A MEMORABLE SCENE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13921, 25 March 1909, Page 3

A MEMORABLE SCENE.

TRIAL OF DR. (K)ODE

EVIDENCE OF DR. TRUBY KINO

The last scene in the Coodc mivdor trial was one of the most extraordinary over witnessed in a court of law, says, the "Wellington Evening Post. The central figure was Dr. Truby King, of Seacliff Mental Hospital. On his evidence the case for the Crown rested. Dr. King stepped into the witness-box with a huge portmanteau of books. Then he entered into a long, masterly dissertation on mental diseases. The Crown Prosecutor, in an hour and a half, asked only three questions. Counsel ior the defence asked only two in three-quarters of an hour. Through aJi that time \\itnoss, more in the manner of the. professor lecturing to a class ot students than even an expert- in the box, continued to pour forth what was admitted afterwaids by the medical men present to be an absolute masterpiece of scientific exposition. Nothing like it had boon hoard bei.-rc. 'Hie doctor quoted eminent authorities in England, Scotland, and (Jermany. When the Crown Prosecutor suavely interposed suggestions that tho pr'soner, though insane, had knowledge ot the quality and nature of the tatal deed. witness, with an impatient sweep ot the arm, brushed the question aside: "Words," he cried, "are the coins of fools, but tho counters of wise men.' He declared that the prisoner was not only legally but medically insane. He explained the change of attitude due to readhiiy; the evidence reported in the newspapers. '"When 1 ,cad tho reports," he said, "I think I am reading a text-book — not a newspaper " it was extraordinary. Dr. Kin^ was judge, jury, and court. He was given a hearing extending over two hours — practically an uninterrupted hearing--and when he had finished his evidence the judge was satisfied and intimated that the jury need not leave the box. It is impassible to convey the intensity of the set-lie. Imagine the lean scholarly figure- in the box two and a half hours, "unravelling the intricacies of medical science in language of the utmost accuracy and purity, and the listening court. It was a memorable, scone. By his amazing evidence. Dr.j King changed the aspect of the case; and brought about the acquittal of the I prisoner. Nothing else in talked about in Ncv Plymouth now, ami the last scene n the trial, with tho figure and eloquent of the la&t witness, will long endure in the memories of those present in court at the time.