The 'Artillery Insanity' Defense Wins Arson Acquittal
A man accused of burning his own store to collect insurance walks free after his lawyer claims a war-era head injury rendered him mentally incapable of controlling his actions.
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.
Pencil, on trial in Judge Humes' court yesterday for arson, was made happy by a verdict of not guilty. Pencil was charged with burning his store and residence in West Seattle in April 1890, for the purpose of obtaining $3,800 insurance money. The theory of the defense was somewhat scientific and rather unusual. James Hamilton Lewis conducted the defense on the theory that Pencil was partially out of his mind when he gave his note for $25 to silence a witness. Mr. Lewis' novel defense was that during the war, a sudden discharge of artillery produced a concussion of the brain in Pencil. Since that time, his mind has been so affected that he is unable to defend himself against fear or duress, and has no self-control when cowed or threatened. Several physicians were called to substantiate this scientific defense. The jury was out but about ten minutes before returning a verdict. Pencil sat anxiously awaiting his fate and seemed overjoyed; at first, he did not seem to realize that he was a free man once more, and had to be twice reminded of it by his counsel before he walked out into the open free air after ten long months of confinement behind the prison bars.
“He did not seem to realize that he was a free man once more, and had to be twice reminded of it by his counsel.”
The 'insanity defense' remains a fraught and complex part of the American legal system, though modern courts require a much higher standard of evidence than the 'artillery concussion' theory presented here. James Hamilton Lewis, the defense attorney, would later become a prominent U.S. Senator from Illinois, showing that early Seattle courtrooms were often the testing grounds for rising national political figures.
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