Cowboy Suits
and Darrow's Determination
The only explanation I can give of the testimony of Dr. White
is that he is in his second childhood. I would hate to think a man of his
attainments would prostitute his profession and prostitute his learning
to tell the story that he told to Your Honor.
One of the very significant and distinguishing things the eminent
doctor says was the fact that little Dick had his picture taken in a cowboy's
uniform when he was four years of age; and that is a distinguishing thing
and stamped him a man of diseased mind, with homicidal tendencies; and
I saw a shudder go through every woman in the court room that has a "kid"
four or five years of age, and I began to think of my four "kids."
I suppose Marshall Field's sale of cowboy suits must have fallen
off at least one hundred thousand since that doctor testified.
When the other doctors saw how ridiculous and silly it all was,
they said they paid no attention to it; and one by one, all, each doctor
discarded this silly bosh that the preceding doctor had testified to, as
distinguishing matter; and finally the Grand Old Man of the defense, Clarence
Darrow, seeing how absolutely absurd it was, discarded all of their testimony
and substituted as a defense in this case his peculiar philosophy of life,
of which we will talk later on.