the jury was seated, the court was electrified by shouts of 'Murder!', 'Oh, my God, they are killing me!', and 'Help! help! help!' appearing to come from the hall outside. A chorus of shrieks emerged from District Attorney Drinker's room, which was locked. The spectators and jury were horrified, with some guessing the deputy marshals were being attacked by bandits or that someone had gone insane. The uproar finally ceased, and it was revealed that two physicians, one appointed by each attorney, were making an examination of the plaintiff with a view to expert testimony. They found it necessary to put him under the influence of anesthetics, causing him to lose his head and fly into hysterics. The judge instructed the jury not to take into consideration the plaintiff's screams.
“The courtroom and hangers-on of all degrees were electrified by shouts of 'Murder!'”
Courtroom drama is often just procedural labor, but this story reminds us of the sensory history of justice—how people under extreme duress, whether from pain or medical procedures, often had no private space in 1890s Seattle. The medicalization of a court witness is a stark contrast to modern standards of patient privacy and courtroom decorum.
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