Dr. Charles W. Pilgrim asserted Thaw “Did not know the nature or the quality of his act on the Madison Square Roof-garden.” Dr. Minas Gregory also swore the prisoner was insane at the time of the crime, and others made the same statement.
This was a startling change of base for the prosecution. Instead of trying to prove the young millionaire was sane both at the time of the tragedy and at the time of the trial, Jerome astounded the legal world by endeavoring to prove him hopelessly insane. The prosecutor had given up all hope of securing a verdict which would make the death-chair the penalty.
Delmas was angry.
“We propose,” he shouted, “honestly to convince you, Mr. Jerome, that Thaw was insane when he shot Stanford White—and sane now—by the very witnesses whom you have subpœnaed and brought into court for the obvious and only conceivable purpose of telling to this jury under oath the truth and the whole truth.”
The jury was ordered to leave during arguments over further testimony of alienists.
In his startling argument after the jury retired Mr. Jerome said:
“I want to explain and make my position clear. As I understand the matter Dr. Hamilton, who was originally called into the case by the defense, is ready to testify that in his opinion this defendant was insane, that he was of unsound mind when he committed the homicide, and that as he sits at the table today he is suffering from a mental disease known as paranoia, a disease in which the sufferer until the last stages of the disease is capable of knowing the nature and quality of his acts.
“I understand that Dr. Hamilton so advised the defendant’s counsel and that his counsel was then changed.
“I am willing to throw open the door wide, and ask to let all these facts come out, but I will not agree to Mr. Delmas confining his questions to these four visits and keep me down to the close limits of evidence and not be allowed to go into the real facts of the case.
“Your honor knows,” continued District Attorney Jerome, “what my position here has been all along. We have no right to be here trying this man if the real facts are known. Your honor knows that I have tried ever since this case opened to bring out these facts and that I have not been able to do so.