The Lawyer Who Shaved His Beard for a Thief
In a dramatic courtroom gamble, a defense attorney shaved his own beard to demonstrate how easily witnesses might be mistaken in identifying an accused horse thief.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
James M. Slater, of Kent, stood trial for the theft of a horse and saddle. The prosecution's case rested on identification of Slater, who witnesses claimed wore a full beard at the time of the theft. However, Slater’s defense claimed he was clean-shaven in Seattle that day. Several witnesses, including a barber who testified he had shaved Slater’s beard off, supported this. At the noon hour, Slater's senior counsel, W. B. Tyler—who had been wearing a cherished blonde beard—shaved himself smooth, save for a small mustache. Appearing dramatically before the jury, Tyler argued how easily identities might be mistaken, his own sudden change in appearance being a striking illustration. The state’s prosecutor called it the only case in history where an attorney sacrificed a cherished beard for the sole purpose of saving a horse thief.
“referring to Mr. Tyler's dramatic appearance in the court room as probably the only case in history where an attorney had sacrificed a cherished beard... for the sole purpose of saving a horse thief.”
Trial theatrics remain a staple of the courtroom, though this stunt serves as a reminder of how unreliable eyewitness testimony was before modern forensic standards. It highlights the high-stakes, performative nature of justice in a growing frontier city.
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