A lecture on the relation of madness to crime : delivered at the London Institution, February 28, 1884 / by J.C. Bucknill.
- John Charles Bucknill
- Date:
- [1884]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A lecture on the relation of madness to crime : delivered at the London Institution, February 28, 1884 / by J.C. Bucknill. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
13/18 page 11
![]icrts having been sworn, examine into the particulars of the crime, and the prisoner’s history, and they examine the prisoner himself as often as need be, either in prison or elsewhere; and they can even have him removed to a lunatic asylum for the purpose of prolonged observation. If they report that the prisoner is insane, the magistrate generally accepts their yerdict as final, and issues an order of non lieu, or no jurisdiction. It is upon the report of these experts, or on the report of another set of experts whom the court has the power of ap- pointing if not satisfied with the first, that it depends whether the trial for the crime itself does or does not take place. But at the real trial, the question of irresponsibility cannot be raised. Practically the same system prevails in Austria and some other continental countries. In a remarkable paper on insanity as a defence for crime, read by Mr. George B. Corkhill, United States Attorney for the District of Colum- bia (every one will remember Guiteau’s abuse of Corkhill), read last year before the Medico Legal Society of New York, this most ex- perienced prosecutor says : ‘ ‘ My candid opinion, resulting from a very large experience in the trial of these cases, is that, when a prisoner proposes to defend his crime on the ground of insanity, a jury specially selected for their fitness should be chosen to try the special plea ; and, if the prisoner be found insane, then he should be confined in an insane prison for a time commensurate with the character of the crime; and, if the verdict of the jury be in favour of his sanity, then the plea should not be allowed upon the trial of the cause.” At the last annual meeting of the English Medico-Psychological Association, which is composed mainly of the superintendents and other medical officers of lunatic asylums, a resolution, proposed by the President, Dr. Orange, was adopted, recommending a medical examina- tion of persons supposed to be insane before the trial. This examina- tion, it was proposed, should be made in each county by the surgeon of the county gaol, the superintendent of the county asylum, and one other local medical man; and their joint report should be given to the counsel for the prosecution. I see many objections to this proposal. Among others, I feel sure that the examiners indicated would not always be competent to the efficient discharge of their difficult task. Our procedure, as you are aware, does not provide for any official examination into the prisoner’s mental state before the trial, although an unofficial one does frequently take place in his behalf; but a I>risoner is put upon his trial with no official provision for his defence beyond the nomination of a coimsel by tlie judge, if one have not been provided by the prisoner or his friends. If he should have no friends and no means, I am not aware of any manner by which he will be pro- vided wdth the services of a solicitor, or in what manner evidence can be sought for, or witnesses summoned for his defence. It is true that, in criminal trials, the witnesses for the prosecution are expected to tell the trutli without reservation or prejudice; and consequently, in these days, there is no great danger of a man being found guilty of a murder which he has not committed, however poor, friendless, and undefended he may be. But the absence of pecuniary resources or personal in- terest in the defence of an insane prisoner is very likely to occasion,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22369508_0013.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
